On a misty morning in Rusheen, our U13 A team hosted Killarney Athletic. Ballyhar, playing in their away kit due to a clash of jerseys, gained the upper hand early on in the game and kept a firm hand on it until the final whistle.
As always, the tight knit Ballyhar defence proved hard to breakdown with full backs Liam Smyth and Diarmuid Fitzgerald repelling everything that came at them. The centre back pairing of Ollie Kirwan and Ciaran Ferris were dealing comfortably with any attacks. Evan Greensmyth in goals, was as solid as ever and made some good saves and some big clearances with his feet.
In the middle of the park Jack Duggan and Reuben O Leary Griffin were on top form picking passes and breaking up the play.
On the wings Ruairi Casey and Brian McMahon were playing influential roles in the game.
McMahon with his delivery from corners and Casey with his trademark penetrative runs.
Up front Darragh McLaughlin and Josh Nelligan were working hard are keeping the Athletic defence honest.
It was one of the aforementioned McMahon corners that led to the opener for Ballyhar. A sweetly struck ball floated into the box found Jack Duggan who opened the scoring for the home team on 18 mins. Despite being comfortably on top, a mixup in the Ballyhar defence due to poor communication, led to Athletic pulling level on 23mins. Half time score 1-1
The second half couldn’t have started any better when straight from tip off Darragh McLaughlin got on the ball and ran through to strike a powerful shot passed the Killarney keeper. Ballyhar kept the pressure up and with 41 mins gone Liam Smyth placed a sweet pass onto the head of Ruairi Casey who flicked a precise header home to the bottom corner to make it 3-1.
The final goal came in the 52nd minute from the left foot of Jack Duggan after some intricate play on the edge of the box, Duggan slotted home with his ‘weaker’ foot. F/T 4-1
An excellent team performance and a great win for the Ballyhar boys.
Best on the day were Jack Duggan, Reuben O'Leary Griffin & Ruairi Casey