League honours for better balanced Ballyea

Ballyea 0-11   Feakle 0-7

BALLYEA were crowned Junior B hurling champions at Dr Daly Park in Tulla on Sunday evening when they proved too strong for Feakle.

 

After an evenly fought first half, at the end of which they led by a point, the winners had the better of the second period when they outscored their opponents, 0-4 to 0-1, to claim the title.

The game produced some good hurling before Ballyea’s better-balanced squad deservedly captured the title.
Points were swapped twice in the opening 10 minutes, with Alan Hehir converting two frees for Ballyea, while Gavin Fox and Diarmuid Bane were on target for Feakle.

Bane then converted a 65’ and a free to edge Feakle two clear by the end of the first quarter. However, Ballyea hit back with four in-a-row from Rory Long, Alan Hehir, Brandon O’Connell and Eanna McInerney. When the half-time whistle sounded, they led 0-7 to 0-6.

The teams continued to be evenly matched in the early stages of the second half, with the respective defences dominating.

By the end of the third quarter, Ballyea had stretched their lead to four points and while Feakle continued to battle hard, they just could not break down a solid Ballyea backline.

Both sides made a number of changes in this half but Ballyea continued to hold a slight upperhand to capture the crown.

Alan Hehir brought his tally for the evening to 0-5 when he hit the first score of the second half.

Eamonn and Frankie Griffin, Barry Coffey, Tadhg Lynch and Rory Long were others to impress for Ballyea.
Patrick Daly stood out at full-back for Feakle, while Sean O’Grady, Peter Collins, Diarmuid Bane, Gavin Fox and the evergreen Tommy Guilfoyle did best for the East Clare side.

After the game, county board vice-chairman, Joe Cooney, presented the cup to the winning captain, Rory Long.

Ballyea: Barry Coote; Michael Nagle, Eamonn Griffin, Niall Lynch; Tom Chambers, Barry Coffey, Frankie Griffin; Tadhg Lynch (0-1), David Coughlan (0-1); Aaron Nugent (0-1), Rory Long (0-1), Brandon O’Connell (0-1); Ciarán Doohan, Eanna McInerney (0-1), Alan Hehir (0-5).
Subs: Luke Brown for Chambers (32 minutes), Joe Neylon for O’Connell (36 minutes), Lee Brady for Neylon (inj, 40 minutes), John Griffin for Nugent (51 minutes) and Eoin O’Leary for Coughlan (55 minutes).
Feakle: Michael Burke; Henry Purcell, Patrick Daly, Peter Collins; Evan McMahon, Sean O’Grady, Eric Conway; Bill Purcell, Michael O’Grady; Diarmuid Bane (0-4), Gavin Fox (0-2), Robert Bebbington; Justin Nelson, Tommy Guilfoyle (0-1), Cian Harrington.
Subs: Eoin McGuinness for Bebbington (half-time), Anthony Guilfoyle for McGuinnes (50 minutes), Gus Callaghan for Purcell (51 minutes) and Mike Guilfoyle for Fox (56 minutes).
Referee: Jack Chaplin, Cratloe.