Hogues win league crown
A SCORING burst of 1-3 in the last four minutes earned Ballyhogue a hard-fought victory in the All-County Football League Division 5 final in Bree on Saturday.
Kilmore were playing catch-up for most of the game, but when Patrick Sinnott floated over a point in the 51st minute to draw them level it looked like the momentum was with the south county side.
However, the hosts still had something left in the tank and sealed the deal late on thanks to 1-2 from Shane Roche and a point from substitute Conor Byrne.
Ballyhogue were impressive in the early stages and built up a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage on ten minutes, with Declan Power helping himself to a couple of points, Shane Roche adding two frees, and Liam Kelly also getting in on the act with a fine point on the run.
Kilmore patiently played their way back into the game though and the gaps began to appear, with Robert Cousins, Kevin Keating and Patrick Sinnott (free) all splitting the posts.
It could have been even better for Kilmore, but netminder Enda Byrne did well to save efforts on goal from Mark Sinnott and Robert Cousins.
It wasn’t long before Cousins had the green flag waving though. After Shane Roche had stretched Ballyhogue’s lead back to three with a free, the corner-forward gathered a pass from Alan Jones, confidently side-stepped a defender and slid the ball into the net to draw Kilmore level.
However, within two minutes Ballyhogue had cancelled out the three-pointer, when Jim Bob Levingstone found the inrushing Patrick Carr, who was taken down for a penalty.
Up stepped Liam Kelly, and although goalkeeper Barry Sinnott got a hand to it, the spot-kick had too much power and rippled the back of the net to give Ballyhogue a 1-6 to 1-3 half-time advantage.
Kilmore managed to claw their way back on level terms by the 51st minute, with Patrick Sinnott arrowing over a couple of nice scores.
Robert Cousins and Mark Sinnott also contributed two points apiece, with Shane Roche (two frees) and Jim Bob Levingstone responding for Ballyhogue.
The hosts managed to wrest back the initiative though and two frees from Shane Roche put them back in the driving seat, before Conor Byrne fired over a point to give them a three-point cushion.
Shane Roche then put the icing on the cake in the second minute of injury time when he slotted the ball into the net after good buildup play involving Gerry Heanue and Jim Bob Levingstone.
Ballyhogue: Enda Byrne; Fionn Rochford, James Whelan (capt.), Conor Long; Cian Rodgers, Gerry Heanue, Peter Doyle; Shane Roche (1-7, 0-7 frees), Liam Kelly (1-1, 1-0 pen.); Darragh Byrne, Mick Parker, Jack Fortune; Declan Power (0-2), Jim Bob Levingstone (0-1), Patrick Carr. Subs. - Shane Fenlon for Fortune, Kevin Ring for Carr, Micheál Long for Rodgers, Ger Cullen for Power, Conor Byrne (0-1) for D. Byrne.
Kilmore: Barry Sinnott; Jason Kehoe (capt.), Martin Frayne, Conor Power; Derek Miskella, Shane Cousins, John McGuire; John Cousins, Kevin Keating (0-1); Mark Sinnott (0-2), Alan Jones, Eoin Cooney; Patrick Sinnott (0-3, 1 free), Tony Rowe, Robert Cousins (1-3, 0-2 frees). Subs. - Tommy Cousins for Rowe, Thomas Kinsella for J. Cousins, John Cousins for Miskella.
Referee: Nicholas Kehoe (Cloughbawn).