Connaught Cup RD3
Soccer: Peter pounces as Town triumph
By Anthony Hennigan in Killala
Connacht Junior Cup – Round 3
KILLALA AFC 1 BALLYHAUNIS TOWN 2
THE NEW structure of Mayo’s six-tier football league means that no fewer than four divisions will separate these teams when the 2011 season commences.
Killala are set to play their football in the division below Super League whereas Ballyhaunis Town are ranked in the fifth of six divisions –despite completing a league and cup double in this, the first year of the club’s reformation.
But if not privy to such information, anyone in attendance last Sunday would have found it hard to adjudicate just what side was the higher ranked.
It was Ballyhaunis, however, who, having also carried their good form into the FAI Junior Cup where they are just one victory away from reaching the national stages, continued their advancement through the early rounds of the Connacht Junior Cup, with victory by the odd goal in three.
Killala, for whom Rory Gallagher missed a penalty after just two minutes, found themselves two goals in arrears by the 53rd minute but fought the good fight right to the end, even serving up a grandstand finish for the hardy supporters who braved the coldness of the seaside town. They were unable find an equaliser however, after Johnny McNulty’s headed goal provided them a lifeline with just four minutes of normal time to play.
The losers will undoubtedly look back at the first half with some regret. Penalty-taker Gallagher might have had chance to redeem himself on not one, but two occasions had referee Kevin Cox looked more favourably on further, quite genuine penalty appeals by the home side before half-time. It was Gallagher himself who was upended in the box by Ballyhaunis centre-half Michael Waldron in the 18th minute and Waldron was again at the heart of the drama on the half hour when clearly handling Johnny McNulty’s delivery into the penalty area.
In the referee’s defence, Waldron’s action in the latter instance did seem self-protective, but Killala’s annoyance was understandable considering they had by now fallen behind to Peter Matuska’s 25th minute goal for the visitors.
Chasing Paul Finn’s long ball up the left wing, Matuska beat full-back David Cadden and from close to the end-line, his drilled shot deceived goalkeeper Brendan Ryan who was preparing for the cross, and the ball squirmed under his body and into the back of the net.
Matuska was Town’s only serious attacking threat throughout the first half, volleying wide from 25 yards in the eighth minute and having the ball whipped off his toe by Killala centre-back Ollie Clarke just when he was about to release the trigger, eleven minutes before the break.
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The mystery was how Ballyhaunis hadn’t conceded at the other end. Penalty dramas aside, their goalkeeper Aidan Fitzmaurice had twice used his legs to brilliant effect, first when denying Johnny McNulty in the sixth minute, after Rory Gallagher hooked the ball through to his strike partner, and six minutes before the interval when Mark McDonnell connected superbly at the near post with Mattie Webb’s right wing cross.
There was a dearth of clear-cut scoring opportunities after half-time, and up until McNulty’s late consolation for the hosts, Peter Matuska’s doubling of his and his side’s tally, in the 53rd minute, was one of the rare moments either side had a clear sight of goal.
Eddie Kilcourse had made the hard yards down the right flank when whipping in the ball for Matuska to meet at the back post and rifle in with his left boot.
With only John Clarke consistently to the fore in their midfield, Killala looked to the bench for inspiration. Brendan McNulty certainly added some spice along the left wing and fellow sub Martin McLoughlin almost picked out Rory Gallagher who was an inch short of poking past Town ‘keeper Fitzmaurice in the 63rd minute.
It was the lively Gallagher who eventually turned provider from the left, as Johnny McNulty rose above the goalkeeper to head into an empty net. But Killala’s breakthrough had come too late for them to follow up with an equaliser and instead, winger Aidan Ferguson was handed his marching orders in stoppage time as he earned a second booking for a trip that upended the counter-attacking Fergus Coyne.
KILLALA: Brendan Ryan, David Cadden, Matthew Webb, Ollie Clarke, Eamon Knoxx, Ian O’Boyle, Mark McDonnell, John Clarke, Johnny McNulty, Rory Gallagher, Aidan Ferguson. Subs: Brendan McNulty and Martin McLoughlin (for McDonnell and Cadden 59).
BALLYHAUNIS TOWN: Aidan Fitzmaurice, Damien Hurley, Paul Nolan, Michael Waldron, Paul Walsh, Eddie Kilcourse, Miroslav Rylak, Paul Finn, Peter Matuska, John Kelly, Joe Neenan. Subs: Fergus Coyne (for Rylak 51), Michael Mariagliano (for Neenan 68).
Referee: Kevin Cox.
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