Ballyroan 5-5 Ballyfin 3-8
Division 2 Boys Championship
Ballyroan came from nine points down to defeat Ballyfin in a thrilling Boys Division 2 championship final encounter.
Ballyfin absolutely flew out of the traps here and went well clear in the opening ten minutes.
They started in a flash as Craig O’Shaughnessy buried a goal chance in the opening minute.
A brace of points each from Rory and Tadhg Heffernan extended the lead further before the excellent Tomas Lally delicately chipped in another goal.
A goal from Daniel Knowles and a point from Peter Keane was all Ballyroan could manage in that time as they tried to keep themselves in the game.
But they did settle after that and reeled off three points in a row via Peter Keane, Liam O’Donnell and Aidan Scully.
They were thankful to Harry Carney too who made some fine saves in the first half to keep them in it.
Tadhg Heffernan pointed for Ballyfin but the gap was back to one with 15 minutes played when Dan Knowles slotted in his second goal for Ballyroan.
And Ballyroan struck the front for the first time when Peter Keane latched on to a long ball and fisted it into the net.
But Ballyfin hit straight back when Cathal O’Rourke came up from the back to score a goal and leave them 3-5 to 3-4 ahead at half time.
Tomas Lally moved Ballyfin two clear when play resumed with a fantastic effort from a tight angle and then Tadhg Heffernan made it three.
But Daniel Knowles then created the chance for Malachy O’Connell to level it up and he duly did by smashing in Ballyroan’s fourth goal.
Tadhg Heffernan nudged Ballyfin back in front with his fourth point of the day but Peter Keane put Ballyroan ahead with his second goal of the game.
Ballyroan could have gone further in front but Ballyfin keeper Gary O’Shaughnessy made two great saves from Daniel Knowles and Malachy O’Connell.
We then had a long period without a score before an Aidan Scully point left three between as we entered the closing stages.
And that is how it remained as Ballyroan held on to win.
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SCORERS – Ballyroan: Dan Knowles and Peter Keane 2-1 each, Malachy O’Connell 1-0, Aidan Scully 0-2, Liam O’Donnell 0-1 Ballyfin: Tadhg Heffernan 0-5, Tomas Lally 1-1, Rory Heffernan 0-2, Craig O’Shaughnessy and Cathal O’Rourke 1-0 each
BALLYFIN: Gary O’Shaughnessy, Cathal O’Rourke, Conor Moylan, Craig O’Shaughnessy, Tadhg Heffernan, Sean Meade, Tomas Lally, Rory Heffernan, Oisin Horan. Subs: Sean Bell, Senan Conlon, Darragh Dowling, Cian Farrell, Luke Fitzgerald, Dillon Dunne, Liam Hogan, Brian Keating, Hugh Keating, Mark Lawlor, Sean Lynch, Scott McEvoy, Liam Meade, Lochlann Nolan, Aodhan Quinn, Jai Rowley, Gordan Thompson, Killian Thompson, Finn Twoomey, Derin Yildez
BALLYROAN: Harry Carney; Daniel Scully, Dylan Delaney, Malachy O’Connell, Peter Keane, Liam O’Donnell, Aidan Scully, Dan Knowles, Ryan Bonham. Subs: Lachlan Fennelly, Cillian Hughes, Lucas Lodge-Galvin, Blake Morgan, Keelan Curran, Oran Bonnie, Benito Marcuello, Jamie Dalton
SEE ALSO – Check out all our Cumann na mBunscol coverage here
