Davitts 1-10  Ballinrobe 0-9

There was a good crowd in sunny Davitt Park on Saturday evening to watch Davitts and Ballinrobe lock horns in the opening round of the O Mara Cup. A strong second half performance saw the homeside win an entertaining game.

Ballinrobe, playing against the wind in the first half, looked impressive early on and shot the first two points in the 4^th and 8^th minutes before Shane Treacy got Davitts first score in the tenth minute. Ballinrobe added two more points in the 11^th and 13^th minutes but then Davitts began to settle. Points from Ronan McNamara, Jack Ronayne and Jack Melvin tied the game and the excellent Niall Treacy put Davitts ahead with a 23^rd minute point.  Ballinrobe shot the last two scores of the first half in the 30^th and 31^st minutes to lead by 0-5 to 0-4 at halftime.

Davitts played much better football in the second half and after the visitors pointed in the first minute of the second period, Davitts took control.  Ronan McNamara pointed in the 33^rd minute and the same player got the game’s crucial score five minutes later when he goaled with a powerful strike after great work by Jack Ronayne, Dmitry Trench and Colm Boyle. Ronan McNamara added three well taken long range frees and Niall Treacy fired over a beauty from play to extend Davitts lead to seven points with less than ten minutes left. The Davitts defence was very impressive in the second half, limiting the visitors to very few scoring chances until the closing minutes. Ballinrobe kept fighting to the end and they scored three late points to reduce the deficit to four points at the final whistle.

Davitts had very solid performers in Cathal Higgins, Colm Boyle, Dmitry Trench, Jack Ronayne (who had a stormer at midfield), Aidan Macken,  Niall Treacy, Darragh McGale and top scorer Ronan McNamara, still as influencial as ever in his new role in attack.

Davitts: David Mitchell, Kieran Fahy, Cathal Higgins, Jordan Flanagan, Thomas Ronayne, Colm Boyle, Dmitry Trench, Aidan Macken, Jack Ronayne (0-1), Cathal Hennelly, Niall Treacy (0-2), Jack Melvin (0-1), Shane Treacy (0-1), Ronan McNamara (1-5), Darragh McGale. Subs used: Daniel Corless, Liam Kearns, Brian Og McTigue, Donal Ronayne, John Kilkenny, Liam Macken.