Ballinamere do enough to take down gallant Seir Kieran 

A STRONG first half performance was enough to see Ballinamere claim a 1-23 to 0-17 win over a Seir Kieran team who fought till the very end in Banagher on Saturday afternoon.

Molloy Precast and Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 1 Round 4

Ballinamere 1-23

Seir Kieran 0-17

It wasn’t vintage stuff from Ballinamere but at this stage of the season it’s all about picking up wins heading towards the knockout stages and they’ll be hoping that the performances will pick up from here on out.

Dan Bourke and Brian Duignan linked up well scoring a combined 1-14 for their side, which involved a well set up goal after 12 minutes as Bourke’s sideline cut found the path of Duignan and he made no mistake in finding the top corner of the net and that was as the score that always kept his side ticking. 

Bourke finished with 0-5 and four of those coming in the first half as he was by far the most influential player on the pitch and Seir Kieran just couldn’t handle him. Aaron Maher was also causing issues in the first half before firing over two in the second half to finish with 0-3 along with his brother Joe who got two points in the second half when he was reintroduced as a sub. 

Seir Kieran knew coming into this game that it was always going to be difficult, but they’ll walk away potentially frustrated they didn’t get at least one goal as Adrian Hynes tussled hard as did Joe Bergin to try and get their side back into it particularly in the second half. 

Ballinamere held a 1-13 to 0-8 lead at the break, and it looked like the second half would transpire into much of the same but Seir Kieran fired over the opening three points of the second half and had it back to five and soon were back to three with Luke Carey continuing to tap over his frees and slowly crawling his side back into it. 

The half back line was also working extremely hard with Dermot Mooney and John Coughlan battling to win every ball possible and provide blocks and tackles, whilst Ross Ravenhill was also doing the same at the far end as did Chris McDonald, who was first to every loose ball. 

Dan Ravenhill made his return to the field after three months out injured and managed to fire over a free to make his return to action a welcomed one. 

No matter about how they played, Ballinamere have secured the victory and will now look to push on in this highly anticipating group which now sees Birr, Coolderry, Ballinamere and Tullamore all with a shout of making the knockout stages and it will all now come down to an exciting last round in two weeks time with Birr facing Ballinamere and Tullamore meeting Coolderry. 

Seir Kieran must now get ready for a relegation battle, but they will be hopeful given their performances in all their games since the disappointing opening round clash at home to Birr. Enda Mulhare’s side are full of gut and determination and could very well maintain their status for another year at the Senior A grade.  

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Dan Bourke (Ballinamere): Brian Duignan was given the Clubber man of the match and there can’t be many arguments with that as he did finish with 1-9, 1-3 from play, Ross Ravenhill also had a big second half at centre back, with Aaron Maher also performing very well at corner forward. 

Dan Bourke overall was the strong choice and finished with 0-5, 0-4 coming in the first half as he was gliding past tackles with ease and was the constructor of the attacks for his side in the second half. 

Seir Kieran can be proud of their performance, with the likes of Joe Bergin being a big nuisance in that forward line, John Coughlan and Dermot Mooney had fantastic moments in the second half, with Luke Carey also good on the frees. 

THE SCORERS

Ballinamere: Brian Duignan (6frees) 1-9, Dan Bourke 0-5, Joe Maher and Aaron Maher 0-3 each, Sam Bourke 0-2, Dan Ravenhill (1free) 0-1.

Seir Kieran: Luke Carey (8frees) 0-9, Joe Bergin and Tom Dooley 0-2 each, Adrian Hynes, Dermot Mooney, Darragh Guinan and Oisin Guinan 0-1 each. 

THE TEAMS

BALLINAMERE: Mark Troy; Chris McDonald, Ciaran Burke (C), Ronan Cleary; Jack Fogarty, Ross Ravenhill, Sam Bourke; Conor Wyer, David Magner; Mike O’Brien, Dan Bourke, Darragh Wyer; Aaron Maher, Brian Duignan, Stephen Doran. Subs–James Scully for Maher (41m), Darragh Wyer for Cleary (46m), Joe Maher for Scully (51m), Dan Ravenhill for Doran (58m) .

SEIR KIERAN:  Joseph Connor; Seán Coughlan, Pat Gilligan, Stephen Gilligan; Dermot Mooney, John Coughlan (C), Michael Gilligan; Kevin Dunne, Darragh Guinan; Kieran Connors, Joe Bergin, Tom Dooley; Luke Carey, Adrian Hynes, Oisín Guinan. Subs– Eanna Murphy for Connor (52m), Sean Dooley for Guinan (55m) .

Referee – Shane Guinan, Drumcullen.

REFEREE WATCH

Shane Guinan took charge of this game and never had any major decisions to make and got his calls spot on during proceedings.  

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Brian Duignan’s 12th minute goal was expertly finished and expertly executed by Dan Bourke when the Offaly stars combined from a sideline cut and Duignan once he got possession he only had one thing on his mind and he found the top corner to leave Ballinamere in firm control of proceedings.

VENUE WATCH

Banagher hosted the game on Saturday afternoon and it was a nice day for hurling as always, there was plenty of parking available and a good set up for the game without any issues whatsoever. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Ballinamere face Birr in round five, while Seir Kieran will head to the relegation final. 

STATISTICS

Wides: Ballinamere – 9  (4  in first half); Seir Kieran – 12 (9 in first half).

Yellow cards: Ballinamere - 1 (Ronan Cleary); Seir Kieran  – 1 (Pat Gilligan)

Red cards: 0