Reece McSorley (15) after scoring Ballinascreen’s opening goal – Pic by John McIlwaine
FonaCab Ulster Minor Club Football Tournament semi-final
Ballinascreen 2-5 O’Donovan Rossa 0-8
Twenty four minutes into today’s semi-final at Shaw’s Road Rossa trailed Derry champions Ballinascreen by 2-4 to 0-0 and it looked like the Antrim champions were going to be on the wrong end of an embarrassing beating. The form they had shown in their quarter final win over Monagahan champions Kilanny had completed deserted them as they struggled to find any rhythm in the heavy underfoot conditions. There seemed to be nothing to salvage but their pride, but they kept on trying and slowly things began to go their way. Two pointed frees by full-forward Dominic McEnhill eventually got them off the mark and it appeared to finally instil a bit of self belief. They were still eight in arrears at the break and even the most optimistic of their followers must have felt it was mere respite, so dominant had the Derry champions been during the first twenty minutes of the game. However after weathering a bit of a storm early in the second period they began to turn things around and score by score they edged their way back towards respectability. In the end they came up three points short as they struck seven points to a single score in reply from their opponents to cut the gap back to just three. In the end their bad start had left them with just too much to do, but they showed the large crowd at St Paul’s the kind of football they were capable of playing and had a couple of breaks gone their way at vital stages near the end then they could easily have got something out of this game.
Brilliant start by Ballinascreen
Ballinascreen started brilliantly and following a great catch on the edge of the Rossa square by full forward Noel Rafferty, corner forward Reece McSorley was put clear in the left corner and he fired home a brilliant goal to give his team control. Rossa were struggling to find any composure as the Derry champions cut swathes through their defence to add four more points, midfielder Christopher Logan and defender Conal Logan getting one apiece while corner forward Emmett Duggan got two to open up a seven point lead after fourteen minutes. At his stage it was beginning to get embarrassing for the Belfast side but to their credit they dug deep when it was most needed and they began to get to grips with the Ballinascreen rampant forward line. However just when the appeared to have settled into the game fortune dealt them a bad blow when full back Matthew McIvor gave away a penalty by touching the ball on the ground after goalkeeper Michael Byrne had made a brilliant point black save to deny the dangerous Rafferty and Euan McBride made no mistake from the resultant spot kick.
Consolation
It seemed mere consolation when Dominic McEnhill added two late points to give his team a glimmer of hope going in at half time 2-4 to 0-2 in arrears, but the Antrim champions re-emerged a different side as they inched their way back into the game. They went on to dominate the second half as they restricted Ballinascreen to just one point during that time while hitting seven fine efforts of their own. All this despite have two players sent off during that period and despite the odds being insurmountable they managed to still prove a threat. However the goal they needed to bridge the gap would not come and Ballinascreen held out to book a final place against Enniskillen Gaels on New Year’s Day.
BALLINASCREEN: R Scullion; D McCoy, C Doyle, R McKenna; R Doyle, A Bradey, C Logan (0-1); M Bradley, C Logan (0-1); E McBride (1-0 pen), C McAlinden, C Donnelly; E Duggan (0-2), N Rafferty, R McSorley (1-1). Subs: M Farrelly for E McBride (HT), J Herron for C McAlinden (45), N Doyle for R McSorley (47). Black card: M Farrelly (57, replaced by C Doyle).
ROSSA: M Byrne; M Smith, M McIvor, C Shannon (0-1); J Morris, M McGreevy, C McParland; E McMenamin, C McGettigan; M Close, M Mallon, M McCashin; D Matthews (0-1), D McEnhill (0-6, 3 frees), C McDonnell. Subs: C O’Neill for M McCashin (40), L Fitzsimons for C McParland (47), O Conlon for C McDonnell (60).
REFEREE: Eamon McHugh (Tyrone)
