Ballyhaise go long as Downings go out of Ulster IFC at quarter-final stage

No club in Donegal have penned a fairytale anything like Downings have in the last few years, although their excursion into the AIB Ulster GAA Club IFC won’t carry much more than a footnote.
Ballyhaise 4-15 Downings 0-11

Cavan champions Ballyhaise put on a superb showing, with their willingness to mix up the play to go short and more often long, to leave Kevin ‘Cookie’ Gallagher’s team in their wake in the autumnal surroundings of Breffni Park.

Crisp-aired it was and crisp too were the hosts, who took the scruff of the contest of seven minutes and by the time they released their grip it was all but over. The damage was done in the first half, following which Damien Keaney’s team were 10 in front. It rendered the second half - unless there was a miracle - almost irrelevant.

Paddy McElwee scored two early points at Breffni, although each was instantly levelled, with David Brady and Michael Brady registering inside four minutes. It looked as though this was setting off nicely to be a toe-to-toer, although looks can be deceiving.

Ballyhaise had finally come over to their Cavan IFC hoodoo this term. Having lost the previous two domestic deciders, they got the monkey off their back to win the title last month against Denn - the team who defeated Downings in the 2021 provincial final at junior level.

In the seventh minute, Ballyhaise managed to score twice, from a fantastic Eoin Clarke strike and then David Brady was on the mark, with Downings and goalkeeper Aaron McClafferty struggling to get men away from the kick-out.

Adam Heaslip, then, took advantage after a parry from McClafferty, who was backpedalling to stop a shot from Padraig Moore. Heaslip slammed home from close in and Ballyhaise had gone from level to five up in little more than a minute.

Another issue for Downings surfaced midway through the half when McClafferty signalled for the bench which looked at first glance to be a groin injury. Off he went and on came Aodh McBride, kitted in a fluorescent bob with the No 8 on his back.

Regardless of the colour, it was plain to see that Dowinings needed to get a grip on things. However, Ballyhaise, refreshingly direct, grabbed an emphatically finished second goal through Padraig Moore, swivelling to smash past the substitute goalkeeper.

Twenty-one minutes had been played and Ballyhaise had worked themselves into a lead of 2-6 to 0-2. Downings managed a couple of points at the other end, with Johnny McGroddy and Lorcan Connor scoring.

Ballyhaise just kept doing what they were doing and this time from a raker in, Colin McKiernan laid it across to the incoming Moore, on 24 minutes. The skipper - as cool as you like - opened his body and placed the ball neatly into the top corner of the net with the inside of his right foot.

Moore would hobble off four minutes from the end of the first half, although the ovation he received from the home support made you feel like it was approaching the end of the second.

It meant a 3-8 to 0-4 advantage and Downings’ deficit might’ve been more had it not been for a goalline clearance by Padraig McGinty from Eoin Clake, who was at the front of a queue of Ballyhaise players.

Downings were 3-9 to 0-5 down at half-time and the seaside seemed an awful long way away. The players from Ballyhaise, based just out the road at Townparks, could almost smell their dinners in the oven.

The second half was a completely different game, with substitute Kevin Tierney scoring a mark and then Cormac Clarke of Ballyhaise making it 3-11 to 0-5. McElwee kicked two for Downings at the other end and it was a low-intensity tit-for-tat.

Ballyhaise, looking ahead, will be a little aggrieved to have kicked nine second-half wides, although the fact it mattered little. Michael Brady brought his second-half total to five late on and Tierney blasted home a penalty in injury time to complete their more than satisfactory afternoon.

For Downings, who were playing for pride by then, it was a disappointing end to the season. That should not overshadow a season that was far from disappointing, with their first Donegal IFC title in 30 years and a competent campaign back in Division 1.

Ballyhaise scorers: Padraig Moore 2-1; Kevin Tierney 1-2, 1-0 pen 1m; David Brady 0-4; Michael Brady 0-5, 2f, 45; Adam Heaslip 1-0; Eoin Clarke, Martin Conaty, Cormac Clarke 0-1 each.
Downings scorers: Patrick McElwee 0-5, 2f, 1m; Johnny McGroddy 0-3, 2f; Lorcan Connor, Oisin Boyce, Kealan McGroddy 0-1 each.

Ballyhaise: Gary O’Rourke; Aaron Watson, Fiachra McGoldrick, Eoin Clarke; Adam Heaslip, Evan Crowe, Darren Reilly; David Brady, Aodhagan Watters; Colin McKiernan, Padraig Moore, Cormac Clarke; Martin Conaty, Brian O’Rourke, Michael Brady. Subs: Kevin Tierney for Moore (26); Marcus Duffy for Reilly (half-time), Cormac Callaghan for Watson (37), Killian Brady for Clarke (43), Luke Gilmartin for McKieran (50)
Downings: Aaron McClafferty; Tiernan McBride, Ben McNutt, Padraig MacGinty; Keelan McGroddy, Ronan Gallagher, Dean McBride; Oisin Boyce, Shane Boyce; Allen Pasoma, Kevin Doherty, Conor Boyce; Johnny McGroddy, Lorcan Connor, Patrick McElwee. Subs: Aodh McBride for McClafferty (17); Ben McBride, Ethan Cullen and Callum Cullen for S Boyce, McGinty and D McBride (half-time), James Lee McBride for C Boyce (55)
Referee: Diarmuid Boylan (Monaghan).