AIB Connacht Club SFC Quarter-Final

BALLINA STEPHENITES 3-11

FULHAM IRISH 0-5

Kevin Egan reports from Hastings Insurance MacHale Park

The news that Ballina Stephenites would have to start this game without three key players led some supporters of the Mayo champions to travel to Castlebar in fear, wary that their side might go into the record books as the first club to succumb to London opposition in the Connacht senior club football championship.

They needn’t have worried, as Niall Heffernan’s side were never under any pressure in a one-sided contest, extending their excellent defensive record while also showing plenty of cut and thrust at the other end of the field, even in the absence of Evan Regan.

There were a handful of warning signs in the early exchanges, including a couple of scorable chances kicked astray and some positive work by Chris Duggan in a target man role in front of David Clarke’s goal, but the West London side also showed an unwillingness to commit too many men forward in support of Duggan and Jack Goulding, and that left those two with a fiercely tough challenge trying to make inroads.

Early points from Luke Feeney and Frank Irwin got Ballina into the game, but despite not troubling the scoreboard operators until the 16th minute, Fulham Irish were still in contention as first half stoppage time rolled into view, trailing by 0-5 to 0-2.

Two half-chances for goals had been butchered by the Stephenites during the second quarter, but Mikey Murray was delightfully precise with his tidy finish inside Andrew Walsh’s near post to double the lead in one fell swoop, and by half-time the gap was out to ten points (2-6 to 0-2) with Niall Feeney getting the decisive touch on their second goal.

Fulham Irish stemmed the tide somewhat in the third quarter, outscoring their opponents by the odd point in five, albeit with all three white flags raised as the result of dead ball scores from Niall O’Leary.

For their part, Ballina continued to sit back and strike on the break, and they created yet more goal chances, only to be denied by one save from Walsh, and another contested decision by Christopher Ryan not to award a penalty.

Such calls were never going to prove hugely significant here however as the Mayo champions continued to look comfortable at both ends of the field, and they found their attacking rhythm again in the closing stages when Conor McStay added goal number three, and a couple of injury time points added further momentum in advance of what’s sure to be a very different type of contest next weekend against Corofin.

SCORERS FOR BALLINA STEPHENITES: Conor McStay 1-2, Niall Feeney 1-1, Frank Irwin 0-4 (0-3f), Mikey Murray 1-0, Ciarán Treacy 0-2, Luke Feeney 0-1, Ciarán Boland 0-1.

SCORERS FOR FULHAM IRISH: Niall O’Leary 0-3f, Jack Goulding 0-2 (0-1f).

BALLINA STEPHENITES: David Clarke; Ger Cafferkey, Liam Golden, David Tighe; Ciarán Boland, Sam Callinan, Seán Regan; Mikey Murray, Luke Feeney; Niall Feeney, Mark Birrane, Frank Irwin; Ciarán Treacy, Jack Irwin, Conor McStay.

SUBS: James Doherty for Cafferkey (26), Ciarán Sweeney for Murray (38), Ross Geraghty for Golden (43), Stephen Mullins for Birrane (48), David O’Mahoney for J Irwin (55).

FULHAM IRISH: Andrew Walsh; Danny Buckley, Michael Clarke, Danny Rooney; David Connern, Fiontán Eastwood, Paddy Naughton; David O’Connor, Cormac Hughes; Daniel Eastwood, Niall O’Leary, Liam Turley; Jack Goulding, Chris Duggan, DJ O’Flaherty.

SUBS: Hurl Dockry for Hughes (28), Niall Corkery for Naughton (36), Jonathan Henry for Eastwood (45), Brian Sheanon for Duggan (45), Jack O’Sullivan for O’Flaherty (55), Martin Hughes for Dockry (58).

REF: Christopher Ryan.