Morey points end Ballyea’s U-21 reign

Sixmilebridge 1-13   Ballyea 0-14

A MORE evenly balanced Sixmilebridge outfit ended Ballyea’s reign as Clare U-21A hurling champions when the sides met in the 2013 semi-final replay in beautiful weather conditions at Clarecastle on Friday evening.

The result was in doubt right to the final whistle but when Rory Hickey signalled the end of an entertaining contest, Sixmilebridge were deserving of their narrow lead and they will now play Clonlara in the final.
On the evidence of this latest display, Niall Gilligan’s outfit learned more from the drawn game and the positional changes they made improved the team’s performance.

Since the drawn game, there had been doubts about the fitness of Ballyea’s Gearóid O’Connell due to an ankle injury. He played in a challenge game against B semi-finalists St Joseph’s last week, which suggested that he had recovered but it was obvious from an early stage on Friday this wasn’t the case and he was withdrawn shortly before half-time, which was a big blow to the defending champions.

The ’Bridge made the better start and by the 10th minute they had 1-2 on the scoreboard, while the holders had yet to register a score. Alex Morey, as was the case in the drawn game, played a key part in the win and opened the scoring with a point in the third minute. A minute later, they struck for the game’s only goal when Alan Mulready applied the finish after an Evan McInerney delivery.

Despite a few uncharacteristic misses, Tony Kelly was still Ballyea’s key player. He opened their account in the 12th minute from a free and quickly followed with a like score from play. Two Seadna Morey frees and a point from play from Pa Sheehan, who had a big influence on the tie, having disappointed in the drawn game, saw the winners open a six-point lead after 21 minutes.

From here to the half-time whistle Ballyea did better and outscored their opponents four to one, to leave the half-time score at 1-6 to 0-6 in favour of the ’Bridge. Ballyea resumed with a number of switches and the move of Paul Flanagan to full-back improved their performance considerably, with Jack Browne doing well at wing-back. Aonghus Keane, who had moved to the half-forward line, was proving a handful for the ’Bridge. Ballyea hit the first two points to leave the minimum between the teams with 25 minutes to play.

A key moment was the decision of Tony Kelly to go for goal from a 20m free in the third minute of the half. His effort was saved and the winners seemed to take heart from this.

A brace from Alan Mulready and a pointed free by Seadna Morey saw Sixmilebridge four clear by the 10th minute. The goal that had separated the teams at the break was still the margin at the three-quarter stage when the scoreline read 1-10 to 0-10. In the next 10 minutes Ballyea had the upperhand and with five minutes remaining, Niall Deasy levelled the tie with a fine score, 1-11 to 0-14.

It was still level as the game went into the one minute of injury time signalled by the match official. The ’Bridge won a 90m free and Alex Morey converted before the same player won possession from the puck-out and sent the ball back over the bar to break Ballyea hearts.

Brian Carey, Noel Purcell, Eanna Burns, Pa Sheehan, Alan Mulready and Alex Morey were always prominent for the winners, who received a further boost five minutes from the end when Brian Corry returned to action from an injury that has kept him out of the game for almost a year.

Paul Flanagan, when he went to full-back, Cathal Doohan, Tony Kelly, Niall Deasy and Aonghus Keane, when he moved out to the half-forward line, were Ballyea’s best on the evening.

Sixmilebridge: Patrick Freeman; Barry Fitzpatrick, Brian Carey, Eanna Burns; Noel Purcell, Seadna Morey, Kevin Lynch (capt); Pa Sheehan, Cathal O’Connor; Eanna McInerney, Alex Morey, Conor Deasy; Alan Mulready, Darragh Fitzgerald, Sean Lynch.
Subs: David Murphy for McInerney (40 minutes), Brian Corry for Lynch (54 minutes) and Kevin Fennessy for Deasy (59 minutes).
Scorers: Alex Morey (0-6, 2f), Alan Mulready (1-2), Seadna Morey (0-3f), Sean Lynch and Pa Sheehan (0-1 each).
Ballyea: Shane Harkin; David Sheehan, Jack Browne, Eoghan Donnellan; Joe Neylon, Cathal Doohan, Gearóid O’Connell; Paul Flanagan, Stan Lineen; Niall Deasy, Tony Kelly, Martin O’Leary; Niall Griffin, Aonghus Keane, Tadhg Lynch.
Subs: Eanna McInerney for O’Connell (inj, 24 minutes), Ryan Griffin for N Griffin (43 minutes) and Damian Burke for Lynch (55 minutes).
Scorers: Tony Kelly (0-7, 5f), Niall Deasy (0-4), Aonghus Keane, Ryan Griffin and Eanna McInerney (0-1 each).
Referee: Rory Hickey, Éire Óg.