ABSOLUTE CRACKER
Dunlavin bounce back with victory over Billies
DUNLAVIN 2-11 BALLYMANUS 0-12 HOW quickly things can change in championship football.
A week ago Dunlavin were being written off after they had crashed to an opening day defeat to Ballinacor and Ballymanus were looking like serious contenders for the Darcy Sands Intermediate Championship after a narrow but very healthy victory over Kilmacanogue.
On Saturday evening, when referee Ciaran Fleming sounded the final whistle, you’d be forgiven for wondering just who will stop this Dunlavin team who brutally revealed the limitations of the Billies’ attack in what was a very entertaining struggle in Joule Park, Aughrim.
Thomas Harney’s men had taken to the field in their opener with a drastically different outfit than the one that toppled the Billies last weekend.
Thomas Whelan was the only surviving member of the full-back line with Trevor Birchall moved from full-back to half-back and Thomas Kelly minding the square with Louis Caplis dropping to the bench.
Eoin Murtagh returned to the centre-half back position where Birchall and Dawson kept him company with Dawson turning in a fine performance on Roan Lynch, effectively robbing the game of the Ballymanus man’s threat aside from a glorious effort in he opening minutes that Tom McGuirk got his fingertips to to keep out.
An unchanged midfield of Aaron Phelan and Paul Murtagh were excellent throughout this game while a reconstructed half-forward line of Brian Nolan, Gary Allen and Fionn Deegan gave their Billies
counterparts plenty to think about over the course of these 60 enjoyable minutes.
But the return of Cian O’Sullivan and the repositioning of Shane Clancy into the full-forward line was to have a major benefit to Harney’s men and all critics were made to swallow their words about Dunlavin ‘bottling’ championship games after they demolished a Billies side that made too many errors in a cauldron like situation.
Goals were key to this victory. Ballymanus didn’t get one, Dunlavin bagged two and at very important stages of the game. The first came after 21 minutes with the score reading 0-05 to 0-04 in favour of the west outfit.
A error in defence thanks to pressure from the very impressive Fionn Deegan coughed up possession to the alert Shane
Clancy who rewarded Gary Allen’s incisive run with a sweet ball. Allen still had plenty to do but he took on Liam Byrne and Shane Whelan and darted in along the endline and fisted across the goal to the awaiting Cian O’Sullivan who collected, stepped back in and walloped home from close range to a raucous roar from the Dunlavin support. The move had begun with a fine mark by midfielder Aaron Phelan from a Ballymanus kick out.
If their first goal was important, their second was key. Entering the final quarter of the game and Ballymanus were within a score of Dunlavin at 1-09 to 0-09. A breaking ball was won by the marauding Eoin Murtagh on his own 45. He’s fouled by Mark Kenny. The two have enjoyed a ding dong battle all evening.
Murtagh wastes no time and
launches a stunning ball to Shane Clancy. Clancy gathers, bursts forward, steps inside Glen Farrar an feeds the ball to the industrious James Walsh who fires home to the roof of Brendan Doyle’s net before being taken out of it by a retreating Ballymanus defender. It’s a massive moment in the game and from here they never looked like losing the game.
It was Garry Allen who got the show up and running with a nice effort before Kevin Byrne replied for Ballymanus.
A scintillating run up the field by Roan Lynch saw the Ballymanus man fire off a missile that may well have ended in the corner of Tom McGuirk’s net but for the fingertips of the Dunlavin goalkeeper directing the ball on to the base of the upright from where it came to Padraig Byrne who fed the ball out to Paddy Byrne who lofted over a beauty off his left.
Kieran Whelan converted a free won by the aforementioned Paddy Byrne to give Ballymanus a 0-03 to 0-01 lead after seven minutes of helter skelter action before Brian Nolan skewered over a delicious point off the outside of his right boot; the score ultimately coming from an error in defence by Ballymanus to begin with.
A super run from Daniel Dawson saw the half-back swing over the equaliser after nine minutes and then Seanie O’Neill fouled James Walsh and the full-forward did the needful to give Dunlavin the lead with 12 on the clock.
A gorgeous Padraig Byrne point levelled matters again before Walsh converted a free won by the roaming Thomas Kelly, 20 gone. Sixty seconds later Cian O’Sullivan rattled the back of the Ballymanus net and we had a serious game on our hands.
Paddy Byrne kept it to a threepoint deficit with a converted free as Paddy Molloy sent in Jim Byrne for Shane Whelan.
A foul on Mark Kenny gave Kieran Whelan the chance of a point and he took it with aplomb but the last word of the half came from Eoin Murtagh who split the posts at the Rednagh Hill end from out near the sideline off the outside of his boot in what was a superb score to leave Dunlavin ahead by 1-06 to 0-06.
A key element to this game was the individual battles going on all over the field. Seanie O’Neill was engaged in a right humdinger with James Walsh. Gary Allen was asking questions of Liam Byrne, Daniel Dawson was everywhere that Roan Lynch was and Mark Kenny and Eoin Murtagh were engaged in a fierce battle.
A bright start to the second half from Dunlavin saw Gary Allen and Shane Clancy add points to their tally but Paddy Byrne (free) and Kieran Whelan (free) reduced the arrears to three. Tom McGuirk went all Stephen Cluxton from a 45 and this was replied to by the nomadic Padraig Byrne after a fine run before James Walsh found the back of the Ballymanus net to deliver a heavy blow from which the Billies would not recover.
Paddy Molloy sent in Paul Murray and the substitute pointed but two excellent scores from frees from substitute Tom Davis put Dunlavin back in control of the game and despite two late points from Mark Kenny and Padraig Byrne they were deserving winners on a score of 2-11 to 0-12 after a humdinger of a battle.
Expect plenty more from these two teams before the end of this championship.
Scorers – Dunlavin: James Walsh 1-02 (2f), Gary Allen 0-02, Tom Davis 0-02 (1f), Cian O’Sullivan 1-00, Brian Nolan 0-01, Daniel Dawson 0-01, Eoin Murtagh 0-01, Shane Carty 0-01, Tom McGuirk 0-01 (45).
Ballymanus: Kieran Whelan 0-03 (3f), Paddy Byrne 0-03 (2f), Padraig Byrne 0-03, Mark Kenny 0-01 (f), Kevin Byrne 0-01, Paul Murray 0-01.
Dunlavin: Tom McGuirk; Thomas Whelan, Thomas Kelly, James Sinnott; Trevor Birchall, Eoin Murtagh, Daniel Dawson; Aaron Phelan, Paul Murtagh; Brian Nolan, Gary Allen, Fionn Deegan; Shane Carty, James Walsh, Cian O’Sullivan. Subs: Daryl Huntley for J Sinnott, Alan O’Sullivan for T Birchall (HT), Tom Davis for J Walsh. (53min).
Ballymanus: Brendan Doyle; Glen Farrar, Seanie O’Neill, Darragh Byrne; Shane Whelan, Liam Byrne, Paddy (Gap) Byrne; Seamus Coogan, Paddy Byrne; Roan Lynch, Mark Kenny, Kieran Whelan; Kevin Byrne, Pádraig Byrne, Philip Coogan. Subs: Jim Byrne in for S Whelan (23min), Paul Murray for K Whelan (49min), Brendan Whelan for S Coogan (53min).
Referee: Ciaran Fleming (Balt
inglass)