This article is from page 50 of the 2009-08-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 50 JPG
REMEMBER Ballyvaughan? The side that made a dramatic introduc- tion to senior football last year with a shock win over county finalists Eire Og last year. Well, they were largely overlooked in terms of quali- fication for the knock-out stages in a group consisting of county champi- ons Kilmurry Ibrickane and two of last year’s quarter-finalists but on Sunday, they demonstrated that they were not there make up the numbers with a character-filled display against Ennistymon.
Full of hunger and self-belief, Bal- lyvaughan eventually romped to a double scores victory with the help of some astute substitutions. To win by seven points was an impressive feat in itself but Ballyvaughan did so by kicking 12 points from play while also holding Ennistymon to only two points from play over the hour.
Much like their triumph of the Townies last season, Ballyvaughan refused to adhere to the script. This was meant to be Ennistymon’s crowning achievement. A_ battling victory over Wolfe Tones in round one at the same venue set themselves up for another tilt at the business end of the championship but aside from a battling second quarter, they were
very disappointing. Backed by a bur- geoning underage system, the Under 21A finalists had a decent blend of youth and experience but for the ma- jority, they were stuck to the ground.
Ballyvaughan, meanwhile, had nothing to lose. After falling to Kil- murry Ibrickane in their opening tie, another defeat here would have put them out of the running but they
would have targetted this derby from the draw and threw everything into this game in a bid to overturn last year’s result.
From the outset, Ballyvaughan took the game to their neighbours, pulling four points clear by the 12th minute with points from Kevin Carrucan (2), Stevie Hynes and a John Martyn free and also had three wides in the
same period.
Ennistymon even had an extra player around the middle of the field with Lawrence Healy roving from his full-forward berth but it took them 17 minutes to open their ac- count through Sean McConigley. That score did give them confidence though and while Ballyvaughan mis- fired, Ennistymon thought they had weathered the storm by pulling level by the break with further scores from Brian Conway and Joe Dowling (2).
The second period began in seesaw fashion with Carrucan and Conway Swapping points by the 38th minute but once Carrucan grabbed his fourth point of the game at the turn of the final quarter, Ballyvaughan upped the ante once more. Aided by several changes to their forward line, Ballyvaughan kicked five further un- answered points by the 54th minute, three from substitutes Jason McDon- agh, Tomas Francis and the lively Jack Queally.
Ennistymon had no answer to Bal- lyvaughan’s charge and their heads dropped all too easily after Mc- Conigley’s flick towards goal was acrobatically saved by goalkeeper Damien McNamara.
Instead, Ballyvaughan piled on the misery with McDonagh adding two more points to his tally as they eased
up to victory and open up the group once more. Another win over Wolfe Tones and Ballyvaughan’s meteoric rise through the ranks could reach new heights. They won’t be written off again, that’s for sure.