Ballinderry players Ben McKinless, left, and Eoin McCracken celebrate after their side's victory in the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship semi-final match between Austin Stacks and Ballinderry at Parnell Park in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
AIB All-Ireland Club IFC Semi-Final
BALLINDERRY SHAMROCKS 0-11 AUSTIN STACKS 0-7
By Kevin Egan
Trailing by 0-5 to 0-2 after 20 minutes, Ballinderry Shamrocks produced an all-round masterclass of a finish to close out this afternoon’s AIB All-Ireland intermediate club semi-final clash with Austin Stacks in Parnell Park, earning their slot in Croke Park alongside Crossmolina of Mayo next Sunday.
The Derry and Ulster champions, and All-Ireland senior kingpins 23 years ago, controlled every facet of play from then on, restricted their Kerry opponents to a handful of chances on breakaway scores. Meanwhile they carefully and methodically picked open the Tralee club’s defensive structure to create high percentage scoring chances, and by the time Jerome Henry sounded the final whistle, they had all the momentum in the world and looked like they would have only extended their lead further, had the contest continued on into the chilly winter evening.
This fixture was switched to Donnycarney due to the seasonal conditions but the football in the first quarter was thoroughly enjoyable despite this, with some high quality scores kicked at both ends. A majestic skyscraper of a kick from Conor O’Neill cancelled out Paddy Lane’s opener for the Kerrymen, but Billy Lee’s side still enjoyed plenty of good possession thanks to accurate restarts from Michael Tansey, and impressive defenders Dylan Casey and Joey Nagle both came forward to pick off good points, the latter fisting over at the end of a move that started with Aron Mullan having his goal attempt blocked down at the opposite end of the pitch.
A black card for Stacks wing forward Daniel Kirby proved to be a crucial game changer however, even though by the time the half-time whistle sounded and Kirby’s time in purgatory was brought to an end, it seemed like the Munster champions had seen out their shorthanded spell incredibly well.
0-3 to 0-2 ahead at the time of the sanction, they restricted Ballinderry to a number of hopeful, long distance shots in that time, and at the other end Paddy Lane won a high ball and clipped the ball over the bar to double the lead, turning down what seemed like an obvious goal chance as he cut in from the right corner of the attack.
What this ten-minute spell did however was it changed the way the game was played. The end-to-end nature of the contest had given way to more cautious, probing football and while there was still plenty of physical contests when the ball was there to be won, that extra moment that teams had to either pick out their pass or else reshape their defence, seemed to suit Ballinderry every time.
Kirby’s point in the 37th minute, converted after Stacks couldn’t quite move a turnover ball from one end to the other quick enough to test Ben McKinless, made it 0-5 to 0-2 and seemed to be an indicator of Stacks taking further control, but instead it was notable that now Ballinderry had much more time on the ball, and they had much more of the ball too. Darren Lawn was very busy at both ends of the pitch, Gareth McKinless was controlling the play as he tends to do for club and county, while Ben McKinless was also coming forward to have a much bigger bearing on play.
With excellent discipline, patience and accuracy, Ballinderry gradually chipped away at ther lead. Lawn took a pass from O’Neill to kick one nice score in traffic, and when O’Neill himself converted the next, it was notable that neither of the two Stacks defenders around him were able to get close enough to prevent a simple finish.
Lawn intercepted a handpass inside his own 13m line to start a move that ended with Gareth McKinless adding a classy finish, and when Ryan Bell pointed from the next play when Stacks failed to retain their own kickout, the confidence that was surging through the Derry club’s veins was palpable.
Dylan Casey kicked a fine score to try and stem the tide and the contest was still right in the balance at 0-7 to 0-6 with just ten minutes to play, but in racing parlance, Ballinderry were travelling sweetly and ready to kick on.
Lawn, Ben McKinless and Bell casually moved the ball around for Daniel McKinless to finish, and Bell’s point in the 55th minute summed up how Stacks were all at sea. Ballinderry made three passes at walking pace some 50 to 60 metres out from their opponents’ goal, and at the end Bell was able to saunter through the Stacks defence and sent the ball soaring over the black spot.
The impressive Joey Nagle won a turnover that set up a Kirby point that kept Stacks’ hopes alive, but cool as ever, the winners simply kept their composure and worked the ball up for Daniel McKinless to kick the clinching score from a mark, and ensure that they will have plenty of momentum going into next weekend’s final.
Scorers for Ballinderry Shamrocks: Conor O’Neill 0-3, Ryan Bell 0-2, Charlie Crozier 0-2f, Daniel McKinless 0-2 (0-1m), Darren Lawn 0-1, Gareth McKinless 0-1
Scorers for Austin Stacks: Paddy Lane 0-2 (0-1f), Daniel Kirby 0-2, Dylan Casey 0-2, Joey Nagle 0-1
Ballinderry Shamrocks: Ben McKinless; Ryan O'Neill, Oisín Duffin, Aron Mullan; Ruairí Forbes, Gareth McKinless, Eoin Devlin; Niall O'Donnell, Shea Coleman; Tiernan Rocks, Conor O’Neill, Shea McCann; Charlie Crozier, Ryan Bell, Darren Lawn.
Subs: Daniel McKinless for Coleman (34), Jack Bell for O'Donnell (41), Eoin McCracken for Mullan (60), Matt Quinn for Lawn (60).
Austin Stacks: Michael Tansley; Colin Griffin, Dylan Casey, Joey Nagle; Ronan Shanahan, Jack O'Shea, Paul O'Sullivan; Michael O'Donnell, Greg Horan; Fiachra Mangan, Armin Heinrich, Daniel Kirby; Cian Purcell, Shane O'Callaghan, Paddy Lane.
Subs: Eoghan Carroll for O'Callaghan (39), Luke Casey for O'Donnell (48), Darragh O'Brien for Mangan (48), Colm Browne for O'Sullivan (52), Jack Kissane for Lane (55).
Ref: Jerome Henry (Mayo).
