Ballymote Round Towers 1-11
Shamrock Gaels 5-17
The Expert Electrical Sligo Minor Club
Championship returned last week with Shamrock Gaels making the journey to
Corran Park to try and claim the first points in their group campaign but were
facing one of the form teams of the league in Ballymote who were rebuilding
after their league final defeat.
The Gaels started brightly with points from
the Darragh Hailstones and Daire Kearns after some good passages of play. Then
the Gaels struck again when Kearns looping ball which looked to be going over
the bar landed into the net to give them a lead of 1-2 to no score. But
Ballymote started to come into the game more with Michael Rafferty and Keith
Golden winning primary possession and then converting scores through the boot of
Adam Cunnane, Malachy Healy and Ciaran Anderson to make it 1-2 to 0-3. But
Ballymote were guilty of missing some good opportunities while on top and
Shamrock Gaels punished after some two turnovers resulted in another goal and point in the space of the
minute which put a halt to Ballymotes momentum
. Shamrock Gaels then went on a scoring
spree with the next ten points through
Hailstones,Kearns Karl McKenna, Daniel
Murphy and Darragh Lyons to leave it 2-14 to 0-3 at half time.
The second half was a much different affair
with Ballymote playing with a much higher intensity and started to control the
game. The introduction of Gareth Healy at half time helped to tighten up the
full back line for the home side which allowed Oisin Conlon to attack more in
the second half. Rafferty,Malachy Healy and Anderson started to win a lot of ball around the middle through
breaks. This was key for Ballymote as they scored 0-8 to Shamrock Gaels 1-3 in the first 20 minutes of the second
half. However with Ballymote chasing the game they left themselves vulnerable
to counter attacks and the Gaels scored two late goals the latter a fine finish
from Karl McKenna. Ballymote were awarded a penalty in the end after Conlon was
brought down after his darting run up field. Up stepped Malachy Healy to send
the ball into the back of the net.
A better second half from Ballymote but
they had too much of a lead to chase in the end. Shamrock Gaels were impressive
in their attacking play and were very clinical in front of the posts. The next game in the group takes place this
Thursday with Shamrock Gaels home to Coolera Strandhill.