Senior Football ACFL II

B'martin 0.5  -  1.6 Ballyholland

3rd Aug 2007

Since more or less the halfway point of the season, this had been a fixture that had the look of a season decider about it for Ballyholland.

And when it finally happened, the players responded emphatically.

Since the debacle in Downpatrick, it seems as though the Harps have found a new level of intensity – and on this occasion, they cranked it up a little more again.

The success was founded on the strength, bravery and focus of their midfield and half-back lines - and each of that quintet would hold down strong claims for any man of the match award.

James Patterson and Paul Murphy were in imperious form in the ball-winning stakes, especially so during a first half when Ballymartin’s management were left with no choice but to replace one midfielder, and move the other.

Although Harps recycled this possession on just about every occasion, good shooting opportunities rarely developed. Partly due to playing against a huge wind blowing into the changing rooms corner, partly due to the tight Ballymartin field allowing no time on the ball for supporting players, and partly due to tenacious defending from the Lilywhites. Harps would rattle off some nine wides during that first half, but less than a handful of those would have been kickable on a good day, let alone in these conditions.

Ballymartin suffered similar problems at the other end though. With Damien Campbell and Ciaran Murtagh leading the defence, they truly had to work their socks off just to get a sniff of a shooting opportunity, and by the quarter-hour mark had seemingly defaulted to taking wind-assisted popshots from the halfway line.

Points scored were always going to be few in number, and therefore a goal was always going to prove crucial… and Mattie Shields was the man who grabbed what would prove to be the only goal, after 16 minutes.

James Patterson was the architect, with a tremendous cross-field ball to Ronan Murtagh’s corner. On receipt, the county man skipped in along the end line, thumping and bumping past a few challenges, before releasing the ball for Shields to punch home a simple finish.

That put three points between the sides, and that was as close as Ballymartin were to get for the rest of the match.

In fairness, they never trailed by more than four points either. Improved first-phase ball-winning from Darren O’Hanlon and Peter Fitzpatrick meant they were always in with a chance. Indeed, only for a nice save by Kieran Murphy from the free-running Sean McManus, they would even have been level.

The first half ended with the teams trading nice scores, Murtagh cutting in again at one end, Cathal McDowell from long-range at the other – and the second half began in a similar vein, with Paudie McKernan this time trading scores with McDowell.

As a real battle of attrition developed between the forty-fives, that was all we got in the scoring stakes for some 10 minutes.

Most notable during this time was the sheer, unwilting application of Ballyholland’s back line. Collie Barry and Damien Campbell were masters of any long-ball threat. Anton Haughey and Paddy McAnulty collected breaking-ball at will and threw their bodies on the line continually. Ciaran Murtagh tidied up the pieces and was always available. Joe Murphy’s man dragged him out the field a bit and, well, that suited wee Joe perfectly.

Also notable was that the referee had seemingly made his mind up to keep this game close as possible to the end. Blatant frees at the home end went unnoticed, while negligible infringements at the away end were met with a loud shrill.

Murtagh twice banged over frees that not even this referee could ignore, but the Whites replied on both occasions, once through a McDowell free, once through John Fitzpatrick, to make it a nervy three point game.

In the aftermath of the Fitzpatrick point, James Patterson received a second yellow and therefore his marching orders – and I’m still unsure exactly what for.

This meant that for the final 8 minutes of the match (as it turned out, this 8 became 13 - at the whim of the referee), 14-man Harps had to summon up even more energy and intensity than ever. This they duly did, and their reward came in the form of the best score of the night, when Ronan Murtagh ran some 40 metres with the ball before sending the ball over from distance.

The play-offs are now very much in Ballyholland’s hands. This result has seen them go joint second with Ballymartin and Annaclone on 26 points, with Downpatrick a point behind in fifth place. Only one of this quartet won’t make it. If Ballyholland continue to play to this level in their final two league games, it won’t be them missing out.

Player of the Match: Ciaran Murtagh

Ballyholland Team: K Murphy; J Murphy, D Campbell, C Barry; P McAnulty, C Murtagh, A Haughey; James Patterson, P Murphy; R Quinn, S Mulholland, T Havern; P McKernan (0-1), M Shields (1-0), R Murtagh (0-5, 3f). Subs used: C Sands, A McAteer.

Opponents Team: G Joyce; S Brannigan, S Cunningham, E McEvoy; L Byrne, S McManus, P Fitzpatrick; P Greene, D Magennis; C McDowell (0-4, 2f), D O’Hanlon, J Doran; M Higgins, J Fitzpatrick (0-1), C McRory. Subs used: P Fitzpatrick, J Fitzpatrick, P Cunningham.

Referee: n/a

Match Report by: Anthony

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