Golden/Kilfeacle hit the ground running in Premier Intermediate grade in Tipperary
Jack Leamy and Ben Currivan inspire team to victory over Ballina
Golden Kilfeacle wasted little time acclimatising to the Premier Intermediate grade, as last year's County Intermediate champions easily overcame North runners-up Ballina in this county championship opener in Kilcommon.
As disappointing as the Ballina challenge was, this was more about how impressive Golden Kilfeacle were. Unlucky to lose the West final to Eire Og Annacarty after extra time a week earlier, they showed no ill effects, indeed taking the confidence from being competitive against such a seasoned Premier Intermediate outfit.
The outcome was as good as decided by half time, with Golden 2-16 to 0-9 in front. It was very much the Jack Leamy and Ben Currivan show as the duo contributed all bar one of their team’s scores. They will also be the first to laud the contributions of teammates such as Shane O’Connell, Gavin Dalton and Andy Byrnes, with Eanna Ormond coming to the fore in the second half.
This was a hugely disappointing display for Ballina, and with games to come against Boherlahan/Dualla and Eire Og Annacarty will need to rediscover their spark to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle.
The early stages didn’t hint at the one-sided outcome to follow as the sides shared the first six points with Ben Currivan (two frees) and Padraig Dalton getting Golden up and running with Ballina’s three coming from Breen, Billy Collins and the first of two sideline cuts from Luke McKeogh.
Ballina nudged ahead with a Charlie King point on six minutes but that was as good as it would get for the Ballina-Boher men, as two minutes later the West side got in for their first goal, Jack Leamy running onto a Currivan pass to score under pressure.
Matthew Power responded with a free but Golden upped the tempo, with Currivan on target thrice more, and Leamy pointing from play to go five clear.
Power converted another free before Leamy pointed from play again before he goaled for the second time on 17 minutes, cutting in from the corner to drill past Simon Grace.
Currivan’s first score from play pushed Golden nine clear and after Luke McKeogh converted his second line ball, Currivan and Leamy added to their tallies, including a converted 65 for the former after Andy Byrnes was denied a goal by a superb Grace save, with the Ballina ‘keeper denying Currivan again soon afterwards.
Points from Steven O’Brien and a Power free kept Ballina’s heads above water but two points each from Leamy and Currivan pushed Golden into an unassailable 13-point lead at half time.
There was no semblance of a second half fightback from Ballina, who weren’t helped by Golden getting the first two points of the half, with Currivan on target from placed balls.
Eanna Ormond got his name on the scoresheet for the West men before Ballina gave themselves a lifeline with a well-finished Eoghan Power goal on 36 minutes, with Billy Collins punishing the subsequent misplaced puckout.
Ballina had some momentum but it was quickly extinguished when Eanna Ormond ran onto a breaking ball from the subsequent puckout, cutting in from the wing and drilled low to the corner of the net for a 3-19 to 1-11 lead.
From there to the end the game petered out, with Golden stepping off the gas while Ballina kept plugging away, earning a 44th minute penalty when Steven O’Brien caught a high ball and was pulled down in the square. However, to sum up their day, Matthew Power’s well- struck shot hit the post, from where Golden cleared, and only the final pass prevented them from getting their fourth goal at the other end.
Golden Kilfeacle: Jack Currivan; Shane O’Connell, Aidan O’Connell, Jack Dalton; Gavin Dalton, Niall Heffernan, Cian O’Connell; Jack Leamy (captain 2-6), Padraig Dalton (0-1); Jack Lonergan, Ben Currivan (0-13, 8f, 1 ’65), Eanna Ormond (1-1); Charlie Hall, Andy Byrnes (0-1), Sam Hall (0-1).
Subs: Ning Brennan for A O’Connell (56); Jack Bergin for C Hall (57); Sean O’Halloran for P Dalton (57).
Ballina: Simon Grace; David Coughlan, Paul McKeogh, Patrick O’Donovan; Sam Loughran, Michael Breen (captain 0-1), James Hanly; Thomas Shanahan, Terry O’Halloran; Billy Collins (0-2), Steven O’Brien (0-1), Paddy Bradley; Matthew Power (0-8, 7f, 1 ’65), Luke McKeogh (0-3, 2 s-cuts), Charlie King (0-1).
Subs: Enda Tormey for Hanly (HT); Eoghan Power (1-1) for Bradley (HT); Kian Donnelly for Loughran (42); Cillian Ryan for Shanahan (45); David Grace for King (48).
Referee: Mark Gennery (Portroe).