Ballinagar get away for convincing win as SFC “B” continues on predictable lines

THE Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship has started on entirely predictable lines and this trend was very much maintained when Ballinagar got away for a convincing, comfortable win in Ballycumber on Sunday afternoon, despite blowing hot and cold and not being at their very best apart from a 15 minute spell in the second half, when they showed their quality.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior “B” Football Championship Round 2

Ballinagar 2-18

Ballycumber 1-11

There are still three rounds to play but already Ballinagar and Daingean have one foot in the semi-finals and it will be a big shock if they aren't joined by Tullamore and Cappincur. Ballinagar and Daingean have four points from their two games, Cappincur and Tullamore have two while Tubber and Ballycumber are pointless.

It looks very like Tubber and Ballycumber will end up meeting twice, with their second meeting in a relegation play off to decide who goes back to intermediate. There could be twists and turns yet but the form book has been more or less adhered to so far and at the moment, Tubber are in worse trouble than Ballycumber, who have a bit more about them.

Ballinagar are close to the top of the short list of favourites and this was an imperfect performance by them but their superiority was never in doubt and even when they were misfiring with the wind on their backs in the first half, a shock never looked likely.

Ballinagar started off at real pace but had a handful of early misses and floundered to an extent for the rest of the first half. They had nine first half wides, many of these should have been points and they turned their nose up at a couple of goal chances. Ballinagar led by 0-7 to 0-2 after twenty minutes and it was looking like they could end up in a dogfight but two excellent two pointers, one free, from Robbie Gallagher in injury time gave them a 0-11 to 0-2 half time lead and a winning cushion.

Ballinagar played much better against the wind in the second half. Their football was more controlled, more patient and less frantic. They still ran at pace but they recycled the ball better, waiting to create rather than force scores.

Ballycumber helped them with Oisin Carroll's misplaced kickout in the 38th minute leading to the first goal, Morgan Tynan feeding Robbie Gallagher for the score. Ballinagar led by 1-16 to 0-3 eleven minutes in and it was over as a contest.

Ballycumber fought hard in the closing quarter and did well to reach 1-11. It all got a bit messy as a niggle developed and Ballinagar got sucked into this, losing their composure. Colm Egan had a great finish for Ballycumber as he got a 43rd minute goal and two two pointers.

Ballycumber, however, were chasing a lost cause and Ballinagar steadied the ship well late on. The home side got it back to ten points, 1-16 to 1-6 but a recovery was not on and Ballinagar got 1-2 without reply between the 54th and 55th minutes. Impressive sub Alex Cuddy got the goal and he will be a big help to Ballinagar with more match practice while Ballycumber got the closing five points but they were all consolation ones – Robbie Gallagher almost got a late goal when he rattled the crossbar.

MATCH ANALYSIS

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MAN OF THE MATCH

Oisin Troy (Ballinagar): The selection is Oisin Troy who has been a great addition to the Ballinagar line-up this year and he had an excellent game in their defence. Him, Brian Malone and Adam Joyce combined for the best line on the field and Troy went really well. He was solid defensively while his attacking raids up field and composure in possession caught the eye.

Jack Gorry had a great game in their full back line while Adam Strong put in a great hard working shift at midfield. Robbie Gallagher was the main man up front while Morgan Tynan found form with a very productive afternoon and plenty of scoring assists and Jamie Ballesty was sharp and took his scores well.

Colm Daly had another fine game for Ballycumber while Joe Lowry went well up front but as a unit, Ballycumber were very much second best.

THE SCORERS

Ballinagar: Robbie Gallagher 1-10 (1 x 2pf and 1f), Alex Cuddy 1-0, Jamie Ballesty 0-3 Craig Strong 0-2 (2p), Adam Strong, Morgan Tynan and Adam Mangan (f) 0-1 each.

Ballycumber: Colm Egan 1-4 (2 x 2p), Joe Lowry 0-6 (4f), Sean Hackett 0-1.

THE TEAMS

BALLINAGAR: Steven Dwane; Kevin O'Beirne, Declan Crombie, Jack Gorry; Oisin Troy, Brian Malone, Adam Joyce; Aaron Gorman, Adam Strong; Jamie Ballesty, Robbie Gallagher, Craig Strong; Morgan Tynan, Robbie Gallagher, Adam Mangan. Subs - Ryan Strong for Craig Strong (43m), Evan Gorman for Ballesty (43m), Alex Cuddy for Adam Strong (52m), Ryan Kinahan for Dwane (57m).

BALLYCUMBER: Oisin Carroll; John Egan, Ethan Keena, Adam Daly; Harry Champ, Clive Keena, Keith Lawler; Gary Larkin, Shaun Creevy; Marcus Keena, Colm Egan, Conor Daly; Aaron Daly, Joe Lowry, Sean Hackett. Subs – Dylan Daly for Marcus Keena (46m), Jamie Cornally for Creevy (46m), Colin Daly for John Egan (59m).

Referee – Chris Dwyer, Clara

REFEREE WATCH

A call up for the appointed referee Colm Kearney, Chris Dwyer ended up busier than he might have anticipated. It was a fairly one sided game with the result inevitable from well out but a physicality remained as Ballycumber gave nothing soft while a messy niggle and under current developed in the closing quarter. He kept control well, dishing out cards: one of those cards was to his fellow referee and Clara man, the Ballycumber manager Joey Deehan for his protests to one free. Joey, one of the top hurling referees in Offaly, is clearly working hard with Ballycumber and doing as well as anyone could but he has been flirting with cards a couple of times this year and finally got one – the 21 metre free was brought into 14 metres and it is good to see referees using the rules at their disposal.

Apart from all that, Dwyer refereed it very well.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The two two pointers Robbie Gallagher kicked in first half injury time were absolutely crucial for Ballinagar. A five point half time lead would have been very tenuous with the wind but a nine point one meant that they just had to control their play and keep the scoreboard ticking over in the second half, which they did.

VENUE WATCH

Ballycumber hosted the game well and had their ground well prepared.

WHAT'S NEXT

Ballinagar meet Daingean while Ballycumber take on Tullamore in round 3.

STATISTICS

Wides: Ballycumber -5 (1 in first half); Ballinagar – 11 (9 in first half).

Yellow cards: Ballinagar – 3 (Declan Crombie, Ryan Strong, Evan Gorman); Ballycumber – 3 (Aaron Daly, John Egan, Joe Lowry).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0