Brilliant Ballymartle clinch first South East junior A football title

Ballymartle 1-14

Valley Rovers 0-7

HOWARD CROWDY REPORTS

HISTORY was made in Carrigaline when Ballymartle captured their very first Five Mile Inn South East JAFC trophy by virtue of a comfortable ten-point victory over holders Valley Rovers.

Pat Desmond, chairman of the South East GAA Board, outlined the occasion by saying, ‘This was a day of firsts – the first time a South East junior A football championship final was held on a Monday night, the first time the final was held in the middle of November, and the first time that Ballymartle had captured the South East trophy’, which is named after Pa Joe Cronin, former secretary of the South East Board who hailed from Ballymartle.

Valley Rovers could not match the determination from Ballymartle and found themselves a point down after only 12 seconds of the game courtesy of Killian McCarthy.

Valleys’ Colm Butler brought the sides level within a minute, and with Shane Cummins and Colm Butler exchanging points, the sides were level on 0-2 apiece after five minutes.

However, that was the last time that Valley Rovers were on equal terms with Ballymartle who slowly but surely added points during the half with scores coming from Brian Corry, Rikard Cahalane, Jack Ryan, Paul Geary, Shane Cummins and John McCarthy. The Riverstick side went in at the break 0-8 to 0-2 ahead.

A mini resurgence from the holders, with three points from Colm Butler including two frees sandwiched between a free from Ballymartle’s Killian McCarthy, left five points between the sides before Ballymartle’s dominance emerged again midway through the second half. 

Paul Geary drove through the full-back line and blasted the ball home from close range to leave the game beyond Valley Rovers’ reach as the Riverstick side now led by eight points with less than 15 minutes remaining.

Valleys could only add two additional points from Colm Butler, with Ballymartle getting close to scoring a second goal in the 45th minute only for Killian McCarthy to be denied by David Lynch in the Valleys goal.

Ballymartle pressed forward, and even had the luxury of six wides in the second half, as they eventually ran out winners on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-7.

Pat Desmond, South East Board Chairman, assisted by Margaret Ring of the Five Mile Inn, main sponsors, presented the trophy to Ballymartle captain Darragh McCarthy, while teammate Jack Ryan received the man-of-the-match award from sponsors Paddy Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Insurances Kinsale.

Scorers

Ballymartle: Paul Geary 1-2, Shane Cummins 0-3, Brian Corry, Rikard Cahalane, Jack Ryan each, John McCarthy (1f) 0-2, Killian McCarthy 0-1f.

Valley Rovers: Colm Butler 0-6 (3f), Niall Lawton 0-1.

Ballymartle: Gavin Murphy, Joe Butler, Michael Tobin, Declan Dwyer, Liam Corry, Eoghan O’Leary, Darragh McCarthy, Chris Healy, Jack Ryan, Rikard Cahalane, Paul Geary, Brian Corry, John McCarthy, Killian McCarthy, Shane Cummins, Niall Cummins, Seamus O’Connell, Darren McCarthy, Sean O’Mahony, Daniel Edmunds, Ian Butler.

Valley Rovers: David Lynch, Don Lynch, Ben Murphy, Shane O’Leary, Aidan Walsh, Mick O’Brien, Conor Brown, Darragh Looney, Fearghal Lyons, James Callanan, Gary Deane, Dan Sweetnam, Patrick Hurley, Billy Crowley, Colm Butler, Niall Lawton, Scott Deane, Bill Hawkes.

Referee: Ian Thomas (Carrigaline).

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