U17 Division 1 Bowl Final Replay: Ballyhar 2 - Ferry Rangers 1

U17 Division 1 Bowl Final Replay: Ballyhar 2 - Ferry Rangers 1

Our U17's finished off their season on a high note last Sunday when they defeated Ferry Rangers at the second attempt in the Division 1 Bowl Final.

The 1st half went very much the same as the first encounter with both teams squaring up each other in the first 15 minutes, going end to end. Although sloppy at times Ballyhar managed to break the deadlock, when Cillian Slattery played a lovely ball from just inside the Ferry half, finding Lee Cirillo in full stride the right side of his marker. He managed to control it just as the keeper was advancing, lifting it over his head and following it up to head it into the net. But history repeated itself, as inside 5 mins the teams were level again. Ferry pushed men forward down the right and worked it inside the Ballyhar bow, with a strike into the far bottom corner, giving Eoin O'Mahony little chance in goals. 1-1 Ferry Rangers started to get the upper hand with Ballyhar giving them too much room. There was a few shaky moments around corners given away but thankfully most didn't hit the target. Then a rare counter attack led to a corner, which ended with Slattery hitting the crossbar, but the teams went in even at the break. H/T 1-1

Ballyhar needed to get back into the game and they started the 2nd half with more intent, closing down Ferry Rangers after a few strong words and positional switches at the break. Slattery and Ross Lally really started to take the game over, as the hard working Tom Costelloe and Sean Brosnan did well to thwart any counter attacks in the middle of the park. Conor Edwards was a constant threat out wide, with the back 4 of Regan, Long, Giles and Fleming all now winning their individual battles. With a good 20 minutes under their belt, Rangers began to fade and the dagger was due to come with a little help from 1 of their midfielders. Giles launched a goal kick right down the middle, when a Ferry player got caught underneath the flight of the ball and ended up flicking it on towards his own goal. With Slattery now working up top, he took off in chase of it and beat the rangers defence for pace, slotting the ball past the keeper at the last second. 2-1 Ballyhar. To add to the oppositions woes, 2 players had to go off injured, while Ballyhar sprung fresh legs from the bench with Kealan Riordan, Jayden Muj and Eoghan O'Sullivan putting Ferry under more pressure. Jayden came close on 2 occasions to extending the lead, but unfortunately couldn't get his shots on target. Conor Regan pushed up from Right back and put some great crosses into the box but the strong, tall backline of Ferry Rangers dealt with them. Then a nervous moment came in the game, when Giles unintentionally sliced a kick back towards his own goal and thinking it was ok to collect it, keeper O'Mahony picked it up. to everyone's surprise the ref blew for an indirect free-kick inside the box. O'Mahony lined up a 5 man wall with all hands ready to charge down the shot. Thankfully Ferry tried to tee it up outside and Ballyhar smothered the chance to get on level terms. With the clock winding down Ballyhar stood firm and with Ferry running out steam, the final whistle was met with cheers from the players and many supporters who turned up. Final score Ballyhar 2 - Ferry Rangers 1.

For this Ballyhar team, it was a special sweet end to a season, that unfortunately didn't have many great days out, but these lads always tried hard and played hard, and no matter what the result had a smile on their faces. After losing 3 Shield Finals over the years, it was great to see them celebrate with some silverware. It was a great team effort from a good group of lads who gave an outstanding 2nd half performance. There were strong performances all over the field, but the Man of the Match would narrowly have to go to our captain - Ross Lally. His skill on the ball, driving engine in midfield and constant passing or shooting threat, kept us on the offensive when we needed it and he lead his team very well.

We'd like to thank Ferry Rangers for 2 very competitive games and also to our team sponsors, the Meadowlands Hotel Tralee.