Meath men prevail with solid second half display

Meath against Kilkenny in football. Tradition dictates that any team from the Royal County should emerge from such a contest with a thumping victory. Tradition was maintained in this Leinster Club JFC quarter-final at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday, but not as comprehensively as might have been expected, or as the scoreline suggests. Ballinabrackey did what they had set out to do and secured their place in the last four yet they will not be totally satisfied with the level of their performance. It was only in the second-half when they started to reproduce the type of football that helped them win the Matthew Ginnity Cup last month. They were somewhat fortunate to lead, 0-5 to 1-1, at the interval and with the help of a goal from Brian Lucey they were able to push on to another level in the second-half to wrap up the win. Going into the game on the back of their astonishing 7-25 to 0-2 win over Moydow Harpers in the last round Ballinabrackey were perhaps a little complacent, at least before the break. There may also have been something in the fact that they were playing a team from Kilkenny, a county not noted for its footballing prowess. There are 41 GAA clubs in Kilkenny and only two of them are exclusively football - and Thomastown is not one of them. Yet Thomastown proved to be fit and eager and up for this. They earned their place in this competition after winning the Kilkenny IFC a few weeks ago. The club, not surprisingly, is best known for the hurlers such as legendary goalkeeper Ollie Walsh. Then there was Dick O’Hara who was a sturdy full-back for the black and amber in the 1980s. His son, Richard O’Hara, was among the Thomastown substitutes for this game and came on for a spell in the second-half. By the time he made an appearance early in the second-half Ballinabrackey were already well on the way to victory before Lucey’s goal after 55 minutes putting the issue beyond any doubt. And it was a score that had elements of the brilliant and the bizarre about it. The Meath side put together a swift passing move they are normally so accomplished at with Chris O’Connor, Pat Loftus (pictured), Andrew Munnelly, Lucey, Ray Kearney and Joe Bannon all involved in getting the ball forward. Lucey won possession about 20 metres out and on the right. He looked like he was shooting for a point. The ball looped over the head of the Thomastown goalkeeper and nestled in the corner of the net. Ballinabrackey during the course of a game like to pack their defence and break forward. O’Connor wore number 11 yet spent a great deal of his time covering in front of his defence. The strategy made it difficult for Thomastown to get scores yet it also meant that the visitors had a man spare in their defence and the Meath side struggled to find time and space in the danger areas. Much of what Ballinabrackey attempted in the opening half proved fruitless. Moves that started promisingly petered out without any reward. Passes went astray, the ball was kicked aimlessly down the middle where it was invariably swallowed up by Thomastown’s free agent and sweeper Brian Dempsey. Despite making a sluggish start Ballinabrackey scored the opening points of the game from Damien Carroll and Danny Quinn. Then, after 10 minutes, they were hit with upper cut that wasn’t totally unexpected. Thomastown broke forward from midfield they worked the ball into the square and there was Paul Barron to turn and fire low into the net. Carroll pointed from a free before Thomastown had the audacity to go take the lead on 24 minutes when their midfielder Stephen Connolly slotted the ball over the bar. At that stage Ballinabrackey supporters among the meagre attendance were getting agitated in the stands before normal service was resumed when Carroll split the posts again from a free and Ray Kearney powered forward to slot over and give his team their slender interval advantage. Whatever was said to the Ballinabrackey boys at the interval had the desired effect. They were a totally different, more focused outfit in the second half. Kearney and Kevin Darby in particular were impressive, regularly winning possession and steaming forward, showing the way for their colleagues. Steadily Ballinabrackey clocked up the points Aidan Flynn, Kearney, Carroll, Seamus Curry, Danny Quinn all contributing before Lucey made the net dance and sent the smattering of Ballinabrackey supporters into raptures. Victory was signed, sealed and delivered. Now Ballinabrackey can look ahead to the semi-finals knowing that they at least were involved in a hard game that exposed some of their weaknesses and gave them something to work on. Tradition was maintained but not without the Meath side enduring a fright. Ballinabrackey - B Glennon; N Judge, P Kenny, K Darby; N Brazil, R Kearney (0-3), I McAuliffe; D Carroll (0-4), F Bannon; P Loftus, C O’Connor, A Flynn (0-1); S Curry (0-1), D Quinn (0-2), A Munnelly. Subs - T Bannon for F Bannon 44 mins; B Lucey (1-0) for Flynn 44m; J Bannon for Curry 54m; B O’Connor for McAuliffe. Thomastown - B Cooke; M Coone, S Lanigan, B Dempsey; J Cullinane, JJ Farrell, P Caulfield; S Connolly (0-1, free), S O’Mahony; B Murphy, D Lanigan, A Kavanagh; D Prendergast, J O’Hanrahan, P Barron (1-0). Subs - R O’Hara for O’Hanrahan 45 mins; L Blanchfield for Barron 46m; J Hoyne (0-1) for Connolly 51m. Referee - Peter Daly (Westmeath).