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Match Report
Ballyvarley Lose Out In High-Scoring Thriller!
Date Filed:
29 August 2011
Down Senior Hurling League: Ballyvarley 3-14 Portaferry 4-17
Ballyvarley made League Champions-Elect, Portaferry fight all the way to secure their title in another high-scoring top of the table thriller at the Scarva Road venue. A scoring burst at the beginning of each half saw the visitors do just enough to hold off an energetic home side who kept battling back from adversity to produce a grandstand finish.
The Reds got off to an enthusiastic start with Paul O’Neill putting them into an early lead with the opening point as they took the game to their much vaunted opponents. However the defence had one of those nightmare starts and against the run of play Portaferry capitalised on a few elementary errors to score 2-2 and race into a seven point lead.
The scores deflated Ballyvarley and for a time Portaferry were rampant and a few rasping shots whistled wide of the posts as they went in search of further goals. However, an opportunist goal from Jonathan Lennon lifted the Reds spirits and the “real” Ballyvarley team emerged to give the league champions-elect the game of their lives.
Two points from battling full-forward Eunan McConville and four more from Paul O’Neill hauled Ballyvarley back into contention in a rip-roaring finish to the half. Portaferry added six points to their tally but two great saves from Cathal O’Neill denied them further goals as the Reds reduced the deficit to just four points at the interval.
Half time: Ballyvarley 1-7 Portaferry 2-9
Paul O’Neill converted a free to narrow the gap to three points but once more Portaferry started the half with an early surge and goals from Boyle and Milligan were supplemented by four more points as the visitors opened up a yawning thirteen point gap and the game should have been all over. But Ballyvarley seem to have rediscovered their zest for the game and once more they dug deep to produce an exciting finish. Two points from Paul O’Neill were cancelled out by similar scores from Milligan and Miskelly but then came a purple patch for Ballyvarley that created that thrilling finish. Paul O’Neill opened the scoring spree with a point from play before he soloed through to crash the ball to the back of the net. Within minutes the Reds had a second goal when Eunan McConville applied the finish from close-range. The goal mouth action was now all at the Portaferry end but somehow the visitors goal stayed intact but further points from O’Neill(2) and Niall Savage reduced the deficit to a manageable four points. There was panic on the visitors faces as they saw their title hopes come under serious threat but, like the fantastic team that they are, they created that extra push for the finish line with full forward Barry Milligan tagging on two more points to complete a hard-earned victory.
Final Score: Ballyvarley 3-14 Portaferry 4-17
Cathal O’Neill; Peter McConville, Adam Twohig, David Lavery; Steven Daly, Thomas Lennon, John O’Neill; Paul O’Neill(1-11), Ciaran Connolly; Conor McClorey, Niall Savage(0-1), Tony Hegarty; Jonathan Lennon(1-0), Eunan McConville(1-2), Sean O’Neill.
Subs:
Michael McKay, James McConville, Ciaran Davis, Rory McShane.