Ballymackey trump league champs in Barry Cup final
SOCCER: North Tipperary & District League – Division 1 Barry Cup Final
Ballymackey FC 3
Cloughjordan FC 1
By Padraig Ryan in Moneygall
Ballymackey secured the Barry Cup on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Cloughjordan in Moneygall.
Clough had come in to this final as heavy favourites following their league win but two goals from Ballymackey’s Aiden Whyte and one fromThomas Sheppard earned the deserved win for the Ballinree side.
The opening half was a relatively tight affair with both sides strong in defence, Clough managing well without the injured Bryan Williams. Joe Callaghan should have opened the scoring on the quarter hour mark after being played through but he shot wide. Five minutes later Dean O’Meara didn’t make the same mistake as he rifled home a wonderful volley to put Clough a goal in front.
Ballymakcey battled back and Sheppard was to the fore of all their best play. The former Nenagh striker was unplayable in this portion of the game and it was no surprise that it was he who drew Ballymakcey level on the half hour, with a cool finish following a neat one-two with Johnny Connors.
They score remained a draw heading into the break and it looked as if an equally tight second half awaited the huge crowd that braved the bitter cold for this game. Five minutes after the break however, Clough were reduced to 10 men with the sending off of Paul Lake for a second bookable offence. Lake had been excellent in Clough’s march to the final but could have no complaints about either caution here and suddenly Clough were facing an uphill battle.
Ballymackey made the most of the extra man and began to turn the screw, Shane Williams forced into a brilliant save when Aiden White was played through, the ball eventually falling to Sheppard whose close range finish was brilliantly kept out by Colm Williams.
The pressure eventually told when Timmy Fleming played the ball into the feet of Aiden White who let fly from 20 yards to put Ballymackey 2-1 up.
To Clough’s credit they responded immediately, introducing talisman Kevin Kennedy from the bench, and they had the ball in the net two minutes after conceding only to see the goal correctly disallowed for handball. It wasn’t long before Ger Feighery’s side got frustrated however and they were soon down to nine men when a dreadful challenge from Seamus Williams on Denis Haverty resulted in a second yellow card for the Clough man.
Three minutes later they were down to 8 when an off the ball incident saw Colm Williams receive his marching orders. The game was over as acontest at this stage and Ballymackey made the most of the three man advantage when White was played through once more to finish past the Clough keeper and secure the 3-1 win for Ger Hogan’s side.
A disappointing end for Clough who let frustration get the better of them with the game still within reach. Ballymackey won’t mind however and they kept their cool to secure a deserved win with the Barry Cup presented by John Young from the NT&DL to captain Denis Haverty.
Man of the Match: Thomas Sheppard (Ballymackey)
Ballymackey FC: Brendan Hayes, David Haverty, Timmy Fleming, Darragh McDonald, Shaun Kevin, Thomas Sheppard, Tony Delaney, Gary Kevin, Aiden White, Denis Haverty, Johnny Connors.
Subs: David McElligette for Hayes, Rory Mounsey for Kevin, TJ O’Brien for Connors.
Cloughjordan FC: Shane Williams; Gary Culbert, Colm Williams, Martin Grace, Seamus Williams, Michael Cleary, Paul Lake, Jack Farrell, Joe Callaghan, Matthew Moyles, Dean O’Meara.
Subs: Owen Usman for Culbert, Kevin Kennedy for Callaghan.
Referee: Alec McCormack