Five star Ballina far too hungry for Burgess in winning of the North Premier Intermediate title

Munster Solar North Tipperary Premier Intermediate Hurling Final 2025

Ballina 1-24 

Burgess 1-15 

By Liam Hogan

Playing with zest and fervor, Ballina simply crushed their neighbours, Burgess, in a scintillating display of hurling to win their first Munster Solar North Tipperary Premier Intermediate hurling title at MacDonagh Park last Sunday.

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There was nothing left to chance by the Shannonsiders who, despite falling by three points in after eight minutes, took control with increased measure, going five in front 1-9 to 0-7 after 23 minutes before settling for a 1-11 to 0-10 lead by half-time. 

The margin between the teams remained between two and four points through the opening ten minutes of the second half, but a gap began to appear with the winners grabbing four unanswered points between the 42nd and 52nd minute, with Matthew Power giving them a 1-19 to 0-14 lead with his eight points. 

The concession of a Stephen Kirwan goal in the 58th minute gave Burgess hope, but there was no holding Ballina as they were winners from far out.

The final whistle gave their supporters, both young and old, good reason to celebrate. The club doesn’t win adult competitions very often. Their last time was capturing the North and County intermediate double in 2013. Based on the evidence of this success, the supporters could well see a county title in the offering later on in the season.

It was simply a 15-man performance, or to be exact, an 18-man win if one includes the subs bench, with Simon Grace excellent in the goals. David Kelly covered acres of ground in the middle of the field while Matthew Power was unerring from frees and play. 

Let’s not forget the great displays of their winning captain, Michael Breen, who was lord and master at full back, while Jack Collins’ day as sweeper was simply brilliant and deserving of the man of the match award. 

So what happened Burgess? They entered the game as strong favourites. Then again, it’s not the year for favourites. Very few answered the call except Ronan Tucker, Johnny Mulqueen, Eoin Grace, and David Nealon. 

Losing Keith Nealon through injury mid-way through the first half didn’t help either. He was a major loss. 

In addition, Burgess failed in front of the posts with their wides tally reaching 12 by hour's end (seven for Ballina) with the normally brilliant Stephen Murray missing three from placed balls. 

Put simply, the Burgess attack met a very resilient backline and could never find a way of breaking down a well-organized Ballina defence. 

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FIRST HALF

The game was fourteen seconds old when Bill O’Flaherty had Burgess on the scoreboard, quickly followed by two Stephen Murray scores, the second from play with two and a half minutes gone. 

Simon Grace found great length and accuracy with his puckouts, and Billy Collins scored Ballina’s opener 30 seconds later before Murray quickly replied with a brilliant delivery from the left wing. 

Play continued at pace as Burgess looked every bit the side that easily defeated Moneygall in the semi-final with Stephen Kirwan availing of a breaking ball before forcing Simon Grace to save brilliantly from close in. 

Ballina cleared their lines and continued to curb the early deficit as David Kelly and Billy Collins added points by the sixth minute. 

From there, the signs of what was to come became more obvious as Zak Egan, Michael Breen, Terry O’Halloran, and Jack Collins were very much gaining prominence over their opponents, and at the other end, Michael Power brought the sides level 0-4 each on eight minutes. 

Three minutes later, David Kelly gave Ballina the lead after good work by Billy Collins but Burgess drew level after Tony Dunne linked up with Bill O’Flaherty to score in the 12th minute. One minute later, Josh Egan had Ballina in front with the right corner forward showing good footwork before the equally proficient Michael Power doubled the Ballina lead after fourteen minutes.  

A minute later, Sean Dunne replaced the injured Keith Nealon. Murray missed the target with a long-distance free before Michael Power forced Ronan Tucker to make a very good save at the expense of a 65, which Power hit wide. 

A Kieran Grace point narrowed the gap, but Power increased the margin. Murray replied with a free after David Nealon was fouled once again as the right corner forward was in trouble for the Ballina defence. 

