AIB Ulster Club IFC quarter-final
Ballyhaise (Cavan) 4-15 Downings (Donegal) 0-11
GOALS win matches as Cavan champions Ballyhaise showed in a polished display that had far too much power and panache for a game but ultimately outgunned Downings in Kingspan Breffni.
The winners were superior in all departments and varied their game superbly to emerge as thoroughly deserved winners.
In essence this matter was over by the break as the hosts led by 13 points on a score of 3-9 to 0-5.
The first of those killer goals came as early as the eighth minute as Adam Heaslip took advantage after a parry from Aaron McClafferty, who was back-pedalling to stop a shot from Padraig Moore.
Heaslip slammed home from close range and Ballyhaise had gone from level to five up in little more than a minute after Paddy McElwee swapped points with David and Michael Brady respectively.
The second goal came when Ballyhaise’s Padraig Moore smashed the ball past Downings sub ’keeper Aodh McBride and the Cavan men, who had lost two home intermediate finals on the trot before finally beating Denn, had jumped into a 2-6 to 0-2 lead.
At the other end, Johnny McGroddy and Lorcan Connor had points for the Donegal men, but given Ballyhaise’s dominance, these were mere footnotes. And Moore struck again in the 25th minute after taking a pass from Colin McKiernan to hit his second and a clinching goal for the winners.
He had to retire injured a few minutes later, but received a well-earned round of applause from the fans.
The 13-point deficit could have been even more but for a Padraig McGinty goal-line clearance deprived a queue of Cavan players who were hungry for a fourth goal as the break beckoned.
Trailing by 3-9 to 0-5 at the break, it did not get any better for the Donegal champions on the restart although the rate of scoring slowed.
Ballyhaise sub Kevin Tierney and Cormac Clarke swapped scores with McElwee.
The Cavan side stayed in control but managed to hit nine wides as Downings struggled to make any real impression.
Michael Brady made his tally up to five and Tierney converted an injury-time penalty as Downings tacked on a few points to put a semblance of respectability on proceedings.
Oisin Boyce and Keelan McGroddy were also on target for Downings, but there was no doubting the emphatic superiority of the winners.
Ballyhaise G O’Rourke; A Watson, F McGoldrick, E Clarke (0-1); A Heaslip (1-0) E Crowe, D Reilly; D Brady (0-4) A Watters; C McKiernan, P Moore (2-1), C Clarke (0-1); M Conaty (0-1), B O’Rourke, M Brady (0-5,0-4 frees)
Subs K Tierney (1-2, 1-0, pen) for Moore (26); M Duffy for Reilly (h-t), C Callaghan for Watson (37), K Brady for Clarke (43), Gilmartin for McKiernan (50)
Downings A McClafferty; T McBride, B McNutt, P MacGinty; K McGroddy (0-1), R Gallagher, D McBride; O Boyce (0-1), S Boyce; A Pasoma, K Doherty, C Boyce; J McGroddy (0-3,0-2 frees), L Connor (0-1), P McElwee (0-5 frees)
Subs A McBride for McClafferty (17); B McBride, E Cullen and Cullen for S Boyce, and MacGinty (h-t), JL McBride for C Boyce (55)
Referee D Boylan (Monaghan)
