AIB Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: John Mitchel’s, Ballygalget (Down) 2-26 St Patrick’s, Lisbellaw (Fermanagh) 0-8
BALLYGALGET manager Paddy Monan has praised the new Down senior hurling championship round-robin format after his side earned a place in the Ulster senior club hurling final for the first time since 2008.
The Ardsmen were comfortable winners over Lisbellaw at Corrigan Park yesterday, strolling to a 25-point win to secure a showdown against reigning champions Slaughtneil on October 22
Ballygalget were in control from the first whistle and led by 0-14 to 0-1 after 20 minutes. They led by 0-17 to 0-4 at the break, hitting just one first half wide, and the game was already over by the time Caolan Bailie and Danny Doran added second half goals.
“We got great hurling out of the Down championship this year,” said Monan.
“I would have always been a fan of the round-robin system. A lot of people, even in my own club, wouldn’t be, but you can’t go into an Ulster campaign possibly playing 60 minutes of hurley, going up against teams who’ve played three or four matches to get to the same stage.
“We played three tough matches in Down and that has stood us in good stead for today. You could see in the first half that we were very economical in front of goal. We wouldn’t have been like that if it hadn’t been for our Down championship campaign.”
Monan must now prepare his side for a step up in class against the Derry champions.
“We haven’t talked about an Ulster final at all. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but we’re just taking it one game at a time. We’ve won today and now we’re in an Ulster final against Slaughtneil. It’s going to be a huge ask,” he added.
“We scored 2-16 today. If we were lucky enough to score that against Slaughtneil, it still might not be enough to beat them. But these boys are up for a challenge, there’s been questions asked of them all year in the Antrim League and the Down championship and they’ve answered them all.
“We’re not fearful of them, but we know how good a team they are and how big a task it is for us.”
Lisbellaw will now return to the intermediate grade having played the requisite five years in the senior championship since winning the Ulster intermediate club title in 2012.
Their cause wasn’t helped by a long injury list, but manager Brendan McGarry admitted his side were second best on the day.
“We are a bit of a victim of our own success to be sitting in the senior championship for five years. The scoreline flatters Ballygalget a small bit, but I’m very proud of the boys and the effort they put into today,” said McGarry.
“We’ve put in some good performances (in Ulster SHC) in the past five years, but we are playing out of our depth and it’s difficult. There’s such a big gap between intermediate and senior.”
The Down champions came into the game as strong favourites and, by the opening quarter of an hour, had justified that tag, leading by 0-10 to 0-1. Sean Corrigan got his – and Lisbellaw’s – second point on 24 minutes, but Ballygalget’s procession of points continued with seven different scorers accounting for their 0-17 half-time tally.
Lisbellaw enjoyed a slightly better second quarter with Dylan Bannon joining Corrigan on the scoresheet. Ryan Bogue cut the gap after the restart, but the respite was momentary for the Ernemen with Bailie, Danny Toner and Cormac Coulter adding points.
Bailie’s powerful run at the Lisbellaw defence in the 38th minute produced the game’s first goal and Declan McGarry was in superb form to deny him a second goal minutes later.
McGarry could do nothing about Doran’s strike to make the score 2-23 to 0-6, while substitute Gareth Johnston converted two late frees.
There was time for Bogue to superbly convert a sideline cut for Lisbellaw’s last score of the day, while Conor Doran and Bailie tagged on late points for the Down men.
Ballygalget: J Crowe; B Byers, E Clarke, J Smyth; E Coulter, B Toner, P McManus; D McManus (0-2), J Doran (0-1); J McManus (0-1), G Roddy, M Fisher (0-4, 2f); C Coulter (0-4, 2f), C Bailie (1-6, 0-2 frees), D Toner (0-5)
Subs: D Doran (1-0) for D McManus (h-t), P McManus for M Fisher (39), R Watson for J McManus (41), C Doran (0-1) for J Doran (49), G Johnston (0-2 frees) for G Roddy (51)
Lisbellaw: D McGarry; A Breslin, M Slevin, D Teague; T Cleary, K Kehoe, JP McGarry; R Bogue (0-4, 0-1 free, 0-1 sideline), C Corrigan; C McShea, D Bannon (0-1), R Porteous; S Corrigan (0-3f), E Cleary, D Russell
Subs: O Russell for E Cleary (39), C McTeague for K Kehoe (52), B Jones for D Bannon (54), M Martin for D Russell (58), J Gavin for D Teague (62)
Referee: B Winters (Tyrone)
