‘We’ve been through this’: Last year’s replay saga to stand to Ballinamore after Leitrim semi-final draw

There was plenty to ponder for Ballinamore following their 1-21 to 1-21 Connacht Gold semi-final draw against Fenagh St Caillin's in Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada on Sunday evening.

It took a late free kick from a cool Paul Honeyman to level the game for Ballinamore at the end of added time to salvage the draw.

Manager Mark Henry says he was in no doubt they would live to fight another day:

“We found ourselves in a variety of tight spots last year and managed to see our way through against Fenagh, against Mary's in the semi-final and of course against Mohill a couple of times we were in tight spots and came back. So I know that's in them and it's a very important quality to have.”

Despite last year's finalists dominating the opening half and establishing a solid seven-point lead midway through normal time with the wind at their backs, that lead was gone as Fenagh played with abandon and kicked a series of two-pointers early in the second half.

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Henry says they might not have made enough hay when they had the wind and momentum in the first half.

“We ask the boys to play with control, but maybe we asked them to play with too much control.”

The game was nip and tuck, with neither team ever looking like they were going to reach out and grab the win.

Ballinamore looked to have dealt the hammer blow late in the second half with a Michael McKiernan goal, but less than a minute later Fenagh had one in reply as a long ball in was bundled into the net by Colm McLoughlin.

“At a couple of stages during that contest, we would have been happy enough to take a replay, and look, we are happy to take a replay,” says Henry.

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“It would have been nice to finish it off. But we probably, on the whole, didn’t play well enough for long enough to deserve to have won it, and maybe Fenagh could say the same; both teams had periods of dominance.”

The sides will only have a week to recover and go again as they meet once again next Saturday in a game that must produce a winner to face Leitrim Gaels in the final.

The Ballinamore men will carry the experience of last year's senior final replay saga against Mohill into next week's rematch — experience that will stand to them, or at least won’t do any harm, according to Henry.

“We've been through this, as you say, last year. We're not sure whether the game at this stage is Saturday or Sunday, but we know we have a week to prepare."

"Most of the week will be recovery. We'll do a wee bit in the middle of the week at some stage and try and get ourselves right. So a lot of it is maybe in the mind and given that we were through this previously, I would hope that it stands to the boys and helps them when we get to pitch again next weekend.”