Ballivor's title after late flourish earns extra-time

There is never a shortage of drama when Meath and Louth sides clash and Sunday's Leinster Club JFC final at Drogheda was no exception as Ballivor clinched the provincial crown with a controversial win over St Fechin's. Most of the controversy hinged on Richie Sherrock's 53rd minute speculative effort from close to the right touchline which appeared to have sailed a couple of metres wide. However, much to the surprise of most people, the umpire raised the white flag and Ballivor had the deficit down to the minimum, 0-9 to 1-7. The St Fechin's players were incensed. The linesman urged the referee to reconsider the awarding of the score, but after further consulatation with his umpires the referee, Dublin's Brian O'Shea, allowed the score to stand. Four minutes later Adam Gannon stroked over the equalising point. Ballivor never trailed for the remainder as they strolled to victory with a devastating extra-time display that deflated the Louth champions. St Fechin's have every reason to complain with the officiating as they also had what appeared to be two perfectly good scores earlier in the second-half ruled wide, but Ballivor too could have had cause for complaint if they had lost this final. There was a huge slice of good fortune attached to the St Fechin's 29th minute goal when referee O'Shea allowed Eoghan Duffy travel significantly more than the permitted four steps before blasting an unstoppable shot beyond Kevin McKeown. Ballivor didn't complain and despite several poor decisions going against them, they stuck to their guns and gained their reward. It was that character and attitude that won the day for the Meath champions. Ballivor were way below the standard that was expected. Their first touch was terrible, their distribution was careless and lazy and their approach play lacked the cohesion and bite that they have become renowned for. Instead, it was their never-say-die spirit that kept them in the game and when they sensed that St Fechin's were incapable of putting them away they pounched and grasped the victory from the jaws of inevitable defeat. After being anonymous for almost three-quarters of the exciting, if sub-standard, final Mairtin Doran found a new lease of life in the closing stages and his contribution along with the excellence of Padraig Geoghegan, Adam Gannon and Fergus McMahon gave Ballivor the edge in the closing stages to force extra-time. Prior to that late burst Ballivor had been a long way second best. Six of their 10 points in normal time were from placed balls and one of the other four was Sherrock's disputed score. That fact highlighted a problem for the Meath side, but they never panicked, they always held their shape and got the rewards that their persistence deserved. Very little went right for most of the Ballivor players. In heavy conditions the first touch more resembled pinball as possession was spilled time and again. However, St Fechin's failed to take advantage and managed just four scores from play in the opening 60 minutes. The Ballivor rearguard had to be strong and disciplined and while Tony Fox and Brendan McLoughlin did find the going tough against the talented Ronan Holcroft they were rarely overrun as they were well supported by their colleagues. Sean Heavey's hamstring problem restricted his effectiveness going forward and as a result Noel Kirby and McMahon struggled to retain much possession at midfield. Despite all those frailities Ballivor prevailed. The introduction of the crocked Derek Doran gave them a spark and with Mairtin Doran, Gannon and Geoghegan becoming more lively they pushed on and were vastly superior against a frustrated Louth side that finished with 14 players following a late red card for Holcroft. Ballivor's sloppiness in defence saw them fall into arrears early on as fouls by Fox and Sean Corrigan on Holcroft afforded the victim two points from frees and when Niall Devlin added a third point in the sixth minute it looked set to be a long afternoon for Ballivor. St Fechin's indiscipline allowed Ballivor stay in touch with McMahon from the right and Gannon from the left closing the deficit to the minimum before Geoghegan kicked a superb point to restore parity early in the second-quarter. Kirby had a snap shot well saved by Mark Savage. St Fechin's still looked the better side as Holcroft found acres of space in behind Fox, but blasted over when presented with a great goal opportunity. Heavey responded with a fine score three minutes before the break, but two minutes later Ballivor were unlucky to fall 0-4 to 1-4 behind when Duffy raced through with close to a dozen steps before firing beyond McKeown. That goal could have knocked the stuffing out of Ballivor, but Killian Canavan settled them with point with the last kick of the half to leave the Meath champions just 0-5 to 1-4 adrift at the break. St Fechin's started the second-half on the front foot with a brace of Holcroft frees pushing them four points clear. The introduction of Derek Doran added impetus to the Ballivor attack and Gannon closed the gap with a free. Niall Devlin closed St Fechin's normal time account on the three-quarters mark as the Ballivor resurgence began. Frees from McMahon and Gannon had the deficit down to 0-8 to 1-7 before Sherrock's controversial score. Gannon's free restored parity and while both sides had a chance to win, extra-time was necessary. As it transpired only three minutes of the added period would have been sufficient as Ballivor burst from the traps with a superb move that involved Keith Keoghan, Gannon and Mairtin Doran to set up Sherrock for a cracking goal inside 20 seconds. Mairtin Doran kicked over a brilliant sideline two minutes later and by the fourth minute McMahon added another free to make it 1-12 to 1-7. That put the issue beyond doubt. Mairtin Doran closed the opening period of extra-time with a brilliant point to give his side a 1-13 to 1-7 lead and the rest was academic as pointed frees from Gannon and McMahon either side of Brendan Fanning's reply for St Fechin's brought the curtain down. Holcroft's late red card compounded the Louth side's misery and crowned Ballivor as Meath's fourth Leinster Club JFC champions in five years. SCORERS Ballivor - A Gannon 0-5 frees; R Sherrock 1-1; F McMahon 0-4 frees; M Doran 0-2 one sideline; P Geoghegan 0-1; S Heavey 0-1; K Canavan 0-1. St Fechin's - R Holcroft 0-5 four frees; E Duffy 1-0; N Devlin 0-2; B Fanning 0-1. THE TEAMS Ballivor - Kevin McKeown; Brian Perry, Tony Fox, Brendan McLoughlin; David Raleigh, Sean Heavey, Sean Corrigan; Noel Kirby, Fergus McMahon, Padraig Geoghegan, Joe McLaughlin, Killian Canavan; Clayton Keegan, Mairtin Doran, Adam Gannon. Subs - Richie Sherrock for Keegan 40 mins, Derek Doran for McLaughlin 40m, Keith Keoghan for Heavey 48m; extra-time - Paul Kelly for D Doran. St Fechin's - Mark Savage; Brendan Fanning, David Collier, Paul Dillon; Fergal McNally, Conor Haughney, Harry McArdle; John McGlew, Bevan Duffy; Jamie King, Colm O'Neill, Ryan Sheridan; Brian Devlin, Niall Devlin, Ronan Holcroft. Subs - Eoghan Duffy for Dillon 10 mins, Mark Hynes for King 25m, James Devereux for Sheridan 50m; extra-time - Derek Younger for Hynes, Vincent Corrigan for B Duffy. REFEREE Brian O'Shea (Dublin).