Ballymore lift Kildare Reserve F title after second half surge

Ballymore Eustace 1-12

Rathcoffey 0-8

Ballymore Eustace are Kildare Reserve F Football Champions after they beat Rathcoffey in their decider.

Rathcoffey kicked off this game in command of possession and, despite five minutes of prodding and probing, it was Ballymore who broke out of the back to get the game’s opening score through Shane Kavanagh.

The first white flag would be followed by two more in quick succession as Anthony Tyrell restored parity from a free before Enda Stewart Byrne reinstated Ballymore’s lead.

It would take until the 15-minute mark for this final’s next score and it was an equaliser from the boot of Sean Lennon.

These teams did not get more than a score apart in the first half with a William O’Donoghue fisted point following a Ross Murphy score for Rathcoffey.

Shane Kavanagh got his second for the eventual winners but a Rory McEvoy free in added time sent these sides in at the break at 0-4 to 0-4.

Five minutes into the second half and these teams were no further apart but business had picked up with two points at either end already registered.

It was from this point on that Ballymore took over. They took their first lead by more than a single point when William O’Donoghue and Stuart Byrne pointed in quick succession.

Seamus Kelleher set up Samuel Fahey for a score as the leading side moved three clear at 0-9 to 0-6.

A Rory McEvoy free narrowed the gap for Rathcoffey, but that 43rd minute set-piece would be their last score for 10 minutes at a crucial stage in this game.

Ballymore midfielder Stuart Byrne scored 1-1 in the space of three minutes to put his side out of sight. After previously raising a white flag on the break, Byrne latched on to Emmet O’Connor’s effort that dropped short and punched the ball goalwards. His effort was initially saved by Garry Brilly before being bundled over the line on the rebound by Byrne.

The game's first green flag knocked the stuffing out of the trailing side and put Ballymore seven points clear.

They finished seven clear too at 1-12 to 0-8 after one further point at either end and lifted the Reserve F title.

Ballymore, Stuart Byrne 1-2, William O'Donoghue 0-4 (0-2 frees), Shane Kavanagh 0-2, Samuel Fahey 0-2, Enda Stewart Byrne 0-1, Brian Gilroy 0-1.

Rathcoffey, Rory McEvoy 0-3 (0-3 frees), Anthony Tyrell 0-2 (0-2 frees), Sean Lennon 0-1, Ross Murphy 0-1, Shane McEvoy 0-1.

BALLYMORE EUSTACE: Sean McNally; Conor Gilroy, Colin Browne, James Durkan;  Keith Fennell, Seamus Kelleher, Brian Gilroy; Stuart Byrne, Tadhg Grace; Emmet O'Connor, Enda Stewart Byrne, Paddy Barrett; William O'Donoghue, Shane Kavanagh, Samuel Fahey. Subs: Stephen Dwyer for Emmet O'Connor (11 minutes), Stepehen Davis for Keith Fennell (38 minutes), James McNeil for Colin Browne (48 minutes), James O'Brien for Paddy Barrett (48 minutes), Paul Pearse for William O'Donoghue (56 minutes).

Rathcoffey: Garry Brilly; Conor O'Shea, Shane Dunne, Matthew Moriarty; Jamie Tierney, Sean Moriarty, Ross Murphy; Mike Noone, Anthony Tyrell; Rory McEvoy, Ronan Coleman, Finn Heslin; Sean Lennon, Shane McEvoy, Nathan McManaman. Subs: Alan Kelly for Sean McEvoy (38 minutes), Sean Coulston for Ronan Coleman (44 minutes), Nicolas Dalton for Sean Moriarty (51 minutes), Sean McNally for Nathan McManaman (54 minutes), Paddy Duffy for Rory McEvoy (54 minutes).

Referee: James Callan

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