Deasy does it as Ballyea clinch final spot
TONY Kelly helped clinch an All-Ireland final spot for Ballyea with an added-time point.
Teammate Niall Deasy was on form and his second-half goal put the Clare champions in control.
And although St Thomas hit nine of the next ten points, their comeback fell just short.
Recently called into the Clare senior squad, Deasy started the scoring in the seventh minute with a free from inside his own 65. He doubled that lead a minute later from a lot closer to goal. Darragh Burke got on the board for St Thomas in the tenth minute but they would go on to score only once in the following 20 minutes as Deasy brought his tally to seven at the interval.
With four of the Ballyea squad due to make the journey to Derry for Clare’s opening football match of the league today, there was little sign of anyone holding back – and a foul on one of those, Gary Brennan, allowed Deasy to point late in the half as Ballyea led by 0-10 to 0-3 at the break.
St Thomas started with ten of the 15 from the All Ireland in 2013 and one of those, Darragh Burke, nailed a long-range free after the restart to cut the gap to six points.
But again Ballyea responded well with Kelly’s first point of the game, a Deasy free and Kelly’s second to take control.
St Thomas switched to a three-man midfield but a move that started from Kelly in his own half was finished by Deasy after 42 minutes, which proved to be enough in the end.