Rathcoffey remain unbeaten following defeat of Ballykelly

Rathcoffey 2-15

Ballykelly 0-10

On a wet and miserable Wednesday evening at Manguard Par, Rathcoffey made it three wins from three with a fully deserved 11 point win over Ballykelly in Round 3 of the Tom Cross JFC.

In front of a small attendance Ballykelly certainly did not play like the outsiders in the opening half and while Rathcoffey opened with the two points, both from full forward Michael O'Connor, Ballykelly replied on nine minutes with a white flag from Darragh Byrne.

A minute later it looked like Rathcoffey were on their way when Conor Harris put James Acton in and the corner forward made no mistake finding the net.

Jack Smith replied with a top class point before James Acton and Michael O'Connor made it 1-4 to 0-2 after 19 minutes.Charlie White opened his account from a placed ball and while Evin McGovern replied for 'Coffey, Ballykelly worked their way into the game with three points on the trot inside five minutes, all frees and all from the boot of Charlie White to make it Rathcoffey 1-5 Ballykelly 0-6.

Two James Acton points pushed the lead out again but Charlie White, another free, reduced the lead to just three as the half-time whistle arrived, Rathcoffey leading 1-7 to 0-7.

Ballykelly remained on the pitch during the break and were ready and very anxious to get the second half under way as Rathcoffey took their required time, as referee PJ Cummins was blowing his whistle to get the second half under way.

When Rathcoffey finally arrived back on the pitch they wasted no time in pushing out their lead with points from JP Heslin, James Acton, Michael O'Connor and Cathal Travers as we reached the mid-way point of the second half, Ballykelly yet to raise a white flag.

That they finally did on 45 with that man Charlie White knocking over his sixth of the game.
And while Darragh Byrne and White again added two more to reduce the deficit to four, it was Rathcoffey who wrapped up proceedings after a fine run through the middle by Conor Harris as he duly found the net, which seemed to give the centre forward great confidence as he went on to add another three points along with one from Padraig McManamon to leave the final score reading Rathcoffey 2-15 Ballykelly 0-10.

Scorers: Rathcoffey, James Acton 1-4 (1 free), Colum Fagan 1-3, Michael O'Connor 0-4, Evin McGovern 0-1, Cillian McGovern 0-1, Padraig McManamon 0-1, Cathal Travers 0-1.

Ballykelly, Charlie White 0-7 (7 frees), Darragh Byrne 0-2, Jack Smith 0-1.

RATHCOFFEY: Shane Stone; John Coyle, Eoghan McDonnell, Jamie Brilly; Oisin Brilly, Mark Holligan, Cillian McGovern; Padraig McManamon, Cathal Travers; Evin McGovern, Conor Harris, Colum Fagan; PJ Heslin, Michael O'Connor, Jason Action. Subs: Chris Shiels for PJ Heslin (38 minutes); John O'Donoghue for Oisin Brilly (48 minutes); Evan Moriarty for John Coyle (48 minutes).

BALLYKELLY: David Moore; Darragh Perry, Damon Howard, Stephen McNally; Russell Grattan, Ciaran Byrne, Cole Grattan; Owen Whelan, Eddie O'Connell; Jack Smith, Darragh Byrne, Cole Grattan; Charlie White, Simon Luttrell, Adam Gordon. Subs: Callum Grattan for Darragh Perry (54 minutes); Liam Behan for Adam Gordon (53 minutes).

REFEREE: PJ Cummins.

l There was a minute silence before the start of the game for Sharron Brilly, who passed away suddenly earlier in the week. A well-known and popular club member whose family are very much involved with the Rathcoffey Club, May she RIP.

l In another game in that group, Milltown received a walk-over from Ardclouogh.