Olohan major lifts Laragh
Decky’s men beat Ballinacor
LARAGH BALLINACOR 1-11 1-6
BOTH the Paul Bealin managed Ballinacor and Declan Byrne with his Laragh side came into this game on the head of defeats last day out. Balinacor were probably unfortunate not to draw with An Tochar while Laragh were unimpressive in their defeat to Kilcoole.
They met at sun drenched Pearse’s Park in Arklow at noon on Sunday last in a last chance saloon shoot-out to decide who would progress to the next stage of the championship.
The Laragh men were first to get off the scoring mark when the tall Damien Hanlon at full-forward scored his first point after four minutes. Damien was very strong under the high ball but was not always used to best advantage by his colleagues.
Corner-forward Mark Cullen added another point after seven minutes. Balinacor had started sluggishly but Danny Dowling at midfield and Conor Parsons at centre forward began to make inroads into the Laragh half.
Paddy Byrne took a mark inside the Laragh 20-metre line and opened their account with a point after 12 minutes. Ger Byrne pointed a free a minute later to leave the sides level at 0-2 apiece when the water break was called.
Both sides were still teasing each other out but Paddy Byrne broke the deadlock when he burst through after 20 minutes and beat Alan Smyth with a left-footed ground shot. Damien Hanlon scored his second point when he converted a close in free.
Eric Olohan added another point from play to close the gap to a point. Damien Hanlon was targeted by David Miley when he dropped a high ball in on him. Hanlon fielded and duly obliged with the equaliser as the game approached half-time. He repeated the trick a minute later to put Laragh back into the lead. This time Mark Miley was supplier with a fisted pass.
However, Balinacor were ahead again by half-time when Ger Byrne converted two frees for fouls on Paddy Byrne and Conor Parsons. The half-time score stood at 1-4 to 0-6 in favour of the Glenmalure men.
The third quarter remained on an even keel as Laragh and Balinacor shared four points. Ger Byrne and David Miley exchanged points from play while Ger Byrne converted an enormous free from fully 55 metres to put the Balinacor men two points to the good.
However, Mark Cullen responded with a pointed Laragh free to leave the Balinacor lead at the minimum when the water break was called.
The game took a dramatic turn in favour of Laragh straight from the restart. A fast inter-passing movement opened up the Glenmalure defence and Eric Olohan left-footed past Denis Heffernan to put the Laragh men two points up at 1-8 to 1-6.
Minutes later, Laragh lost Jay O’Gorman to a red card. However, this was probably not the misfortune it might normally be as it seemed to bring Damien Hanlon back into the game. He had been virtually anonymous since halftime but he now moved further outfield and started to get on the ball again. He scored another point and was very involved from here to the finish.
Laragh were now brimming with confidence and held possession for long periods as they ran down the clock. Mark and David Miley added a point apiece as Balinacor ran out of steam. They too lost a player, Brian Hanlon, to a red card just before the end. Final score was 1-11 to1-6.