It’s been a while since there was a great buzz in the air surrounding attending an event. The pandemic has kept the lid on many things we all enjoy but on Sunday 19th September, it felt like things were returning to a bit of normal and no one would have guessed that the Morgan Fuels Down GAA SHC round 3 between Ballycran and Ballygalget would herald that in the fashion it did.
At this early stage in the round robin, both squads were keen to establish their position in the table standings and so there was everything to play for. Yet again, we were fortunate with the late summer weather with the sun radiant low in the sky and a moderate breeze unusually coming from the John Mallon stand side of the pitch, which some will recognise as a westerly. Footing underneath due to the recent rain and now drying out well was moderate.
Well known in the Ards peninsula, Lorenzo McMullan officiated the game’s proceedings and after one minute’s silence in memory for the late Michael McGrattan followed by the national anthem, Lorenzo rolled in the sliotar promptly at 4pm.
Ballygalget opened up the scoring with their first point from Cormac Coulter, which was from a free and it was a measure of supporter delight as the lower uncovered stand bathed in green roared with excitement. Liam Savage though quickly responded with Ballycran’s first point of the game and apart from a solid point from Ben Toner, it would take approximately 6 minutes before referee McMullan would spot an infringement towards a Ballycran player on the edge of the Ballygalget square, bringing the game to a significant moment. Conor Woods stepped up and drilled the sliotar left of Eoin Clarke for the first of many goals in Sunday’s game.
As each side began to apply pressure to open up an opportunity for their next score, Liam Savage struck first and delivered another point for Ballycran out of the pressure cauldron. Ballygalget would quickly find themselves under more pressure around the edge of the box but some short hand passing and cool heads brought the sliotar out and away to safety.
Ballycran would now settle into a scoring workflow, starting with a great Stuart Martin point from his left side on the run from at least 65 metres out. Martin would then take possession shortly after the puck out, passing the sliotar to Liam Savage for a soaring point that brought the Cran supporters alive again.
Over twenty minutes would lapse on the clock before Gerard Hughes would pickup a loose ball and feed it into the forward line. James Clarke would eventually take possession and hand pass to Ben Arthurs to dispatch it into the net for another Ballycran goal. The scoreboard clicked up 2-06 to 0-2. Clarke wouldn’t be far away from his own goal, as an overhead ball dropped in in front of him and as he out paced his marker on the turn, a simple jab lift put him in the striking position to hit it home just past the hurl of Eoin Pucci that may have confused the keeper. Scores stood at 3-07 to 0-2.
Ballygalget were tactfully attempting to find the towering shape of Gareth Johnson around the box at the north end but Ballycran’s full back line patrolled the threat well and spoiled several attempts to catch and run. Ballygalget would tease out a couple of good points, in particular a 65 from play from Ben Toner but shortly after, Sean Ennis would find a loose sliotar as a result of grinding out a tackle and took the score, splitting the posts. Minutes later, Chris Egan having been dispossessed of his hurl would advance towards the net and with limited options, kicked the sliotar over the bar for a point.
With just seconds left on the clock for the half time whistle, Jordan Doran dropped in a ball to Cormac Coulter who fired at goal, which Stephen Keith attempted to parry over the bar but the ball spun in behind his head for Ballygalget’s first goal of the match. Lorenzo blew for half time with the scoreboard Ballycran 3-08 Ballygalget 1-06.
The second half would prove to be just as entertaining for supporters from both sides. Within three minutes, James Clarke’s hurl was held on the way to the square and cleverly opted to let it go, instead kicking the ball into the net for Ballycran’s fourth goal in the game. Very shortly afterwards, Gareth Johnson was brought to ground for a penalty and Marc Fisher drilled the sliotar past Stephen Keith to bring the game, Ballycran 4-09 Ballygalget 2-06.
A series of passes starting with Chris Egan to Conor Woods then back to Gerard Hughes and further back to Michael Hughes saw the sliotar returned back from a long puck to Egan again. As Egan progressed towards goal, he was held around the neck and the referee signalled for another penalty. Conor Woods stepped up and took the scoreline to 5-09 to 2-06.
Phelim Savage lifted the scoreline for Ballycran with four more points in succession from frees and it was beginning to feel like the gap was getting too wide to close out but Ballygalget persisted with long drops hoping to find the hand of Johnson and just like in the song of his Delta blues Robert Johnson namesake, ‘gotta keep movin, blues falling down like hail’, Johnson flicked the falling hail beyond Keith’s reach for another goal surge on the scoreboard for Ballygalget.
Ben Arthur’s was still eager to nudge up the scoreline to put the match beyond a turn around but hit the post just below the crossbar with the rebound competently scooped up and dispatched away. As the scoreboard was bouncing up with goal scores, one last bit of hail magic from Johnson took Ballygalget to level in goals with a fifth but as the full time whistle blew, Ballycran had amassed a decent point lead to the satisfaction of the supporters. Well done lads and management, hard luck to Ballygalget.
[C Woods 2-1 (2p-1f), J Clarke 2-0, L Savage 0-5, P Savage 0-5 (0-5f), B Arthurs 1-0, C Egan 0-2, S Martin 0-2 and S Ennis 0-1]
That match would bring this portion of the round robin to a break. The next match for Ballycran is fixed for Sunday 3rd October at home to Portaferry. Thanks to our stewards, Official Down GAA and all the supporters from both Clubs for following all the necessary guidelines and parking instructions to make everyone’s day safe and enjoyable.
Captains Ben Toner and Liam Savage with referee Lorenzo McMullan (BC v BG – 1)
In a relaxed mood prior to the formalities (BC v BG – 2)
(BC v BG – 3)
(BC v BG – 4)
(BC v BG – 5)
(BC v BG – 6)
(BC v BG – 7)
Conor Woods sends the penalty high and left (BC v BG – 8)
(BC v BG – 9)
(BC v BG – 10)
(BC v BG – 11)
Ben Arthurs drills in the sliotar for Ballycran’s first goal (BC v BG – 12)
James Clarke claims his first goal of the game (BC v BG – 13)
James Clarke claims his first goal of the game (BC v BG – 14)
(BC v BG – 15)
The Jordan Doran goal that bounced in behind Keith (BC v BG – 16)
(BC v BG – 17)
James Clarke kicks the sliotar across the line (BC v BG – 18)
A second glance from James Clarke (BC v BG – 19)
Marc Fisher claims his goal from the penalty spot (BC v BG – 20)
Conor Woods scores from the penalty spot in the second half (BC v BG – 21)
Gareth Johnson flicks in the first of three (BC v BG – 22)
(BC v BG – 23)
(BC v BG – 24)
Ben Arthurs about to ping the upright for Ballycran’s last chance at goal (BC v BG – 25)
