Battling Bornacoola undone by Ballymote goals

The scoreline doesn't do their efforts any justice as Bornacoola went toe to toe with Ballymote Round Towers in Sunday's AIB Connacht Junior Club Championship Quarter Final but just couldn't match their goal scoring ability on the day in Markievicz Park.

When you see a team coming over to the main stand to thank their fans after the final whistle only to be greeted by applause and cheers, you get some idea of the battling performance that Bornacoola put in against Ballymote.  

 Two goals either side of halftime took what had been a closely balanced game away from Bornacoola and when the Sligo men snatched a third 11 minutes into the second half, it left Bornacoola with a mountain to climb.

That climb became almost Everest-like when Sean McKeon received a straight red card two minutes later, it was impossible to see a way back for the Leitrim champions but they never stopped fighting, Cian Mallon's goal four minutes from the end no more than they deserved.

Bornacoola kept absorbing body blows from Ballymote and kept coming right back - in Damien Moran, they had the game's outstanding player but Ballymote's greater all round balance and power running from their halfback line caused the Bors huge problems.

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Bornacoola actually ended the game with 12 players - David Mulligan picking up a second yellow and sub Alan Bohan a black card in added time - but it certainly wasn't that type of game. Bornacoola played with intensity and the right amount of aggression but the cumulative effect of challenges left them short three players at the final whistle.

It was a disappointing end to a fabulous year for the Bors, winning their first adult championship title in several years and with good numbers coming through in future years, they can look forward to the future with some confidence. 

There will be challenges of course, they still rely on some golden oldies who weren't found wanting and when they leave the scene, it will leave a hole in the Bors ranks but there are genuine reasons for the club to be confident about the future. 

The tone for the game was set early, Sligo county star Jack Lavin shooting wide before Ronan Mulligan saw a shot blocked at the other end. Lavin put a free badly wide and when Damien Moran soared into the air to claim the kickout, his run set up David Mulligan for a point, although the trajectory had some of us thinking in the press box it went wide.

That score came on three minutes and it took Ballymote five minutes to level, Lavin successfully from a free after a silly foul on Michael Lavin on the way through. The wing back dusted himself off when Zak O’Dowd did well to keep a free in play and worked the ball back to his brother Michael to score.

A second Jack Lavin free quickly followed, seconds later O’Dowd pounced on a poor Allan Croghan pass to put the home side three points clear. Good work from Moran released Cian Mallon for a fine point but O’Dowd hit his second of the game under pressure almost immediately.

Ballymote were forcing the issue but had a wide while Daniel Farrell spilled a long ball and got away with tugging back a Sligo attacker but the home side increased their lead when Michael Lavin finished off a good move with a fine point on 19 minutes. That move had deeper consequences for Bornacoola as both Brian Duffy and David Mulligan were booked for separate fouls in the same move.

With things looking bleak, Bornacoola suddenly kicked into gear - dissent saw a free moved in to the 50 yard mark and Damien Moran booted a monster effort over the bar. A turnover a minute later and the former Leitrim star fired over his third in succession to cut the four point gap back to one in the space of two minutes.

But just as the Bornacoola crowd were beginning to find their voice, Ballymote struck for their first goal, Jack Lavin’s superb pass threaded the needle through to Oisin Brennan and he blasted to the net from what appeared to be a ridiculous angle, a huge score in a very tight game.

From the kickout, Moran claimed another spectacular catch, went long to Ronan Mulligan who fed the ball back to Brian Duffy for an excellent point. However, the dangerous O’Dowd collected a long ball into space and held off his man for a fine score to leave Bornacoola trailing 1-7 to 0-6 at the break.

Ballymote would have the wind in the second half but Bornacoola came out full of confidence that they could match their hosts but that confidence was shattered in the first minute of the second half, Jack Lavin’s run seemingly going nowhere as he lost control of the ball approaching the goal. However, Lavin threw out his leg, the ball went up in the air and Zak O’Dowd was judged to get the final touch to fist the ball to the Bornacoola net, a real hammer blow.

But again, Bornacoola refused to lie down - Jonathan Boyle had a high hanging shot go over the bar and a foul on sub Conor McCauley resulted in Moran converting a free, getting the gap back to five points four minutes into the second half. Unfortunately that was as close as it got - corner-back Shane Langton converted a free and then a strong run from Oisin Brennan left Dermot McTiernan with a simple finish for Ballymote’s third goal 11 minutes into the second half.

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It got much worse two minutes later when Sean McKeon was shown a straight red card by referee Shane Corcoran for an off-the-ball incident. It left Bornacoola with a mountain to climb and although Niall Colsh and Damien Moran swapped free, another Michael Lavin point extended the lead.

With both teams running in subs, the momentum of the game stalled but Bornacoola displayed all of their battling qualities when Brian Duffy lobbed a high ball into the area, Cian Mallon did well to field and he blasted home to reduce the deficit to seven points with just over three minutes left.

Michael Lavin and Allan Croghan would swap points as the game ended somewhat disappointingly with David Mulligan picking up a second yellow while sub Alan Bohan was black carded for a trip deep into injury time, leaving Bornacoola to finish out the game with 12 players.

BORNACOOLA

Scorers: Damien Moran 0-5, 4f; Cian Mallon 1-1; Allan Croghan, Brian Duffy, David Mulligan & Jonathan Boyle 0-1 each

Team: Daniel Farrell, Kevin Mulligan, Mervyn Howard, Brian Duffy, Sean McKeon, Anthony Mulligan, Jason Conroy, Allan Croghan, Damien Moran, David Mulligan, Cian Mallon, Oliver Vaughan, Nathan Ryan, Ronan Mulligan, Jonathan Boyle. Subs: Conor McCauley for Ryan (24); Odhran Heslin for Vaughan (HT); Gary McCloskey for Howard (38); Jake Shiels for R Mulligan (49); Alan Bohan for Boyle (53)

BALLYMOTE ROUND TOWERS

Scorers: Zak O’Dowd 1-3; Michael Lavin 0-4; Oisin Brennan & Dermot McTiernan 1-0 each; Jack Lavin 0-2, 2f; Shane Langton (f) & Niall Colsh (f) 0-1 each

Team: Cian Kilcoyne, Shane Langton, Michael Doddy, Shane Raftery, Michael Lavin, Jack Lavin, Conor Finn, Luke Hogg, Michael Raftery, Oisin Brennan, Zak O’Dowd, Aaron Brennan, Conor Meehan, Dermot McTiernan, Niall Colsh. Subs: Malachy Healy for Meehan (HT); Colin Byrne for Finn (44); Paul Mullen for Brennan (49); Kenny Meehan for Rafferty (56); Ruairi Kilgarriff for McTiernan (63)

Referee: Shane Corcoran (Mayo)