Kiskeam edged out by Ballinora
ahead before the interval.
Herlihy chipped in with three excellent points from play, but all six Kiskeam forwards showed up well, with Tom O'Sullivan, Gene Casey and Daniel Fitzgerald others especially impressive. The full extent of Kiskeam's superiority can be gauged from the fact that they clocked up six wides in the first half, whereas Ballinora had none, although they did go close to bagging a goal in stoppage time.
After Kiskeam's AJ O'Connor prevented a shot from Ballinora's Pat Fitton, who showed promise with limited possession at cornerforward, from crossing the line, however, it seemed as if the possibility of any sort of a decent contest unfolding had been dashed
While Ballinora improved significantly on the turnover, Kiskeam still appeared to have the situation under control after Gene Casey pointed to make it 0-11 to 04 with 44 minutes gone. What happened in the last quarter, however, was remarkable to say the least, as Ballinora became a transformed side following the boost of goal by centreforward Gary O'Halloran in the 47th minute.
That brought them back within striking range, 0-11 to 1-5, and they really took flight from there, with Michael Hodge making a big impact around midfield where deep-lying wing-forward Ian Wycherley also got through an amount of effective work.
Others to spearhead Ballinora's dramatic recovery were wing-back Conor Murphy, corner-back Tim Crotty and full-forward Michael Murphy, not to mention wing-forward Ben Aherne, who slotted over four absolutely stunning points, the last of which tied things up at 1-8 to 0-11 in the 59th minute.
With Tomas Dennehy picking up a second yellow card, Kiskeam had been reduced to 14 players a minute earlier, but it seemed as if all of Ballinora's good work might be undone after full-back Brendan Hourihan committed an off-the-ball foul near the end.
It allowed substitute Billy Dennehy to restore the advantage to Kiskeam, but Michael Murphy replied with a good point from play to force extra-time. Kiskeam substitute David Scannell, who tried hard after being introduced at full-forward, did have a chance to break the deadlock in regulation time, but, much to Ballinora's relief, his effort rebounded off the upright.
There could be question as to which was the better team during the additional 20 minutes, with an early Ballinora goal from midfielder Aodain O'Connor – resulting from good work by Gary O'Halloran, Micheal Murphy and the ever-industrious Ian Wycherley – serving to completely shatter Kiskeam's conviction and resolve.
Aided by another goal from Murphy, with O'Halloran and Wycherley doing the spadework this time, Ballinora turned over 3-10 to 0-13 to the good, and they embellished a famous win with a couple of sublime points from Ben Ahern and Conor Murphy before the finish. Scorers BALLINORA: M Murphy 1-2, 0-1 free, B Ahern 0-5, A O'Connor 1-1, G O'Halloran 1-0, B Crowley, I Wycherley, P Fitton and C Murphy 0-1 each KISKEAM: T O'Sullivan 0-4, 0-2 frees, M Herlihy 0-3, G Casey 0-2, T Dennehy, Daniel Fitzgerald, B Dennehy, free, and D Scannell 0-1 each BALLINORA: C O'Connor, D O'Neill, B Hourihan, T Crotty, C Murphy, B Crowley, T McGrath, M Hodge, A O'Connor, B Ahern, G O'Halloran, A O'Connor, P Fitton, M Murphy, C Brosnan Subs: J Lordan for Crowley, A O'Neill for Fitton, Fitton for O'Halloran KISKEAM: A Casey, M Casey, J Dennehy, DJ Casey, AJ O'Connor, D Linehan, S Linehan, T Dennehy, P O'Leary, A Carroll, G Casey, Diarmuid Fitzgerald, Daniel Fitzgerald, T O'Sullivan, M Herlihy Subs: B Dennehy for Diarmuid Fitzgerald, D Scannell for Carroll, D O'Connor for S Linehan,, R Carroll (extra time replacement), A Carroll for D Linehan (injured), S O'Leary for Daniel Fitzgerald REFEREE: T O'Donovan
(Douglas)