Ballyheigue find improvement but two goals see Ballyduff through

COUNTY SHC ROUND 2B

BALLYDUFF kept their Championship aspirations alive with victory but only after surviving a stern test from a vastly improved Ballyheigue team that felt seriously aggrieved with some refereeing decisions, which they felt cost them the win.

Cathal McAllister came in for some strong words from a couple of the Ballyheigue mentors as he left the field, the men from the coast furious with the 51st minute sending off of Tomas Casey.

On Casey’s red card they might have a point. Certainly his high arm around Mikey Boyle’s neck was careless and dangerous, and it wasn’t unreasonable for McAllister to reach for the red card. A case could also be made that there wasn’t any malicious intent in Casey’s clumsy tackle to warrant his dismissal but such are the fine margins that matches can turn on.

Given that the score was level at that stage it was a significant call, compounded by the fact Ballyheigue were hurling into a strong wind and needed their full complement of men to repel a resurgent Ballyduff side.

On the other hand, had Ballyduff lost this match they might have made more of a couple of decisions that saw two marginal ‘points’ not awarded. In one case the referee overruled his umpire who had waved the white flag.

Expectations of any sort of Ballyheigue performance were low coming into this contest, given that they managed just seven points in their 28-point defeat to St Brendans in the previous round. Credit, then, to Gerry Murphy’s players for dusting themselves down and giving Ballyduff a mighty scare before they made their exit from this year’s championship.

Playing with the aid of a significant wind in the first half, Ballyheigue knew they would have to bank a considerable half-time lead if they were to win, but they couldn’t have got a worse start when Garry O’Brien’s low shot found the Ballyheigue net after two minutes. That boded poorly for the Seasiders but with Philip Lucid in great form from play and from frees, they soon had O’Brien’s goal cancelled out.

Two Jack Goulding points and one from John Hussey kept Ballyduff in contention as the score stood at 1-3 to 0-6 after 15 minutes, but then Ballyheigue converted three frees and a booming point from play from some 75 metres, followed by a great Adrian Flahive point from the sideline to put them five points clear.

When Diarmuid Walsh converted from play from even further out than Flahive it made it 0-12 to 1-3 to Ballyheigue at half-time, posing the question was that a big enough margin to successfully defend.

It got better for the underdogs when Flahive nailed his second point just after the restart, but then Ballyduff began chipping into that seven-point lead.

Paud Costello was excellent at centre back, Eoin Ross was proactive beside him. Mikey Boyle and Jack Goulding took the initiative at midfield and began to power their side on, with Liam Boyle and Garry O’Brien switching between no.11 and no.14 to keep the Ballyheigue defence honest.

Goulding pointed then found Mikey Boyle with a perfect pass for another score. Then Boyle converted a free before Goulding got his fourth of the game to make it a three-point match after 38 minutes. Ten minutes later Mikey Boyle (a ‘65’ and a free) and Liam Boyle had levelled it up.

Central to everything now, Mikey Boyle had a ‘pointed’ free ruled wide by the referee before being unceremoniously flattened by Casey’s clothes line that reduced Ballyheigue to 14 players.

Ross and Lucid exchanged pointed free before Anthony O’Carroll pointed Ballyduff back in front again. Boyle’s fifth score gave Ballyduff a two-point lead with a minute and change to play, leaving Ballyheigue needing a goal, which they nearly snaffled only for Conor Galwey’s flick to trickle wide. There was just time for a brilliant Ballyduff goal that saw Mikey Boyle find Gary O’Brien and his perfectly weighted pass put John Hussey through for a simple finish.

With the Ballyheigue mentors unwilling to give their views on the game it was left to Ballyduff selector Anthony O’Carroll to have the first and last word.

“We were probably favourites coming in, as we should be, and were under a bit of pressure to win, but we knew Ballyheigue would put it up to us. The wind didn’t help either side and it was a real game of two halves. We dug deep and pulled through and we’re just delighted to be in the next round.”