Ballintubber's Alan Plunkett

Ballintubber squeeze past Tourlestrane to book semi-final spot

Ballintubber....... 0-6

Tourlestrane ......0-5

 

IT was tight and it was tough at Enniscrone this afternoon but Ballintubber managed to squeeze their way past Tourlestrane to book a Connacht semi-final meeting with Leitrim champions Aughawillan next Sunday in Carrick-on-Shannon..

As expected Tourlestrane, under Eamon O'Hara, parked the bus in a game which never sparked to life such was the suffocating brand of football produced by the home side who battled hard and chose to hold possession into a strong wind in the first half and were more than happy to trail by 0-3 to 0-1 at the break, their only score in that first half coming on 30 minutes from Cathal Henry.

Not for the first time in this year's senior championship the O'Connor brothers, Cillian and Diarmuid, have conspired to bring Ballintubber closer to their firstever Connaught title, Cillian, although not at his sharpest, nailing five big ones, all from frees, while their only score from play came from Diarmuid O'Connor who nailed his side's second point on 15 minutes, Cillian adding their third on 20 minutes to complete the first half scoring.

Inside a minute of the restart Cathal Henry had reduced the margin to a point with a free but it was Ballintubber's turn to play keep-ball in what was a frustrating afternoon for forwards with a tight venue allowing little if any space for attacking football.

However, Ballintubber had the edge at midfield where Diarmuid O'Connor produced another man of the match display and not far behind him was Jason Gibbons.

But this game was always going to be tight and just one point seperated the sides when a superb point from Shane Dunne made it 0-5 to 0-4, with ten minutes remaining

A minute later the Sligo player saw a straight red - a harsh call it has to be said - for a clumsy tackle on Ruadhri O'Connor.

Indiscipline was to cost Tourlestrane at least two scores at vital times with the referee moving the ball in closr to the goals for dissent on both occasions and Cillian O'Connor, who missed one or two, restored Ballintubber two-point cushion - 0-6 to 0-4 - with eight minutes left on the clock.

But even with four minutes of injury-time added on, Tourlestrane could only manage one further point and lost a second player near the end when Adrian McIntyre picked up a second yellow card.

Ballintubber: B. Walsh, G. Loftus, C. Hallinan, B. Murphy, D. Coleman, M. Plunkett, R. O’Connor, J. Gibbons, D. O’Connor (0-1), C. Gavin, A. Dillon, A. Plunkett, B. Walsh, C. O’Connor (0-5, 5f), S. O’Malley.

Subs used: J. Finnerty for O'Maley, P. O'Connor for Gavin, M. Kelly for Loftus.

Tourlestrane: A Broe, C. Neary, B. Walsh, B, Kennedy, O. Kennedy (0-1), A. McIntyre, J. Leoanrd, S. Henry, P. Harte, A. Dunne, C. Henry (0-3, 1f), J. Durkin (0-1), G, Gaughan, J. Marren, J. Kelly

Subs used: C. Surlis for Marren,. J. Quinn for Gaughan, C. Marren for S. Henry, L. Gaughan for J. Quinn.

Referee: P. Neilan (Roscommon).