Armagh Senior Football Championship, group one, round one: Maghery 0-9 Ballymacnab 2-9
A CRAZY five-minute spell at the end of the first half threatened to undermine their efforts, but Ballymacnab doubled-down impressively to win their championship opener on the Loughshore.
The visitors were shading the exchanges but hit three wides in quick succession and then had midfielder Paul Meegan sent off.
However, the 14-men Round Towers took control after the break and a Ryan Watters goal – the spadework was done by the excellent Rory Grugan and his brother Jack – sealed the deal for the 2018 and 2019 finalists.
All-in-all it was an encouraging start to the championship for the Barry Dillon-managed side which includes a potent mix of youth and experience and it was one of their veterans, Gavin McParland, who set up Oisin McGivern for the opening goal of the game after five minutes.
But scores were few and far between in the first half.
“You’ll not have much to write about in the ’paper the marra,” said one onlooker with a chuckle.
Both sides sent chances astray and Stephen Cusack had kicked Maghery’s sixth wide by the time former Armagh full-back Ryan Kennedy got forward to push Ballymacnab into a 1-2 to 0-2 lead.
Oisin Cushnahan and Padraig O’Keefe points left just one between the teams and Maghery pushed forward for an equalizer. Meegan did well to win the ball only to undo his hard work with a frustrated swipe of his right fist and he was red-carded.
“Lucky enough, the red card happened on the stroke of half-time so at least we had 10 minutes to sort it out,” said Ballymacnab manager Dillon.
“We only scored 1-2 in the first half and we kicked a lot of wides (10 in total) and in the second half we were up against it but, if you’re backed into a corner, there’s only one way to come out and, in fairness to the boys, they came out brilliant in the second half.”
Ballymacnab were relegated from Senior A in Armagh but Ballinascreen native Dillon explained that the club’s priority this year is the championship.
“With senior A and senior B, it doesn’t really matter – you’re still in senior football,” he said.
“I told the older players to stay away for the first half of the league. Last year (in the championship) Maghery took us to extra-time and our boys were hanging together.
“I just knew there was too many miles on the legs at that stage so we wanted boys fresh to come back so we could focus on the championship.”
Read more:
Armagh great Brian Canavan leaves cancer behind on charity cycle
Madden master Silverbridge in Armagh championship opener
A man never dies while his name is spoken... Ballyholland Harps remember Kieran Sands
Dillon’s team looks fresh alright. They played the entire second half a man down but you would barely have noticed that because they seized control and had extended their lead to five points before Maghery registered their first score with 18 minutes gone.
The Loughshore outfit rallied briefly but two superb scores from Kieran Hughes and the Watters goal meant they were never able to put real pressure on their opponents although – as you would expect in a championship clash – it was feisty enough and Chris Kerr, Aidan Forker and Kennedy were all booked after a goalmouth schemozzle.
Rory Grugan tapped over the final score to sign off on a good evening’s work for his club. They play Dromintee next weekend while Maghery host Killeavy (winners against Dromintee on Sunday) and assistant-manager Seamus Forker hopes to have Armagh midfielder Ben Crealey back in harness before the end of the group stage.
“I saw a bit of the Killeavy game today and they were very impressive,” he said.
“Everybody can beat each other in this group so maybe we still have a lifeline there yet. If we get a win next week, we’ll go to Dromintee in the last match and hopefully we’ll have Ben back. We’ll keep at it.”
Ballymacnab: C Kerr; N Cosgrove, R Kennedy (0-1), D McParland; O McGivern (1-0), C Connolly, N McKee; F Maguire, P Meegan; P Gribben, R Grugan (0-2, 0-1 mark), R Watters (1-2); K Hughes (0-2), G McParland (0-2, 0-1 mark), P Hughes
Subs: J Grugan for Maguire (23), J Gray for G McParland (56), F Nugent for P Hughes (60), C Loughran
Maghery: E Cusack; E Scullion, C Higgins, K Nugent; S Cusack, B Haveron, M Mackle; S Fox, G Campbell; O Cushnahan (0-1), K Robinson (0-4 frees), S Forker (0-3 frees); S Hackett, A Forker, P O’Keefe (0-1)
Subs: M Gallagher for Campbell (44), T McConville for Cushnahan (55)
Referee: S Murray (Wolfe Tones)