One of the critical advantages Ballina enjoyed was winning the 50/50 battles, and Brian Bourke impressed with his aerial ability. And he had much more to his bow as an attack led by David Kelly saw the midfielder link with Bourke, who found the back of the Burgess net in the 21st minute. Ballina 1-8 Burgess 0-7.

Michael Power increased the lead to five. Murray replied after Nealon was fouled again before the lead was back to five after Power’s free from the wing before the half drew to a close with both Murray and Power successful from frees to see the half-time scoreline at Ballina 1-11 Burgess 0-10.  

The second half began with a David Nealon point in the 32nd minute. Another Burgess attack yielded a 65 when Bill O’Flaherty was denied by a close-marking defender, allowing Murray to convert with two between the teams. 

Points by Michael Breen and Paddy Bradley had Ballina four in front, but another Stephen Murray free reduced the margin following a Stephen Kirwan run through the middle. 

However, Ballina never panicked as the lengthy puckout by Simon Grace found Charlie King free to score in the 39th minute. 

Ronan Tucker's attempt to score a 90-metre free drifted wide as Ballina decided to introduce fresh blood with Cathal O’Donnell replacing the hard-working Paddy Bradley, and after Stephen Murray pointed a free for a foul on Kirwan, it was O’Donnell waiting to respond with his first touch of the ball. 

Burgess replied, but Eoin Grace was off target with his team’s eleventh wide before Ballina hit top gear to see their lead suddenly increase to eight after Matthew Power pointed two frees either side of a Billy Collins score from play, 1-19 to 0-14 and eight minutes on the clock.

Burgess had Eoin Hogan replace Eoin Grace while Ballina called on Michael Grace to replace Tom Shanahan as Burgess began staging a mini comeback, starting with O’Flaherty driving wide before Donal Nealon fired over his second point in the 57th minute. 

One minute later, Burgess were back in the game when Kirwan raced on to a through ball before batting the ball to the net after the Ballina defence had gone asleep. 

However, the new champions didn’t wait too long for an answer as Cathal O’Donnell continued to make his mark on the game, first by scoring his second point before winning a free and allowing Matthew Power to convert.

With the game deep in added time, Ballina were hungry for more as Burgess could do nothing to stem the tide except concede two more frees which Mathew Power delighted in bisecting the posts each time. 

Ballina were the champions and deservedly so, but their celebrations will be short-lived as they take on Burgees next Friday night in the opening round of the FBD Insurance County Premier Intermediate race. A mouth-watering prospect! 

Scorers: Ballina: Matthew Power (0-10, 0-7f); Brian Bourke (1-0), Billy Collins (0-3), David Kelly, Charlie King, Cathal O’Donnell (all 0-2 each), Josh Egan, Michael Breen, Paddy Bradley (all 0-1 each).

Burgess: Stephen Murray (0-10, 0-7f, 0-1’65); Stephen Kirwan (1-0), Bill O’Flaherty, David Nealon (0-2 each), Eoin Grace (0-1). 

Ballina: Simon Grace; Paul McKeogh, Michael Breen, David Coughlan; Zak Egan, Jack Collins, Terry O’Halloran; David Kelly, Thomas Shanahan; Charlie King, Billy Collins, Brian Bourke; Josh Egan, Paddy Bradley, Matthew Power. 

Subs used: Cathal O’ Donnell for Bradley (41); Stephen O’Brien for Bourke (50); Michael Grace for Shanahan (56); JP Mbokha Tansia for J Egan (59). 

Burgess: Ronan Tucker; Daire Hogan, Kieran Ryan, Willie Ryan; Keith Nealon, Michael Ryan, Johnny Mulqueen; Eoin Grace, Stephen Murray; Stephen Kirwan, Tony Dunne, Diarmuid O’Donoghue; David Nealon, Bill O’Flaherty, Kieran Grace.

Subs used: Sean Dunne for K Nealon (15, inj); Aidan O’Dwyer for E Ryan (46); Eoin Hogan for Eoin Grace (53). 

Referee: Ger Fitzpatrick (Roscrea)

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