McFeely Group Derry IFC final replay
Ballinderry 0-13 Faughanvale 0-10
BALLINDERRY clinched the Derry intermediate title in Saturday’s replay with star man Niall O’Donnell landing four points in all.
The Shamrocks led by four points at half time but Faughanvale came back into contention following the sending off of Gareth McKinless on a second booking midway through the half.
Faughanvale twice pegged the gap back to two points before Shea McCann and Ryan O’Neill hit insurance scores for the winners.
A second Mark Creane point left a goal between the sides but as Faughanvale peppered the Ballinderry square with high ball Ryan Bell’s highfielding lifted the pressure.
It was Niall O’Donnell going toe to toe with Michael Sweeney that limited the Faughanvale star from the drawn game. Without his influence, it was an uphill battle.
Ryan Bell, Matthew Smyth and Gareth McKinless hit three early points for Ballinderry before Shane McElhinney notched a first score for Faughanvale.
A burst of scores from Jude Bryson, Paddy O’Kane and Creane had the sides level 0-5 each before Ballinderry stamped their authority on the game.
O’Donnell (0-2) and Bell ran at the Faughanvale defence to kick points, helping open a 0-9 to 0-5 interval lead.
It was Bell who made a point for McKinless early in the second half with Bell’s control of the ball dictating the pace of the game.
Ballinderry were four up when McKinless was shown a second yellow card with Kevin and Shea Martin then on target to fuel the Faughanvale comeback hopes.
When Ballinderry needed a score to stem the tide it was O’Donnell who delivered to give them the three-point cushion they used to control the closing minutes.
They also needed two high pressure Bell catches to thwart Faughanvale’s aerial threat as they searched for a game saving goal.
Next up for Ballinderry is an Ulster quarter-final on Sunday in Celtic Park against Armagh champions Carrickcruppen.
Scorers
Ballinderry N O’Donnell (0-4), R Bell (0-1 free), S McCann (0-2), G McKinless (0-2), C Crozier (0-1 f), M Smyth (0-1), R O’Neill (0-1)
Faughanvale K Martin 0-3 (0- 1 free, 0-1 m), M Creane 0-2, P O’Kane (0-1 f), S Martin (0-1), J Bryson (0-1), E McElhinney (0-1), S McElhinney (0-1)