Ballybay 1-11 Rockcorry 0-9

Rock’s Resistance Broken as Ballybay Advance to Next Round

Team: Jamie Smith, Cathal Sheridan, Rory Carroll, Pauric Reilly, Shane Wynne, Colin Reilly, Ryan Sharkey,  Liam Connolly, Barry Patterson 0-2, Keelan Clerkin 0-3, Colin Quinn 0-1, Conor McGeough, Declan McCullagh, Anthony Tate 0-1 and Mark McGuirk 0-2.

Subs: John Greenan for Declan McCullagh and Gerard O’Brien for Ryan Sharkey.

On Wednesday 26^th May we travelled to Pearse Park to contest the first round of the Crawley Cup, Reserve Championship against Ballybay.  On a lovely evening for football, Ballybay opened the scoring in the first minute when they notched over a free kick. We had an opportunity shortly afterwards but Mark McGuirk’s free kick attempt drifted slightly wide. Ballybay doubled their lead, in the 5^th minute, when they hit over a fine score from play. Mark McGuirk was fouled in the 7^th minute and Colin Quinn took the free-kick quickly to Anthony Tate but his attempt fell short and the Ballybay keeper cleared his line. Ballybay missed opportunities in the 9^th and 10^th minute to stretch their lead, kicking wide on both occasions. With exactly eleven minutes elapsed we eventually got on the scoreboard, when Keelan Clerkin scored a fabulous point after collecting a pass from Barry Patterson but Ballybay quickly cancelled this out when they slotted over a neat point from play a minute later.

In the 15^th minute, Cathal Sheridan picked up a yellow card when he fouled his opponent on the forty-five metre line and the Ballybay free-taker kicked the resulting free kick wide. Barry Patterson was unlucky, in the 16^th minute, when his shot came back off the woodwork and a shot at the uprights from Anthony Tate, shortly afterwards, was off target. A couple of minutes later, Anthony Tate was in the thick of the action again and when he was brought down approximately twenty-five metres from goals, Colin Quinn elected to take the free quickly by playing a one-two with Anthony but his attempt went wide. Ballybay increased their lead in the 21^st minute with another fine point from play to leave the score 0-4 to 0-1. 

At this point we raised our performance by a couple of notches and the next three minutes we slotted over three unanswered points. The first score came from Barry Patterson, when he sailed the ball right between the posts, after collecting a pass from Liam Connolly. Keelan Clerkin hit the second with a wonderful strike and Anthony Tate made it three points in a row when he received a pass from Mark McGuirk to draw the side’s level on 0-4 apiece.

Ballybay missed a scoring opportunity in the 25^th minute and moments later we nearly raised the green flag when Conor McGeough’s effort from an acute angle, went wide by a whisker. Colin Quinn fired over a point, just on the stroke of half time, after fine interplay between Anthony Tate and Ryan Sharkey, to leave the score at the interval Ballybay 0-4 Rockcorry 0-5.

On the restart, Keelan Clerkin increased our advantage, twenty seconds after the throw-up, when he completed an excellent move that involved Barry Patterson to put us two points up. However, Ballybay closed the gap two minutes later when they pointed from a free-kick and they drew level in the 4^th minute when they were awarded another free-kick on the twenty metre line. We regained the lead, a couple of minutes later, when the youthful Barry Patterson, who worked tirelessly throughout the game, notched over his second point to leave the score 0-6 to 0-7. The turning point of the game came in the 12^th minute, when Cathal Sheridan picked up his second yellow card that saw him get his marching orders. In fairness, it was more of a clumsy challenge and in many people’s eyes he was harshly penalised!

Mark McGuirk kicked wide in the 14^th minute, but he made amends a minute later when he was hauled down approximately twenty-five metres from goals and he duly converted the free-kick to open up a two point advantage. Ballybay responded swiftly with two quick-fire points, in the 16^th and 17^th minute, to make it all square with both teams having 0-8 apiece. It was still anyone’s game at this stage but Ballybay then pushed on and went two points clear when they scored from a free kick, in the 21^st minute, and a minute later they notched over a fine score from play.

The lads continued to battle on but unfortunately are attacks yielded no tangible rewards. However, we did manage to close the gap to a mere point when Mark McGuirk tapped over a free-kick, in the 23^rd minute, after Barry Patterson was brought down. At this stage the game looked set to go down right to the wire but Ballybay, with the numerical advantage, edged further ahead when they hit over a point from play in the 25^th minute and with only two minutes of normal time remaining Ballybay sealed the deal when they scored the goal to leave the final score Ballybay 1-11 Rockcorry 0-9.

On reflection, this was always going to be an uphill battle as Ballybay are currently sitting top of the division 3 reserve league. While we lost the game it was a very encouraging outing as we certainly put it up to a more vastly experienced and stronger Ballybay side that gradually broke down our resistance and they now progress to the next round of the competition and we wish them the best luck. Nevertheless, the work-rate from the players was impressive throughout and the dismissal of Cathal Sheridan to a second yellow early in the second half was a severe blow and off course the absence of Martin Carroll with a hand injury was also a major factor. If we can maintain that level of performance for the league campaign we have every reason to be confident and push for a top four position. Well done lads and keep up the good work.