Ballintubber move through the gears to win replay

BALLINTUBBER moved through the gears in the second half to outscore Hollymount-Carramore by 0-12 to 0-3 and ease their way into a semi-final meeting with Claremorris on Sunday.

This quarterfinal replay at MacHale Park, Castlebar, this evening may not have produced the same high quality as the drawn game but there was no shortage of drama as Ballintubber had their ace forward, Cillian O’Connor, sent off for a second yellow 15 minutes into the second half.

At that stage O’Connor had played a key role in helping Ballintubber turn a two-point half-time deficit into a four-point lead - 0-13 to 1-6.

The platform for that Ballintubber turnaround was laid at midfield where Jason Gibbons took over, but it was a case of all hands to the pump for Ballintubber as they kicked on by four.

Kevin Feerick pulled one back for the south Mayo men but it was as if the champions of 2014 had found a higher gear, with the experienced Alan Dillon leading the way, Diarmuid O’Connor, Dillon again and another from O’Connor before Damien Coleman pushed the gap to six and there was no way back for a battling Hollymount-Carramore who never quite hit the same heights as they had done in the drawn game, but that, in fairness, was due to some serious work done by Ballintubber.

Hollymount-Carramore led by 1-6 to 0-7 after a very lively first half, the big score coming just five minutes before the interval when Nathan Moran fielded a high ball from Conor Keane. Moran kept his head, waited for the goalkeeper to come, and calmly rounded the 'keeper before placing the ball into an empty net.

Final score: Ballintubber 0-18, Hollymount-Carramore 1-9.

Scorers for Ballintubber: A. Dillon 0-5 (1f), C. O’Connor (0-4, 2 ‘45s, 1f), C. Finnerty 0-3, D. O’Connor 0-2, A. Plunkett, P. O’Connor, M. Plunkett, D. Coleman 0-1 each.

Scorers for Hollymount-Carramore: D. Coen 0-4 (3f), K. Feerick (0-3, 1f), N. Moran1-0, R. Molloy 0-2.

Ref: E. Devenney (Ballina).