St Joseph’s crush Ballyfin to record first round win
St Joseph's Oisin Hooney's goal not long after the restart put the game to bed and killed off Ballyfin's efforts Photo: Denis Byrne
St Joseph's 1-18
Ballyfin 0-5
2023 CHAMPIONS St Joseph's have gotten their Laois Shopping Centre Senior Football Championship campaign off to a winning start, totally overpowering Ballyfin on Friday night in Ratheniska.
St Joseph's started like a house on fire and led by five points at half time before a goal from Oisin Hooney not long after the restart put the game to bed. It was a tough night at the office for Ballyfin as St Joseph's eased their way to victory without ever reaching anything like their best - or needing to.
St Joseph's' efforts to defend their crown came to an abrupt end last year, only making it as far as the quarter-finals where they came unstuck against Portlaoise. Meanwhile, after four successive defeats last season, Ballyfin were forced to survive a Relegation Final against Ballylinan to retain their Senior status. They will need a big improvement if they are to avoid a similar fate this time around.
St Joseph's got off to a blistering start with two points each from Mick Keogh and Seamus Farrelly and one from Mikie Dempsey who was magnificent in the engine room. Ballyfin's only score in the first ten minutes came courtesy of a free from Sean Moore as they trailed by four points.
They had a huge opportunity to shrink the deficit when Shane Connolly got through on goal only to be denied by the crossbar. St Joseph's went up the other end where Brian Daly slotted a free to make it a five-point game after 15 minutes.
Ballyfin dominated the possession throughout the third quarter but struggled to make that count on the scoreboard and had only two more frees from Moore to show for their efforts. They launched a number of high balls in on top of the Joseph's goal, but Aaron Cooney and Adam Campion had the answer every time.
Mick Dempsey's men were far more clinical at the other end and scores just before the break from Farrelly and Keogh left St Joseph's up by 0-8 to 0-3 at half time.
The second half started as the first did - with Joseph's running amok in front of goal. Jack Lacey, Gearoid Lynch and Mick Keogh all pointed with Eoghan O’Flaherty weaving his way through the Ballyfin defence to set up Hooney who raised a green flag in the 37th minute. Moore pointed Ballyfin's first score from play but a pair of Daly frees had St Joseph's 12 points up entering the final quarter.
Far from resting on their laurels, Joseph's conceded only on final score - a point from play from Moore, the only man to get on the score-sheet for Ballyfin. Hooney added a score for Joseph's with another two each coming from Daly and Keogh as they wrapped up a highly impressive 16-point win.
Mick Keogh kicking the final score of the game was fitting conclusion to his man of the match performance as the St Joseph’s corner forward had looked the best player on the pitch from practically the first minute. He was excellent on both sides of the ball, finishing as the game's top scorer with 0-6 – five from play - while also bringing tremendous physicality and hard work to win back possession on a number of occasions.
St Joseph's advance to the Winners section of Round 2 while it's off to the Losers section for Ballyfin.
SCORERS:
St Joseph's: Mick Keogh 0-6 (0-1f), Brian Daly 0-5 (0-3fs, 0-1 45), xOisin Hooney 1-1, Seamus Farrelly 0-3, Jack Lacey, Gearoid Lynch and Mikie Dempsey 0-1 each.
Ballyfin: Sean Moore 0-5 (0-3fs).
ST JOSEPH'S: Aaron Cooney; Conor Kealy, Adam Campion, Ian Shanahan; Tom Dunne, Danny Hickey, Jack Lacey; Mikie Dempsey, Gearoid Lynch; Oisin Hooney, Eoghan O’Flaherty, Josh Lacey; Mick Keogh, Brian Daly, Seamus Farrelly.
Subs: Aidan Brennan for Shanahan (44m), Dylan Doyle for O’Flaherty (48m).
BALLYFIN: Eoin Connolly; Conall Rowney, Darragh Connolly, Owen Walsh; Thomas Lynch, Max Connolly, Allan Connolly; James Finn, Eanna Lyons; Ronan Carroll, Gene O'Connor, Ciaran Connolly; Adam Connolly, Sean Moore, Shane Connolly.
Subs: David Connolly for Carroll (ht), Sam O’Loughlin for M Connolly (57m), Conor Cleary for Adam Connolly (59m).
Referee: Colin Bailey (Mountrath)
