Great year comes to heartbreaking end as Ballinagar hold heads up sky high

THE smallest of margins came between Ballinagar and a place in the All-Ireland Club Junior Football Championship final when they lost out to Galway's An Ceathru Rua in a gripping semi-final at Roscommon on Sunday.

All-Ireland Club Junior Football Championship semi-final

An Cheathru Rua 1-9

Ballinagar 0-11

A heroic Ballinagar were agonisingly close to making the final in a thrilling closing few minutes. 0-11 to 1-7 ahead with the 60 minutes almost up, Ballinagar were denied at the end. Netminder James O'Flatharta levelled it up from a '45' with 29.59 minutes of the second half on the clock.

Seconds later sub Paudie MacCormaic gave the winners the lead but they just barely held on. Two minutes of injury time was announced and it looked like An Ceathru Rua would be able to run down the clock until they carelessly coughed up the ball. Ballinagar got a free about 35 metres out and Geordi O'Meara's kick, a difficult one in windy, testing conditions, dropped short but was deflected out for a '45'. O'Meara again took on the responsibility for an even more difficult kick and it dropped short. In the resultant melee, a Ballinagar boot drove the ball to the net but the final whistle was gone and with over three minutes of injury time now played, that was the correct call.

It was such a close run thing for Ballinagar and they almost had a Croke Park All-Ireland final in their grasp. It has been a sensational year for the Offaly intermediate champions and they were very much in bonus territory here but this was still a devastating loss for them. The fact that they scarcely deserved to lose it will add to their sense of regret this week but they can hold their heads up sky high.

An Ceathru Rua led by 0-6 to 0-5 at half time and a 41^st minute goal from Maittiu O'Domhnaill gave them a decisive looking 1-6 to 0-7 lead. They were 1-7 to 0-8 ahead after 50 minutes and Ballinagar showed terrific character to turn it around from here. Adam Joyce broke for a point and sub Jacob Beatty edged them in front with points in the 53^rd and 57^th minutes – Beatty, who came home early from a Las Vegas holiday, made a great impact off the bench.

They were almost there but just couldn't get across the line and overall, they didn't do quite enough in the second half. Still, it was a very relieved An Ceathru Rua that celebrated the final whistle. One of Galway's cherished names, they were relegated out of senior just a few years ago and dropped down to junior. While they went back to junior for a reason, and those reasons were obvious at times here, they were hotly tipped from months ago and Ballinagar showed how much progress they have made by running them so close.

With all sorts of weather warnings, there was no certainty that the game would proceed until a 9am pitch inspection on Sunday morning. The call to give it the go ahead was correct as rain and cold were the issues rather than snow and ice.

The two teams managed to serve up an engrossing, entertaining game. Both had spells of dominance and early on, it looked like the Gaeltacht side might be in a different league.

An Ceathru Rua started very well and had three points from three attacks in the first three minutes. A fifth minute Steven Dwane free settled Ballinagar and they controlled the next twenty minutes in an almost understated way. They were on level terms by the 11^th minute and a lovely Robbie Gallagher point in the 13^th minute gave them a 0-4 to 0-3 lead. Conor McGuinness almost got a goal a minute later when his punch went just wide.

Another quality Gallagher point put Ballinagar 0-5 to 0-4 ahead after 24 minutes but An Ceathru Rua finished strongly. A '45' from goalkeeper James O'Flatharta levelled it and Padraig MacDonnacha's injury time point gave them a 0-6 to 0-5 interval lead.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Declan Crombie (Ballinagar): Ballinagar's defence was heroic and my choice is Declan Crombie. He got Ballinagar going after their slow start, keeping them alive with a great interception and block. He did make a couple of mistakes, conceding a pointed '45' when the ball was going wide in the first half but he has been an unsung hero for Ballinagar this year, a man who does so much unseen defensive work and this was another one of those.

He may have ran out of legs inside the closing quarter and was replaced in the 56^th minute but An Ceathru Rua midfielder Stiofan O'Briain had a huge influence for a long time. He covered a lot of ground, made spectacular catches and a couple on the edge of his own square were particularly important – he made one huge catch to stop a Morgan Tynan kick going over the bar in the second half and Ballinagar had a couple of those shots that were just centimetres from going over.

Ballinagar had several other heroic performances. Jack Gorry and Diarmuid Finneran were excellent in a defence that was almost flawless – Gorry is a great example of a Ballinagar player who has really improved as the campaign has progressed, benefiting tremendously from the Leinster campaign and he gave a tour-de-force here as he defended with tenacity and was so eager for the ball. Adam Joyce made some great runs up field late on, Morgan Tynan found his top form in the second half after being below his best in the first while Robbie Gallagher was a real man of the match contender up front. On a day when Ballinagar forwards found it hard, Gallagher won some great ball, kicked two points and almost propelled his side to victory. Geordi O'Meara was very composed off the ball and Jacob Beatty turned the game for Ballinagar when he came on.

THE SCORERS

An Ceathru Rua: Maitiu O'Domhnaill 1-1, James O'Flatharta 0-2 (2 '45's), Padraig MacDonnacha, Padraig O'Loideain, Fionan O'Conghaile, Micheal O'Briain, Fergal O'Se (f) and Padraig MacCormaic 0-1 each.

Ballinagar: Geordi O'Meara 0-3 (2f), Robbie Gallagher, Steven Dwane (2f) and Jacob Beatty 0-2 each, Morgan Tynan and Adam Joyce 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

BALLINAGAR: Ryan Kinahan; Jack Gorry, Diarmuid Finneran, Declan Crombie; Adam Joyce, Brian Malone, Aaron Gorman; Geordi O'Meara, Conor McGuinness, Jack Sheil; Conor Bracken, Robbie Gallagher, Steven Dwane. Subs – Jacob Beatty for Dwane (37m), Jamie Ballesty for Sheil (38m), Eoin McGuinness for Conor McGuinness (48m), Eibheann Gorman for Gorry (59m),

AN CHEATHRU RUA: James O'Flatharta; Johnny O'Tiarnaigh, Iarfhlaith O'Conchubair, Darragh MacSheonin; Colm O'Domhnaill, Myles MacDonnacha, Ethan De Paor; Stiofan O'Briain, Padraig MacDonnacha; Padraig O'Loideain, Maitiu O'Domhnaill, Fionan O'Conghaile; Eanna MacCormaic, Micheal O'Briain, Fergal O'Se. Subs – Oisin O'Lochnain for O'Tiarnaigh (40m), Paudie MacCormaic for Eanna MacCormaic (40m), Colm O'Cualain for O'Conchubhair (47m), Cian O'Domhnaill for O'Conghaile (53m), Micheal MacBhailis for O'Briain (56m),

Referee – Enda McFeely (Donegal).

REFEREE WATCH

Enda McFeely refereed it well. There were a couple of decisions not given here and there but they very much balanced out.

MNOMENT OF THE MATCH

Maitiu O'Domhnaill's 41^st minute goal was the game defining moment.

VENUE WATCH

There was a lot of speculation over the weekend if this fixture would proceed but the problem in Dr Hyde Park was rain rather than snow or ice. It made conditions very difficult but it was playable and the enthusiastic crowd was well hosted. A lot of development work has taken place at Dr Hyde Park in recent years and has greatly enhanced the ground, though the covered area in the stand is a good bit away from the pitch, much further than other county grounds of a similar stature.

WHAT'S NEXT

An Ceathru Rua go into the All-Ireland final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Ballinagar – 4 (1 in first half); An Ceathru Rua - 8 (3 in first half).

Yellow cards: Ballinagar – 1 (Jack Gorry); An Ceathru Rua – 0.

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0