Senior Football ACFL II

W'point 2.10  -  1.14 Ballyholland

4th May 2007

Two goals and ten to one and fourteen. It's one of those scorelines you have to look at twice, then start counting out on your fingers to make sure which team won.

Before you start counting, it was a one point Ballyholland in the end, a win that was both fully justified and extremely fortunate at the same time.

Fully justified in that for long spells they dominated possession. Fully justified in that the only reason their opponents got that close was down to two goals which that owed more to misjudgment than accuracy.

But extremely fortunate in that with two minutes of injury time played, Ballyholland were trailing, but the referee allowed them the time to get back in front.

Apparently that injury time extended to eight minutes. It went on for a couple of minutes even after Ballyholland went in front.

As you would imagine, the 'Point supporters, with so little to cheer about this season, were spitting blood.

After suffering badly at the mercy of injury time in their past two games, Harps supporters danced a sweet tune back to their cars.

It was also something of a scorefest for Ballyholland folk, who have gotten accustomed to tight, low-scoring affairs this season.

Although Mark O'Hare opened the scoring very early, by the fifth minute the 'Point were 5-1 ahead, courtesy of a goal and a point from full-forward Gary Boyle, and an effort from Ronan McMahon. The goal came when McMahon's high ball was misjudged by both Ballyholland's keeper and full-back, allowing Boyle to fist home.

After that, Ballyholland got very much on top and but for a series of wides would have reversed that scoreline plus some. It took a fine goal strike from Tony Havern, running onto James Patterson's long ball to bury hard and high, to really settle the Harps down.

Yet despite generally playing better football, certainly creating more chances, and witnessing a great return to form from key forward Mark O'Hare, Ballyholland were never able to get away from their opponents.

Much of this could be traced back to the impact of the Boyle brothers. Gary's size and strength really proved a handful at 14, while John's probing runs and passing proved difficult to counter, especially when he lined out at centre-back for the second half.

Harps did manage to get three in front at one stage, but the Point clawed it back to one by the interval.

And the Point carried those battling qualities long into the second half too. James Patterson and Damien Campbell were well on top at midfield, but no matter when Harps made this advantage count, almost immediately, the home team managed to force a reply.

A fine point from Patterson pushed the visitors back in front right as time was up, just before the Blues struck their second goal of the evening. It was a bizarre goal. A long-range effort from Gary Boyle hung in the air for an eternity. First it looked to be going over, then it looked to be going wide, then it looked to be going in.

Eventually the ball came back off the crossbar, and sub Shane Donnelly pounced to send it home.

Two points down, in injury time. How the Harps needed leaders. And time.

They got both.

Robbie Quinn started the fightback, and then, after what seemed like an eternity, captain Damian McCrink strode forward, walked though a couple of challanges, sidestepped another couple, then dinked the ball over from twenty metres.

And yet the referee still allowed more.

The 'Point had two chances, both from distance, before Ballyholland worked the ball through for Mark O'Hare to fist over. Amazingly, Harps had managed to steal it.

The fallout from that score saw Anthony Grimes lose his head with an umpire and receive a straight red card.

It really was a frantic end. But as it happened, the better team won.

Best players on show were James Patterson, Damien Campbell, Mark O'Hare and Robbie Quinn for Harps, the Boyle brothers and Darragh McMeel for Warrenpoint

Player of the Match: James Patterson

Ballyholland Team: R Matthews; E Campbell, A Haughey, C Murtagh; D McCrink (0-1), P McAnulty, J Murphy; J Patterson (0-1), D Campbell (0-1); T Havern (1-1), R Quinn (0-1), C Barry (0-1); M O'Hare (0-5), K Murphy (0-3, 1f)P McKernan. Subs used: G McAteer, S Fitzpatrick, C McAteer, J Barry.

Opponents Team: G McMahon; M Morgan, D McMeel, D O'Connor; R McCartan, A Grimes, K Henry; S Curran, P Trainor, R McMahon (0-1), J Boyle (0-1), R Cowan (0-1); C McGarry (0-1), G Boyle (1-5, 3f), M Magill (0-1). Sub used: S Donnelly (1-0).

Referee: n/a

Match Report by: Anthony

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