Ballina Town 4

Ballinrobe Town 3

THE final eight minutes of this seven-goal thriller were certainly vital for the visitors to the Green on Saturday evening, as two goals from Brendan Lavelle and Eugene Gorman, whose strike arrived during second half injury-time, turned the game on its head and ensured a fortuitous three points for the North Mayo men.

Ballina made a lively start to proceedings and on 12 minutes they plundered the lead. A potent ball from Fergus Quinn caught out the Ballinrobe defence and Philip Devers was on hand to apply the finish, much to the delight of the away bench.

As in previous games, Ballinrobe upped the tempo and on 29 minutes they created their first chance of note, but Shane Ryan saw his strike sail off target, after being released by J. P. O’Gorman.

The Robesiders continued to press for the elusive equaliser and on 35 minutes Dave McDonnell was most unfortunate to see his goalbound header cleared off the line by a Ballina defender, following a delivery from a corner-kick by Ryan.

Martin McDonald’s troops though, pinched the leveller just moments before the sounding of the half-time whistle. Ryan won possession and his superb delivery found O’Gorman, who teedup Johnny Burke and he applied a simple close-range finish to the back of Neil Langdon’s net.

The torrential rain at The Green on Saturday evening affected playing conditions and this certainly played a part in Ballina’s second goal of the evening on 51 minutes. A swerving 30-yard strike from Derek Tansey was spilled by Kevin Connolly and the sniping Devers was on hand to strike the ball home.

Indeed, Ballina could well have netted their third goal of the evening on 64 minutes, but Connolly dealt with Quinn’s stinging strike.

Following instructions from their manager Martin McDonald, Ballinrobe’s gameplan paid dividends and they netted the equaliser on 73 minutes. A swerving free-kick from the left-wing by Bart Grimes, found second half substitute Damien Walsh and he played the ball into the path of Brian Gibbons, and from outside the area the latter struck home a spectacular strike which rustled the back of the Ballina net.

Three minutes later, Ballinrobe added their third goal of the evening to take the lead. Grimes was once again the instigator and his delivery from another free-kick was fumbled by Langdon, with the ball falling favourably to Brian Conroy and The Neale native gleefully guided the ball across the line.

On 82 minutes though, parity was restored. A mazy run from Dwayne Helly inside the area resulted in the full-back playing a neat ball onto the path of Brendan Lavelle, whose first time shot flew past the beaten Connolly, much to the dismay of the custodian.

McDonnell could well have regained the initiative for Ballinrobe on 84 minutes, but his strike was fumbled by Langdon, with no one in a red and white jersey available in the box to take advantage of the loose ball.

Sport can be cruel and this was certainly the case two minutes into injury-time, as Ballina netted the latest of winners. A dangerous corner-kick from Devers, was not adequately dealt with by the hosts and the ball broke kindly for Eugene Gorman, who rifled a sizzling strike to the back of the Ballinrobe net, to filch the three points for the Belleek Park outfit.

BALLINROBE TOWN: K Connolly, P Delaney, B Grimes, D McDonnell, S O’Malley, B Conroy, P McDonald, S Ryan, JP O’Gorman, J McTigue, J Burke. Subs: D Heneghan (for McDonald), D Walsh (for McTigue, B Gibbons (for Burke)

 BALLINA TOWN: N Langdon, T O’Connor, D Helly, D Tansey, M Knight, G Grant, P Devers, P Duffy, B Lavelle, F Quinn, E Gorman. Subs: D O’Connor (for Duffy), C Gilmartin (for D O’Connor).

Referee: L McEntee