Ballymartle suffer late goal

Eire Og 1-16 Ballymartle 1-15

Eire Og’s late goal in the Red FM HL Division 2 at Riverstick on Saturday evening could be crucial later when the business end of the competition looms.

Ballymartle looked to have weathered the Eire Og second half storm as time ticked away, only for second half substitute Colm Malone to score from distance in the final minutes

It was credit to both teams playing on a heavy pitch as Eire Og’s Oisin O’Shea opened his side’s account, but Ballymartle took control of the game as they led by 0-4 to 0-1, after five minutes as Shane Cummins and John McCarthy claimed a brace a piece.

It was another four minutes before Ronan O’Toole had the Muskerry’s side's second point, as the visitors outscored Ballymartle over the next five minutes by two points to one.

However, Ballymartle put themselves in the box seat when Brian Corry had the ball in the net on fifteen minutes and another fine point from McCarthy had them leading by 1-6 to 0-4 after 16 minutes.

The visitors were not going to be overawed and they landed three unanswered points to leave only two points between the sides on twenty minutes.

Ballymartle regained the initiative as McCarthy and team captain, Darren McCarthy, fired over for a point a piece.

However, they had their full-back up the other end to thank, as TJ McCarthy produced a sensational save after Oisin O’Shea had the goal at his mercy.

Three more Ballymartle points from Cummins, McCarthy and Darren McCarthy looked like giving them a comfortable lead at the interval but an Eoin O’Shea point took the gloss off that as the half-time score read 1-11 to 0-8.

Eire Og made the early running as they took full advantage of the breeze and reduced the second half deficit to only two points as they scored four unanswered points.

It was 41 minutes before Ballymartle registered their first score, with a superb point from a Dan O’Leary free but O’Shea replied with a free of his own.

Another McCarthy point looked to have given the home side breathing space, but points from David Casey and an O’Shea free left the scores at 1-13 to 0-15 on 47 minutes.

With the game in the melting pot entering the final straight, Luke O’Callaghan struck for what looked like a crucial point, but Casey narrowed the distance between the sides, as he popped the sliotar over the bar.

Murphy then produced the second superb block of the game as the visitors’ looked odds on to land a goal.

McCarthy seemed to have secured the win with another point on 58 minutes, but the relief for the Ballymartle bench was short-lived as Malone found the net on 60 minutes to see his side claim the points.

Scorers for Eire Og: E O’Shea 0-7 (4f, 1 65), C Malone 1-0, D Casey 0-3, O O’Shea 0-2, B Hurley, R Toole, C Goldrick 0-1 each

Ballymartle: J McCarthy: 0-6, D McCarthy 0-4, S Cummins 0-3, B Corry 1-0, Luke O’Callaghan, D O’Leary 0-1

Eire Og: E O’Shea; D Dineen, M Kelleher, D McCarthy; J Galvin, C McGoldrick; M Brady, B Hurley; R O’ Toole, D Kirwin, E O’Shea; K Hallisey; D Casey, J Kelleher, O O’Shea. Subs: C Malone (HT), D Coakley (45)

Ballymartle: D O’Leary; C Coleman, T J Murphy, E O’Leary; E Cummins, J Dwyer, F Desmond; N Crowley, E Deasy; J McCarthy, B Corry, S Cummins; L O’Callaghan, C Lordan, D McCarthy. Subs: S Corry(38), P Geary (42), M Higgins (50).

Referee I McCarthy, Bandon.

Ballymarlte Captain Darren McCarthy, Referee Ian McCarthy and Eire Og's Eoin O'Shea before today's Red FM HL Division 2 clash at Riverstick

--