Ballybacon dig deep to secure Intermediate survival once again

FBD Insurance Intermediate Hurling Relegation Final

Ballybacon Grange 0-20

Clonoulty Rossmore 1-14

Ballybacon Grange retained their Intermediate hurling status for 2027, thanks to a big second-half performance, when they defeated Clonoulty Rossmore in the relegation final at Canon Hayes Park, Bansha, on Saturday afternoon.

Played before a small crowd, the earlier rain had cleared off by throw-in time, but the underfoot conditions were somewhat slippery.

The West men got a tonic start after four minutes with a goal at the village end and kept up the momentum for the remainder of the half, going in at the break leading by 1-9 to 0-8. After the restart they stretched that lead out to six, but were off target also with a few bad wides.

Ballybacon got up to the pitch of the game as Clonoulty showed signs of not being up to the pace of the game. The South men hit seven on the bounce to lead by one at the end of the third quarter. While Clonoulty levelled the game for the fourth time, it was Ballybacon who finished the stronger, outscoring their rivals 0-5 to 0-2 over the final quarter.

Ballybacon attacked the far end from the throw-in and Paul Cummins split the posts after just twelve seconds to get the scoreboard moving. Directly from the resulting puck-out, Seamus Kennedy won possession before levelling matters for the first time at the village end.

Clonoulty eased ahead as Sean Ryan (Raymond) picked out the unmarked Paddy Ryan from a sideline cut and the midfielder found the range. Clonoulty drew first blood through Odhran Quirke in the fifth minute, when the full-forward got his hand to a high dropping ball to deflect past Brendan Cummins.

James Murphy pulled one back before James Heffernan was on target from two long-range frees, either side of a minor from Luke O’Brien, who pushed up on a poor clearance out of the Clonoulty defence. Points from Paul Cummins and Shane Ryan cut the deficit to the minimum, but Clonoulty hit back through Oisin Fryday and a brace from Sean Ryan (Raymond).

Paul Cummins put over his fourth point from a placed ball, while Shane Ryan, who was coming more into the action, added his second from open play. James Heffernan closed out the scoring to bring the half to an end with Clonoulty good value for their four-point interval lead, 1-9 to 0-8.

Clonoulty Rossmore were quickly into the action after the restart with points from Oisin Fryday and Odhran Quirke inside the opening five minutes, but missed a couple of clear-cut chances to open up a bigger gap. Ballybacon got up to the pitch of the game and scored at will up to the end of the third quarter, as their superior fitness began to show.

Shane Ryan, in particular, was in devastating form from open play, while Paul Cummins added two from placed balls and James Murphy added his second. Six points on the bounce had the sides on level terms, before Murphy eased his side ahead at the start of the final quarter.

Odhran Quirke, from a free, brought the sides level for the fourth and final time before Ballybacon finished the stronger coming down the home straight, with Shane Ryan adding two more minors in a man-of-the-match display and Paul Cummins converting two placed balls to bring his afternoon tally to eight. Paul Hayes closed out the scoring with a point in added time, as Ballybacon ran out three-point winners.

For Clonoulty Rossmore, it’s back to the West Junior A next season for the first time since 2023, while Ballybacon Grange once again proved to be the great survivors when it was needed most.

After the final whistle, a very happy Brendan Cummins had this to say:

“It’s our three-in-a-row survival and we are glad to get out of it again. In fairness, our forwards had a ten-minute spell in the second half when we got three or four points in a row and the backs held out at the finish. Yeah, a lot of relief on an occasion like this.

“Fair play to Clonoulty, it’s not simple either to be going down. I know that they lost a few players during the year as their seniors had to take them, because they were ravaged with injuries and knocks. So they were very much a depleted team today.

“We are just glad that we survived for another year. This year has been difficult enough for us. Today, thankfully, all is well that ends well. Hopefully we will get back on the road again next February or March and start the new year with new hope.

“Our fitness told during the second half, the lads have a lot of work done through the football with a lot of training done. We had a feeling in the last ten to fifteen minutes that if we could run the ball. We were brave in possession and not giving the ball away. We ran the ball up the pitch and got our rewards from that and it keeps our Intermediate status for 2027.”

Scorers: Ballybacon Grange: Paul Cummins (0-8, 0-7f), Shane Ryan 0-7, James Murphy 0-3, Luke O’Brien, Brian Dillon 0-1 each.

Clonoulty Rossmore: Odhran Quirke (1-4, 0-3f), James Heffernan (0-3, 0-2f), Sean Ryan (Raymond), Oisin Fryday 0-2 each, Seamus Kennedy, Paddy Ryan, Paul Hayes all 0-1 each.

Ballybacon Grange: Brendan Cummins; Sean Nagle, Eoin Walsh, John Condon; Johnny English, Michael Barlow, Luke O’Brien; Jack O’Neill, Ronan Myles; Paul Cummins, Gerry Cronin, Shane Ryan; James Murphy, Billy Hewitt, Aaron Lonergan.

Subs used: Brian Dillon for Gerry Cronin (39); Declan Walsh for Eoin Walsh (55).

Clonoulty Rossmore: David Egan; Luke O’Neill, Padraig Carew, James Horan; Robert Ryan, James Heffernan, Jack Heffernan; James Ryan (Winnie), Paddy Ryan; Aaron Ryan (Rody), Seamus Kennedy, Oisín Fryday; Kieran Carroll, Odhran Quirke, Sean Ryan (Raymond).

Subs used: Niall Shanahan for Luke O’Neill (45); Aidan White for James Ryan (Winnie) (45); Fiachra O’Keeffe for Kieran Carroll (48); Padraig Heffernan for Aaron Ryan (Rody) (48); Paul Hayes for Jack Heffernan (58).

Referee: Jerry Treacy (Borris-Ileigh)