Baltinglass and St Pat’s to contest the county final
Garrigan’s men back in county final
BALTINGLASS are back in the county final for the first time since 2013 after a dominant display over Bray Emmets in terrible conditions in Aughrim.
They have been the most impressive team throughout the championship in terms of their silky forward play but their defensive unit put in great shift to limit any possible Bray threat.
Once again John McGrath worked tirelessly from wing forward and later in midfield to win ball and set up attacks. Joey Kelly forced Bray Emmets goalkeeper Paul O’Keefe into a number of saves that kept his tally to two points while Daniel Kelly in the other corner had another fine game. They didn’t appear to miss Henry Synott, who was unavailable for this game, too much.
However, it was the defence that stepped up to limit any possible Bray threat. Their tackling was disciplined and intensive with Baltinglass defenders swarming around a Bray player in possession when they had the ball. Bray didn’t score until the 24th minutes by which time Baltinglass had 1-04 on the board and had kicked six wides.
They played with the aid of the wind in the first half and the entire team moved forward and back as a unit.
Only Bray’s Cathal Magee and Baltinglass’ John Murray were left inside the Baltinglass half for periods of the half as Baltinglass probed for openings to create scoring opportunities.
If they lost the ball they were quick to get back into a defensive shape while the Bray counter attackers were left isolated with a few players staying in the half back line to catch their breath. Soon Baltinglass had possession again and attacked again.
Mark Jackson made the long trek up from his goal a number of times and he got Baltinglass up and running in the third minute with a 45 after Joey Kelly’s goal bound shot was saved by Paul O’Keefe in the Bray goal.
Baltinglass attacked and attacked but it was only ten minutes later when their good play yielded another score, this time Daniel Kelly’s goal. Joey Kelly’s shot was blocked and the ball fell to Daniel Kelly to score.
Jason Kennedy, a second Jackson 45, and a Joey Kelly free all added to Baltinglass’ 1-04 on the score board before Eoin McCormack got Bray moving when he galloped into space and split the posts.
Baltinglass went in 1-05 to a point up at half-time though when Mark Staines made a barn storming run up the field and the ball eventually got to Sean O’Brien, by way of Daniel Kelly and John McGrath, for the final point of the half.
The wind and conditions turned the game on its head though for the second half and Bray, with the wind behind them, were on top for the second half and outscored Baltinglass by four points to one to leave it 1-06 to five points with eight minutes to go.
Niall McGraynor, with three, and John Henderson accounted for those four points as it was Bray’s turn to push all of their players up into an attacking position.
Baltinglass also dropped their players back to ensure no goals were scored and once again crowd around any possible threat. They produced a great defensive turnover just after Bray reduced the deficit to four and got the ball up the field for Joey Kelly to push the lead back out to five. Both teams kicked a wide each before Daniel Kelly made it a six point game in the 57th minute when his shot was deflected over the bar.
Bray once again looked for a goal but it never came and they could only score a couple of more points finish the game four points in defeat.
Baltinglass are back in the county final where they’ll face an impressive St. Pat’s team and it should be a cracker.
The loss of Tommy Kelly for St. Pat’s will probably sway the odds slightly in Baltinglass’ favour but so far this year there appears to be very little between them.
Scorers – Baltinglass: Daniel Kelly 1-01; Mark Jackson (3 45) 0-03; Joey Kelly (1f) 0-02; Jason Kennedy, Sean O’Brien 0-01 each.
Bray Emmets: Niall McGraynor (3f) 0-04; John Henderson 0-2; Eoin McCormack 0-01.
Baltinglass: Mark Jackson; Tommy Murphy, Mark Staines, John Murray; Pat Burke, Billy Cullen, Tom Burke; Kevin Murphy, Jason Kennedy; Ian Sheerin, Christopher Heaslip, John McGrath; Joey Kelly, Sean O’Brien, Daniel Kelly. Subs: Stephen Quinn for Christopher Heaslip (54 mins); David Gethings for Daniel Kelly (57 mins); Brian Nolan for Kevin Murphy (60 mins); Declan Jones for Pat Burke (62 mins).
Bray Emmets: Paul O’Keefe; Shane Lohan, Adam Benson, Dáire Henderson; Eoin McCormack, Ben McCormack, Cathal Ó Dúlacháin; Rory Breslin, Niall Gaffney; Niall McGraynor, John Henderson, Arran Murphy; Ronan Cunningham, Marc Lennon, Cathal Magee. Subs: John O’Keefe for Ben McCormack (21 mins); Dáire Lohan for Adam Benson (39 mins); Paul Cunningham for John O’Keefe (49 mins); Conor Flannery for Niall Gaffney (54 mins).
Referee: Declan Peppard