Impressive Balla hold off late Ballinamore in exciting Connacht Schools quarter-final
Connacht PPS Senior C FC Quarter-Final: Ballinamore CS 3-6 Balla SS 2-19
Two talented teams defied biting cold and driving rain on the superb playing surface in Balla to produce a fine game of football on Wednesday afternoon.
The home side, playing on their own school pitch, were clear and deserving winners at the end, but were made fight for everything by their Leitrim guests, who scored three late goals to give the scoreboard a somewhat balanced outlook.
The boys in blue took some time to get going but were ten points clear at the break. Attackers Oran Murphy, Patrick McHale, Charlie Fallon, Ethan Duffy and Liam Glynn all kicked points, while midfielder Mark Jennings also raised a white flag to leave Balla in charge.
Ballinamore were competitive all over the field with Jamie Plunkett, Jack Prior, Fionan McIntyre, Cillian McWeeney and Thomas Gunn to the fore.
The crucial score of the opening half arrived just before the break when a flowing Balla move ended with Duffy drilling home a fine goal for the Mayo boys.
The lead was extended in the third quarter as Ryan Judge, Dara Patten, Glynn, Ryan O'Donnell and excellent full-back Sean Brohan caught the eye.
Ballinamore kept them honest with Sam Maguire, Eoin Prior, Jack Donohoe and Louis Quinn driving forward at every opportunity.
However, the home side were winning the majority of the breaks around the middle and showing some fine skills despite the rain and biting cold. They moved 17 points clear after 50 minutes and it seemed as if they were home and dry, but Ballinamore had other ideas.
Jamie Plunkett found the net after 53 minutes and Jack Prior did likewise 30 seconds later. That gave the boys in red and black a huge boost and when Plunkett blasted home another goal four minutes from the end, there was a sniff of a comeback, but Balla steadied the ship and late points from Glynn and Patrick McHale sealed the deal.
A full match report will be carried in next week's Leitrim Observer