Ballinlough shocker for omahonys

Ballinlough sent out a clear message at Athboy tonight and it was one that the defending SFC champions Navan O'Mahonys are not invincible. Underdogs Ballinlough carved out a sensational 0-12 to 1-8 victory over the holders of the Keegan Cup.

And the victory was merited even if there was plenty of ammunition to stir the controversial theories with referee Patrick Nelis consulting a linesman in the first half before disallowing a Navan O'Mahonys 'point' in the 27th minute.

It turned out to be a crucial decision, but there isn't enough meat on that bone for O'Mahonys to justify any type of 'hard luck' story - this was a game O'Mahonys should have been able to win comfortably if they wanted to be treated seriously as Keegan Cup contenders.

The reality is slightly different - battling Ballinlough despensed a lesson, a harsh lesson, that suggests the Keegan Cup will be leaving Navan in 2015.

Sunstitute Junior Reilly fisted the winning point for Ballinlough in the third minute of added time - it was a score that O'Mahonys laid the foundations for by giving away possession after they were awarded a free-out around their own 13-metre line.

They played a long sideways ball that went out across the far sideline - Ballinlough calmly kept possession and worked the point - they deserved it for their courage, attitude and never-say-panic attitude.

O'Mahonys trailed by 0-5 to 0-7 at the interval - they got a goal early in the second-half, but it only papered over the cracks - no one better than Ballinlough to expose flaws in the opposition.

An emotional Ballinlough manager Tom Shine was full of praise for his players after the final whistle - 'This is a fantastic result for us, we have a very small pick and to beat a team like O'Mahonys is huge for us,' he said.

DUNBOYNE V MOYNALVEY
Dunboyne maintained their unbeaten run in the Meath SFC as they crushed a depleted Moynalvey by 2-20 to 0-10 at Summerhill this evening.

The 16-point victory looked unlikely when Moynalvey closed the gap to 0-6 to 1-5 21 seconds into the second-half, but hugely impressive Dunboyne went on a scoring spree with county player Donal Lenihan leading the charge with a personal tally of 1-9.

Lenihan's goal came after two minutes and wiped out Moynalvey's early point.

While Barry O'Keeffe's side stuck bravely to their task they were outclassed in the second period with Ronan Jones adding further gloss to an already impressive tally with his Dunboyne's second goal two minutes from full-time.

 

RESULTS

SFC
Ballinlough 0-12, Navan O'Mahonys 1-8.
Dunboyne 2-20, Moynalvey 0-10.

 

SFC
GROUP A

                      P W D L  F A Pts

Dunboyne        4 4 0 0  72 42 8
Moynalvey       4 2 0 2  62 71 4
Summerhill      3 2 0 1  52 39 4
Wolfe Tones     3 1 0 2  41 40 2
Duleek/B'town 3 1 0 2  30 50 2
Rathkenny       3 0 0 3  30 45 0


GROUP B

Skryne                 3 3 0 0  45 34 6
Navan O’Mahonys  4 2 1 1  64 49 5
Don/Ashbourne     3 2 0 1  42 38 4
Ballinlough            4 2 0 2  48 55 4
St Patrick’s           3 0 1 2  40 46 1
Seneschalstown     3 0 0 3  34 51 0

JUNIOR C
Syddan 2-8, Cortown 0-6.
JUNIOR D QUARTER-FINALS
Ratoath 0-13, Moynalty 0-6
Curraha 0-14, Gaeil Colmcille 0-10
Ballinlough 2-16, Ballinabrackey 3-7
Seneschalstown 1-16, Kilmainham 2-8