Ballysteen Sports Field saw it’s biggest attendance to date when a bumper crowd turned out for this  Premier Minor Football match between Ballysteen/St Senans  and Ballybrown. The large and vocal crowd were treat to an epic, free flowing game of football which saw our lads produce a late rally to emerge victorious on a scoreline of 3-11 to 3-9.

The game was lively from the off with some well taken scores from both sides. The highlights being two very well worked goals finished to net by Conor Barry and Jack Neville. Declan Geurin was winning the battle at center forward and slotted over some fine scores. It was far from one way traffic though as our lads at times found it difficult to deal with the strength and direct running of the Ballybrown who themselves rattled home 2 goals to leave the half time scoreline reading 2-6 to 2-4 in favour of the home side.

The game continued to ebb and flow from the restart, with Ballybrown opening the scoring to reduce the deficit to a single point. We began to reassert around midfield with Corey Flynn and Jamie O’Sullivan winning and breaking good ball to our eager half backs David O’Connell and Evan O’Donoghue. This good work paid dividends when we won a free 30m from goal. Declan Geurin stepped up to take it, his strike leaving the keeper stranded as the ball dipped kindly underneath the cross bar for a somewhat fortunate goal. There was nothing fortunate about the two scores which followed, two super points  from the lively John O’Shaughnessy and target man Conor Barry.

This stirred Ballybrown back into life and they attacked relentlessly, their hard running style again proving difficult for our defenders to counter. They slotted over a couple of points before they were handed a somewhat dubious penalty. There was a slight hint of justice as the spot kick flashed wide of the post. However Ballybrown were to be rewarded for there hard work just minutes later when they were awarded a second penalty. This time there was no mistake as the ball was tucked into the corner of the net to set the scene for an epic closing 10 minutes. By this time Declan Geurin had been dropped deeper to bolster the defence and this helped stem the tide of Ballybrown attacks. But despite some tenacious defending Ballybrown finally got their chance to level the game when they were awarded a free which was duly put between the posts as the game entered stoppage time.

Instead of settling for the draw our lads dug deep and one minute into stoppage time a long ball found it’s way to a tightly marked Darragh Ranahan, who ducked and twisted before eventually trying an audacious over the shoulder effort which split the posts. The loud cheers from the sidelines had barely died down when Jamie O’Sullivan won the resulting kick out and sent the ball straight back over the cross bar to seal a great win. Well done to everyone involved.

Team: Thomas Lane, Daniel Conroy, Dara Fennessy, Eoin McSweeney, David O’Connell, Dave Hanly, Evan O’Donoghue, Jamie O’Sullivan, Corey Flynn, Mick Boyce, Jack Neville, Darragh Ranahan, Conor Barry, Declan Guerin, John O’Shaughnessy