Billies on the rampage
Depleted Rathnew prove no match for Ballymanus
BALLYMANUS RATHNEW 4-15 1-9
BALLYMANUS got off to the best possible start of the Intermediate championship with a comprehensive victory over Rathnew which could easily have been more.
There was massive space between the Rathnew halfback line and full-back line and Ballymanus exploited it time after time.
The half-backs were usually closer to their 65 than 21-metre line and once Ballymanus broke past that line the scores were inevitable.
They even had the luxury of letting some chances slip short or wide.
There were fine performances at either end of the field from the Byrne twins, Darragh coped admirably with the high balls dropping down between him and Dean Franey while Padraig showed many moments of class. When he moved to centre-forward at half-time he became conductor in chief for his fellow forwards.
Kevin Byrne kicked 1-4 without a fuss and Brendan Whelan anchored the defence well from centre-back. He made a vital intervention in the second half when Edward Doyle was unmarked in front of goal.
For Rathnew, they’ve lost a lot of players since last year and qualifying from the group looks impossible.
They actually got the first score of the game, Doyle’s trusty left foot splitting the posts from the edge of the D. They would quickly be treated to the danger posed by the Ballymanus attack.
Roan Lynch picked up possession on the Rathnew 65 and with the Rathnew half-back line pushed up Lynch had the freedom of Aughrim to run into. A quick one-two with Philip Coogan took the last defender out of the equation and Lynch hit the back of the net.
Ballymanus poured on more scores, Aidan Byrne wandered up from corner-back, Padraig Byrne sold a lovely dummy to create a yard of space while Ciaran Whelan got his first point when he took a quick free and received the ball back in a better position.
Rathnew replied with three on the spin to stay within touching distance, a fine Philly O’Neill run from his own 65 saw him kick the ball over the bar before two long balls into the Rathnew full-forward line resulted in two converted frees from Doyle.
That reduced the deficit to two points for Rathnew but that would be as close as they would get as Ballymanus outscored them 1-4 to a point for the rest of the half while also spurning two goal chances.
Kevin Byrne got his team’s second goal following good work by Darragh O’Keeffe and Padraig Byrne to put them 2-7 to five points ahead at half-time.
Rathnew started the second half brightly and got the game back to seven points but Philip Coogan’s goal, again Padraig Byrne did well, hammered the final nail into the Rathnew coffin.
To really assert their dominance Ballymanus added three points in the next two minutes to make it a 13-point game, Kevin Byrne with two of them.
Rathnew managed to score a goal midway through the second half, Darragh Byrne was judged to block a shot with his foot for a penalty.
It looked a bit harsh given Byrne was a few yards away from Dean Franey and the ball hit him on his upper leg.
The full-back’s animated protestations couldn’t persuade fellow referee Noel Kinsella however and Edward Doyle calmly slotted the penalty into the bottom corner.
Ballymanus continued their scoring though and tagged on another 1-04 to finish the game, Paddy Byrne with 1-2 of it as he returned to the field of play in the final ten minutes.
The win sets Ballymanus up nicely on top of their group and for another tilt at the Intermediate championship. They’ll be favourites to qualify from Group 1.
Scorers – Ballymanus: Kevin Byrne 1-4; Paddy Byrne (1f) 1-2; Roan Lynch, Philip Coogan 1-1 each; Ciaran Whelan (1f) 0-3; Aidan Byrne, Colm Coogan, Mark Kenny, Padraig Byrne 0-1 each.
Rathnew: Edward Doyle (100 pen, 3f) 0-4; Ciaran Coffey 0-2f; Philly O’Neill, Philly Murphy, Ronan Doyle 0-1 each.