Ballinkillen have produced two decent results back to back which leaves them in a great position currently.
Carlow Senior Hurling Championship Round 3
Ballinkillen 1-17, Bagenalstown Gaels 1-14
The old cliché “a good start is half the battle” had “proof in the pudding” with Ballinkillen’s men “7 up” by the time Jack McCullagh squeezed in the Gaels’ opening score.
This lead they kept to a 2-score game right up to the late stages, throwing in some frenetic additional time drama.
Cormac Lomax, a late inclusion for Conor Tracey, opened the scoring in the 6th minute. Their fellow parishioners did not help their own cause, with a Ciaran Whelan free and a rocketing Kevin Kavanagh goal both following turnovers inside their opponents’ rearguard.
The same pair pointed before McCullagh eventually steadied some growing nerves, with the lively Jack Treacy then hitting a beauty off the sideline. The first quarter was over before Craig Doyle got his first of the night from a free, immediately cancelled out by Sean Murphy.
Ciaran Whelan made it look so easy at times, his pair in the 19th and 22nd minutes nullifying a Darragh Nolan free and Keelan Guidera in between. Lomax, a minute later, certainly vindicated his inclusion, making it 1-9 to 0-5.
It was now Ballinkillen’s turn to feel the heat in front of their goal, with Guidera finishing brilliantly in the 26th and 27th minutes, the latter off the sideline for 1-9 to 0-7.
Whelan added a pair of placed balls, the second seeing Choo Choo brought down bearing down on goal, the Town relieved to see either or both a card and a penalty. Craig Doyle in added time from 35m left it 1-11 to 0-8 at the break.
The second half started with Darragh Nolan getting a yellow card before the players took their positions (didn’t see what happened there, Ger!). A good start was needed and provided, with Doyle scoring from a free and play, and Padraig Hynes replying for Ballinkillen in the 38th minute for 1-12 to 0-10, still a 2-score game.
Darragh Nolan, after Jake Doyle was fouled on halfway, pointed before Choo Choo, with very little of his hurl to use, shovelled over in the 44th minute. Nolan then landed a monster free for 1-13 to 0-12, with Ballinkillen’s David English and Dion Wall at times like a tag team mopping up danger.
Four became five with another Whelan placed ball, the recently introduced Andrew Kane pointing before, with it being two teams from the one parish, there’s always a relation of some sort around. Jason Wall drew a free and a yellow card from Dion Wall, with Styler pointing to make it 1-14 to 0-14, no longer a 2-score game.
That statistic became redundant almost immediately, with Hynes getting his second of the night before a few misses on both sides saw us enter three minutes of additional time.
It was in the second of these that Sean Murphy made his typical Choo Choo run, meeting Alfie Corcoran on the sideline and drawing the free in for Ballinkillen. Referee Billy Fanning, on consultation with his linesman, overturned his original decision and awarded the free to Bagenalstown Gaels.
Darragh Nolan landed it in beyond the D where Jake Doyle gathered, turned, and buried it past his cousin Thomas Dowling.
Game on now, Ger! Credit to Ballinkillen, if there was any sense of injustice they put it to one side, with Whelan from another free and Hynes for his third giving them the points and getting them back in the mix.
Scorers:
Ballinkillen 1-17
Subs: Conor Tracey, Marty Dalton
Bagenalstown Gaels 1-14
Subs: D Doyle, A Kane
Referee: Billy Fanning
