Holders Commercials breeze into the last six of County Senior Football Championship

Clonmel Commercials 1-20 Ballina 0-11

Clonmel Commercials, most people’s favourites to go all the way in the FBD Insurance County Senior Football Championship, made it two wins from two outings when they overcame Ballina with a strong second half performance at Páirc Ciocaim Dundrum on Saturday afternoon. This was a game that produced nine two-pointers, five from play from Commercials, with two of the four from Ballina also from open play.

Even though Ballina only trailed by three points at the break, 1-7 to 0-7, it was evident from early on that they were playing second fiddle to a Commercials team, who have their sights set on the big prize, the Philly Ryan Cup, played for the first time, and presented to honour one of the club’s all-time greats.

Commercials were quickly off the mark and hit the opening four points within six minutes. Ballina found it difficult to get to the pace of the game, and it took them fifteen minutes to register their opening score, a point from open play after a slow build-up. Commercials had gone into a six-point lead early in the second quarter before Ballina kicked three two-pointers, including one from a free, after the ball was moved forward for a technical breach, brought to the referee’s attention by his linesman.

Commercials really came into their own after the restart, limiting Ballina to just four points, which included a two-point free, while putting over five from outside the arc from five different kickers, and 0-17 of their total coming from open play. Advancement to the knockout stages is now guaranteed, with round 3 still to come.

Ballina, meanwhile, play Ardfinnan in round 3 in a must-win game to secure qualification.

Commercials were quickly into the game, with Ross Peters getting the scoreboard moving after 35 seconds. Peter McGarry doubled their advantage sixty seconds later, before Sean O’Connor got his opening score after good work from captain Seamus Kennedy in a move from midfield. Kevin Fahey pushed the score out to 0-4 to no score with six minutes on the clock.

Ballina were finding it difficult to get to the pitch of the game at this early stage, and were unable to penetrate the Commercials rearguard, being forced into lateral passing just to retain possession. The first goal chance fell to Sean O’Connor on ten minutes, but his shot from a very acute angle was just outside the post.

Eventually, 15 minutes into the contest, the North men registered their opening score, a point from full forward David Grace after a slow build-up. Commercials got the only goal of the game on 17 minutes, from a Sean O’Connor converted penalty, after Cian Smith had been illegally checked. This score put them into a commanding six-point advantage.

Ballina, unable to breach the Commercials defence, changed tack and James Hanly landed the opening two-pointer of the game after 18 minutes, before Cian Smith put over his first of his two converted placed balls. Steven O’Brien landed a huge two- pointer from all of 5s0 metres to cut the deficit to three, with seven minutes of the half remaining.

Cathal Deely eased Commercials’ advantage back out to four before Steven O’Brien kicked a two-point free, after the ball was moved forward by the referee. This put two between the sides, the closest that Ballina would get. Sean O’Connor closed out the half with a converted placed ball to leave three between the sides, 1-7 to 0-7 at the short whistle.

Ballina were first to score after the restart, from a Ben King free, but any chance of a revival was short-lived. Sean O’Connor kicked the first of five second half scores from outside the arc by the holders, as they went on to outscore their opponents by 0-11 to 0-3 over the remaining period of the game. Tadhg Sheehan came into attack to pop over a minor, before a free to Cian Smith was moved across in front of goal by the referee for a technical infringement.

Commercials kicked three two-pointers from open play in a four-minute spell as they totally dictated the game. Darragh O’Connor, Cian Smith and a huge effort by Joe Higgins completely put the game beyond Ballina’s reach. They did, however, reply with a Ben King two-point free from out near the sideline, after Steven O’Brien had put over from close tange. Peter McGarry had the final two scores, kicking the final three points, including the fifth two-pointer from the holders in a second half of near exhibition football.

Scorers: Clonmel Commercials: Sean O’Connor (1-4, 1f, 1-0 pen, 1×2pt), Peter McGarry (0-4, 1x2pt), Cian Smith (0-4, 1x2pt, 2f), Joe Higgins (0-2,1x2pt), Darragh O’Connor (0-2, 1x2pt), Cathal Deely (0-1), Kevin Fahey (0-1), Ross Peters (0-1), Tadhg Sheehan (0-1).

Ballina: Steven O’Brien (0-5, 1x2pt, 1x2ptf), Ben King (0-3, 1x2ptf, 1f), James Hanly (0-2, 1x2pt), David Grace (0-1).

Clonmel Commercials: Ciaran Cannon, Tadhg Condon, Mark Corcoran, Thomas Charles, Tadhg Sheehan, Kevin Fahey, James Morris, Seamus Kennedy (captain), Joe Higgins, Cathal Deely, Darragh O’Connor, Ross Peters, Peter McGarry, Sean O’Connor, Cian Smith.

Subs: Killian Smith for Cathal Deely (47), Conor Deely for Seamus Kennedy.

Ballina: Conor Shanahan, Cillian Ryan, Kian Donnelly, David Coughlan, James Hanly, Charlie King, Thomas Shanahan, Sam Loughran, JP Mbokha Tansia, Finn Looney, Steven O’Brien (captain), Dara King, Ben King, David Grace, Matthew Power.

Subs: Paddy O’Donovan for Finn Looney (38), Luke McKeogh for Matthew Power (51), Zak Egan for David Grace (51), Paddy Bradley for Dara King (51), Luke Power for Thomas Shanahan (58).

Referee: Willie Fitzharris (Fr. Sheehy’s).