O'Heslins edge titanic struggle to leave Aughawillan in relegation dogfight

Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins officially sealed their place in the Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC knockout stages on Friday evening as they held off a defiant and frantic Aughawillan in monsoon conditions, a result that leaves the Willies deep in the relegation mire ahead of the final round of games.

2021 winners Ballinamore are the first team to officially seal their knockout spot on the back of their third win but unlike their victories over Aughnasheelin and Leitrim Gaels, this was a real dogfight in which Aughawillan can genuinely feel aggrieved at not achieving at least a draw, a draw that would have been huge in keeping their playoff hopes alive.

With Aughawillan's pitch holding up remarkably well in the atrocious conditions, the teams served up a highly entertaining and quality encounter, perhaps even the best game of the championship so far, with two Ballinamore goals in the space of a minute the decisive factor in the contest.

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A wonderful move that started from their own kickout on 41 minutes saw Shane Moran apply the decisive final touch to put the visitors two points clear in a game where a goal looked as it would always be the deciding factor. Barely a minute later, Wayne McKeon's long range free fell short but unfortunately for Aughawillan, the ball spilled from the grasp of Colin Maguire and unlikely goal hero Michael McBrien forced the ball home from close range.

It was that sort of a game where near misses or mistakes were huge - Christy Prior saw a shot hit the woodwork and come out, Aughawillan missed what looked like a tap in early in the first half while Tom Plunkett and Mark Plunkett both were denied in injury time with crucial interventions.

Dean McGovern, my pick as man of the match, tracked the charging Mark Plunkett nearly four minutes into added time and crucially punched the ball from his grasp in the wet conditions and with that, Aughawillan's chance to rescue what would have been a deserved draw was gone.

Aughawillan had got themselves back into contention with a wonderful Tom Plunkett goal as the youngster combined brilliantly with Ciaran Gilheany after Wayne McKeon lost the ball in his own defence but Aughawillan missed some crucial chances that might have shared the spoils.

Sub Niall McGovern helped turn the game Ballinamore's way as he broke up Aughawillan's dominance in the middle of the park where the excellent Fergal McTague and partner Pearce Dolan were holding sway. It was the younger McGovern presence that saw Ballinamore gain the possession that led to their goals.

Aughawillan's Tom Plunkett is put under pressure by the Ballinamore defence Picture: Willie Donnellan

While Ballinamore can plan ahead to the knockout stages and maybe even seal a semi-final spot, Aughawillan now need other results to go their way if they are to avoid the relegation semi-finals. This was a much improved performance from their loss to St Mary's but they will be getting worried at their inability to get across the line in tight games.

Christy Prior opened the scoring four minutes in with a fine point from the wing but with both teams missing chances, Ballinamore surged into the lead when Tom Prior burst through a tackle to point, O'Heslins forcing a turnover from Declan McGovern with Paul Moran converting on eight minutes.

Shane Moran scored a good point from the corner on 10 minutes and it looked as if Aughawillan were in trouble when Dillon Beirne drilled a shot over the bar two minutes later. That feeling was reinforced when a high ball broke but Christy Prior was unable to force the ball to the net from close range.

Ballinamore had their own misses too - Prior put a mark badly off-target while Shane Moran drilled a goal chance wide after a one-two with Michael McKiernan. Ciaran Gilheany availed of a quick free for the home side's second score of the game but good work from set up Luke Murphy for a fine point to restore the gap.

But then Aughawillan seemed to find their groove -  Stephen Gilheany fired over two quick points, both after good moves with Michael Quinn providing a clever low fisted pass for the second, before Fergal McTague finished off an excellent move as Aughawillan players withstood fierce Ballinamore pressure on the ball.

Morgan Quinn edged the Willies in front just into added time but Paul Moran hit back from a free but Aughawillan went into the break with the lead thanks to an unlikely source as corner-back Declan McGovern scored on a typically pacy Aughawillan counter-attack to leave them 0-7 to 0-6 in front at the break.

The second half was slow to really get going with Ciaran Gilheany's free putting them two clear after eight minutes, Paul Moran replying a minute later. The game took a sudden lurch with two goals in just over a minute - O'Heslins worked the ball from their own kickout with sub Conor Moran providing the pass to his brother Shane for the first goal.

The second came with good fortune as Wayne McKeon, another first half sub, saw his free fall short but the ball bounced from the grasp of Colin Maguire as Michael McBrien forced it home for a killer goal. 

Aughawillan's response was impressive with young Tom Plunkett hitting 1-2 over the next five minutes to draw the sides level once more - a scrambled point was followed when Plunkett harried McKeon into losing the ball before playing a one-two with Gilheany to force his shot home, Darren Maxwell unable to stop the shot from crossing the line.

Good work from Stephen Gilheany and Pearce Dolan led to Plunkett tying the score with just over 12 minutes left but Tom Prior showed a killer instinct as he cut in from the left wing to restore the Ballinamore lead. Aughawillan hit back again with Mark Plunkett scoring a wonderful effort from out on the right wing following a good run.

A typically rampaging Shane Moran run was ended by a foul and his brother Paul fired over what was the last point to seal a famous win for Ballinamore and a cruel defeat for Aughawillan.

Champions St Mary's crush Aughawillan in scary display of dominance

ST MARY'S KILTOGHERT 3-13 AUGHAWILLAN 0-5

AUGHAWILLAN

Scorers: Tom Plunkett 1-2; Stephen Gilheany & Ciaran Gilheany (f) 0-2 each; Fergal McTague, Mark Plunkett, Morgan Quinn (f), Declan McGovern & Christy Prior 0-1 each 

Team: Colin Maguire, Declan McGovern, Noel Plunkett, Micahel Quinn, Niall Stringer, Mark Plunkett, Sean Quinn, Fergal McTague, Pearce Dolan, Daire Maxwell, Stephen Gilheany, Christy Prior, Morgan Quinn, Ciaran Gilheany, Tom Plunkett. Sub: Michael Prior for Maxwell (57)

BALLINAMORE SEAN O’HESLINS

Scorers: Shane Moran 1-1, 1f; Paul Moran 0-3, 2f; Michael McBrien 1-0; Tom Prior 0-2; Dillon Beirne & Luke Murphy 0-1 each

Team: Darren Maxwell, Liam Ferguson, Brian Banks, Eoghan Shanley, Matthew Murphy, Senan Harte, Michael McBrien, Shane Moran, Dean McGovern, Dillon Beirne, Michael McKiernan, Mark McGrory, Tom Prior, Luke Murphy, Paul Moran. Subs: Wayne McKeon for Harte (5); Conor Moran for M Murphy (57); Niall McGovern for L Murphy (HT)

Referee: Vincent McMorrow