Dramatic end to poor tie means sides must meet again

Ahascragh/Fohenagh 0-12

Ballinderreen 2-6

An unanswered tally of 1-1 in the dying minutes saw Ballinderreen earn a dramatic draw against 2012 finalists Ahascragh/Fohenagh in what was, really, a very poor county intermediate quarter-final clash played at Kenny Park, Athenry on Sunday.

Despite benefitting from a strong breeze in the first half, Ballinderreen only held a 1-2 to 0-3 lead after a deplorable opening 30 minutes of hurling and it was no surprise then that they struggled to maintain this slender advantage when a wind-assisted Ahascragh began to apply the pressure after the break.

In this respect, kudos to a resilient Ballinderreen for sticking to their task – especially when they fell four points in arrears with five minutes to go – and producing an audacious grandstand finish that certainly deserved to be rewarded.

Hero of the hour was the roving Shane Coen (13) – one of two of the same name on Ballinderreen’s starting side – and when he was set in the clear by centre-forward Kevin Lane with three minutes to go he had to have known that his side’s championship aspirations hinged on his strike. The net bulged.

Now it was up for grabs and as night follows day, chaos reigned in a frantic closing spell. In the end, Ballinderreen came good when a Gary Forde sideline cut was gathered by midfielder Shane Larkin, springing to life once again, and he set up substitute Roy Lane for a fine equalising score. Game over. Certainly, over the course of the hour, Ballinderreen just about deserved it. While they didn’t create as many scoring opportunities as Ahascragh/Fohenagh, they still owned enough of the ball in the opening half to make a bigger impact.

The problem was that they lacked composure when on the offensive – the weather also played its part – and no less than a dozen chances were spurned in the opening 30 minutes, including six wide balls.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.