SUB-STANDARD DEFENDING COST MAYO CLUB DEARLY. . .
Soccer News 5 March 1997
Ballyheane dream comes a cropper
Ballyheane ............................ 1
Cliffoney Celtic ...................... 2
BY TOM KELLY. . .AT BALLYGLASS
A fantastic Ballyheane cup dream is dead. The club's lack of big match experience and pedigree served to undermine their brave challenge against Cliffoney Celtic in the penultimate round of the Connaught Junior Cup at wintry Ballyglass on Sunday.
In a performance which bore scant resemblance to the one which resulted in the West Mayo side scoring a historic victory over St. Bernard's in the previous round, Ballyheane were made to pay heavily for two critical moments of sub-standard defending.
The goals by Colin Regan and Mark Travers which ensured Cliffoney Celtic of a deserved place in the final for the first time came from the type of rearguard errors which Ballyheane believed they had eliminated from their game.
The result brought to an end a brilliant run in which Ballyheane had lost just four times in almost a year. It was unfortunate, however, that their worst display of a long and hard season should fall on their biggest ever occasion.
But player/manager Bobby Feeney will have been swift to point out to his players the huge strides they had made in a relatively short period of time. It was unfortunate, too, that they were denied the opportunity of staging the most significant match in the club's history on their own ground.
Bad weather had resulted in the postponement of the game on its original date ten days ago, and they were forced into a situation last Sunday of having to play eight miles away in Ballyglass when their own pitch was waterlogged once again.
Although the venue was the scene of their memorable victory over the Mayo League Premiership champions earlier in the competition, it still did not possess quite the same advantage as playing at home.
Furthermore, the wet and blustery conditions were arguably more suited to a physically stronger and more solid Cliffoney outfit.
Ballyheane started like a side all at sea, and they fell behind after twenty minutes when a clearance attempt was badly fumbled and Colin Regan knocked the ball into the net from inside the six years box.
The Mayo side were back in the match before half-time, however. . .albeit in bizarre fashion.
HUGE SETBACK
Big central defender Tom Bourke could scarcely believe his luck when he saw the ball fly into the Celtic net after it rebounded off his right knee following a corner-kick.It was a stroke of fortune which should have inspired Ballyheane to greater things, but it did not. The loss of midfielder Greg Flynn, the side's top scorer, midway through the opening half had been a huge setback for them.
It told in the second half when Ballyheane displayed a woeful lack of penetration and attacking imagination.
For a while it appeared they were capable of breaking down Cliffoney through sheer character and persistence. But once Mark Travers struck Cliffoney's second goal with twenty minutes remaining, Ballyheane were always in serious trouble.
They had struggled to defend with authority from corner-kicks all afternoon, and it was no real surprise that Travers's goal arrived following a corner-kick on the left by Niall Harrison, the game's most skilful player.
In fairness to Ballyheane, they did everything to retrieve the situation in the closing stages. Anthony Skeffington ran and ran; Bobby Feeney plotted and schemed; and Kieran Heneghan kept taking up threatening positions.
But Cliffoney were just that little bit shrewder when it came to the crunch, and Ballyheane were left to bemoan what might have been.
Ballyheane: S. Fahey, B. Heneghan, I. Duffy, T. Burke, C. Conroy, K. Lally, B. Feeney, G. Flynn, B. Donnelly, K. Heneghan, A. Skeffington. Res: T. Coghill (for Flynn inj.); S. Coogan (for B. Donnelly).
Cliffoney Celtic: L. Gilmartin, A. McHugh, J. Langan, N. Harrison, E. Barrett, M. Travers, C. Barrett, P. Brannigan, P. Loughlin, C. Regan, J. Langan. Res: S. Loughlin (for P. Loughlin); J. McHugh (for Jimmy Langan).
Ref: E. Smith (Galway).
* Star Rating: Niall Harrison. . .made Cliffoney tick.
Connaught Telegraph - News & Sport - March 1997
