Roche points way for Ballyhogue
BALLYHOGUE FERNS ST. AIDAN’S 1-17 2-13
A SWEETLY-STRUCK ’45 from the boot of Noel Roche as the clock ticked into injury time earned Ballyhogue a precious victory in an Amber Springs/Ashdown Park Hotels Intermediate football championship Group A clash of undulating fortunes in Oylegate on Saturday.
Ferns St. Aidan’s made the brighter start, but a flurry of points late in the opening half saw Ballyhogue grind out a 1-8 to 1-5 interval lead.
They continued in that vein after the turnaround, stretching their advantage to six points by the midway point of the second-half.
Ferns had another kick in them, however, and with the help of a 52nd-minute John Breen goal they managed to draw level, before Ballyhogue eked out the narrowest of victories late on.
Both sides suffered slender defeats in their opening games, so a win was a must if they were to have a pep in their step when the football championship action resumes after the hiatus, and it was Ferns that made the early running, building up a 1-4 to 0-2 advantage by the 17th minute.
The goal came from Ivan Meegan, with the goalkeeper firing a penalty in off the right post after Tommy Dwyer had been brought down.
They had another sight of goal with 18 minutes on the clock, but John Breen blazed narrowly wide.
Ballyhogue needed to strike back quickly and they did just that, and after Noel Roche had popped over a free, they were right back in the contest when Peter Kelly got the green flag waving, burying the ball to the net after a good move involving Roche and Shane Doyle.
A Jonny Dwyer score edged Ferns two ahead, but Ballyhogue finished off the firsthalf on a high with five points on the trot, with James Parle, Seán Ring, Noel Roche (two) and Graham Parker all splitting the posts.
Ballyhogue continued to pick off classy points after the re-start, including two instinctive efforts from substitute Ring and a sublime left-footed Peter Kelly score from near the right sideline, and when Noel Roche fired over in the 46th minute the scoreboard read 1-15 to 1-9 in their favour.
However, Ferns weren’t finished yet and Jonny Dwyer and Patrick Breen knocked over quickfire points, before John Breen gathered a Chris Turner pass and drilled the ball to the corner of the net to leave the minimum between the sides (1-15 to 2-11).
Jonny Dwyer drew Ferns level moments later, but after a Noel Roche point had been cancelled out by Patrick Breen with two minutes remaining, Roche floated over the winning ’45 in injury time.
The game ended on a slightly sour note for Ballyhogue, with the dismissal of Mick Condon for an off-the-ball incident.
Ballyhogue: Daire Cloke-Rochford; Tomás Moriarty, Seán Rochford, Colm Parnell; Enda Minogue, Conor Byrne, Darragh Byrne; Shane Byrne (0-1), Shane Doyle; James Parle (capt., 0-1), Noel Roche (0-8, 3 frees, 1 ‘45), Dean Doyle; Dylan Dalton (0-1), Peter Kelly (1-2), Graham Parker (01). Subs. - Seán Ring (0-3) for D. Byrne (26), Mick Condon for Byrne (52), Tadhg Malone for Minogue (52), Eddie Galavan for Parker (60).
Ferns St. Aidan’s: Ivan Meegan (1-1, 1-0 pen., 0-1 free); Brian O’Neill, Pádraig Bolger, James Tonks; Rory Scallan, Declan Byrne, Keith Breen; Patrick Breen (capt., 0-3), James Lawlor; Chris Turner, Tommy Dwyer, Brendan Jordan; Ian Byrne (0-2), John Breen (1-4, 0-2 frees), Jonny Dwyer (0-3). Subs. - Peter Nolan for Lawlor (43), Patrick O’Hagan for Bolger (43), Shane Breen for J. Breen, inj. (52).
Referee: Barry Redmond (Na Fianna Clonard).