Davitts v Ballaghaderreen – MW League Quarter Final
Davitts 2-7 Ballaghaderreen 0-12
Davitts earned a dramatic victory in this Michael Walsh Senior League quarter final with County Minor Cathal Hennelly bagging a goal with the last kick of the game played in sunny Ballindine on Sunday.
Ballaghaderreen, playing against the wind in the first half, looked the likely winners of this game in the first half. They led by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break, although some dreadful shooting by the Davitts forwards wasn’t helping the cause. Two Josh Ronayne points and one from Ronan McNamara accounted for Davitts paltry tally going in at halftime.
Facing the stiff wind in the second half was bad enough but a 3rd minute black card for midfielder Ronan McNamara, after he had narrowed the gap with a trademark long range free, could have caused heads to drop in the youthful Davitts team. The opposite was the case as the home team showed commendable spirit for the rest of the game.
Ballagh extended their lead to three but the alert Matthew Trench pounced on an error in the Ballagh defence to net the equaliser with twenty minutes remaining. Ballagh tagged on five points with Davitts replying through Padraig Mangan and Keith Prendergast to leave the gap at three points with time running out. Thomas Waldron left two between them as the game approached injury time. With seconds remaining Josh Ronayne rattled the crossbar with a shot with the rebound falling to young Cathal Hennelly who gleefully hammered in the winner.
Best for a young Davitts side on this occasion were Padraig Mangan, Mark Ronayne, James Cummins, Cathal Higgins, Paul Carey, Thomas Waldron, Matthew Trench and Michael Waldron.
Davitts: Adrian McNamara, Colm Roche, Padraig Mangan (0-1), Mark Ronayne, James Cummins, Keith Prendergast (0-1), Cathal Higgins, Ronan McNamara (0-2), Sean Waldron, Seamus Roche, Paul Carey, Thomas Waldron (0-1), Josh Ronayne (0-2), Fearghal McGrath, Liam Kearns.
Subs used: Matthew Trench (1-0), Michael Waldron, Cathal Hennelly (1-0), Michael Mangan, Jack Rodgers.
