Big surprise as the title favourites lose out in local derby

KINVARA 0-14

DAVID CONNORS IN GORT

BALLINDERREEN produced the shock of the championship thus far by defeating title favourites and neighbours Kinvara in the county semi-final ion Gort last Saturday. A big crowd attended and they were treated to a high intensity and fully committed encounter between the two rivals.

Kinvara came into this game with a perfect record in the championship and were heavily fancied to emerge victorious. Ballindereen had already suffered two defeats during their campaign, but both those losses came at the hands of the two teams competing in the other semi-final – Oranmore/Maree and Ahascragh/Fohenagh in what was clearly a very tough group.

In truth, Ballinderreen were full value for their victory. They showed a great hunger, won their battles in key areas and curtailed a Kinvara attack that had tallied an impressive (8-107) over the previous six outings.

Ballinderreen’s attack throughout proved to be a lot more fruitful with them having a broader range of scorers. Their front six registered a total of (2-5) from play, while Kinvara could only register a couple of points from the same area over the course of the game.

It was Kinvara’s county star, Conor Whelan, who opened the scoring from a free. Ballinderreen’s Shane Coen replied when he slotted over after he found himself in space early on, before Kinvara midfielder Cathal Curtin responded in kind almost instantly.

The opening goal came in the ninth minute when Ballinderreen full-forward David O’Connor neatly controlled a long ball, sharply turned his man and powered towards goal before rifling the ball into the back of the net. This was a real key moment in the game because it seemed to instil belief and confidence in the men in green and white that they could genuinely produce an upset.

They followed this by reeling off the next three points, firstly from a Kevin Lane free. This was followed by an impressive one handed effort from the lively Roy Lane and goal scorer O’ Connor added the third to give his side a four point cushion at the midway point of the first half.

Kinvara’s Curtin eventually stopped the rot by landing a superb long-range point, before Ballinderreen hit Kinvara for another two points, a Kevin Lane free and then a wonderfully self-invented point by Oisin Burke.

Kinvara to their credit weren’t going to go down without a fight and they themselves went on a scoring streak, landing the next four points, while at the same time keeping Ballinderreen scoreless for the remaining ten minutes of the half.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.