Ballyvary Blue Bombers 2-1 Crossmolina

Ballyvary Blue bombers utilised their aerial bombardment tactics to great effect, creating 2 goals,in a 2-1 victory over a depleted Crossmolina side on Sunday afternoon. In high temperatures which made it difficult for either team to sustain any momentum it was the home side who dominated the match forcing many scrambles in the Crossmolina box with their long throw set pieces. With Crossmolina fielding a weakened side due to an injury epidemic it was easy for the Bombers to dictate the pace of the game. Despite a lot of early possession they failed to pierce a stout Crossmolina defence, marshalled by Padraig Whittaker, to register shots on goal. One of the early chances at goal came from Steven Canavan after he surged through the Ballyvary defence to fire narrowly wide. Then Derek Greham, also ailing, latched onto a John Duggan stepover but couldn’t gather the ball in time to shoot in the box. Duggan then had a neat turn and shot ,from the edge of the box, fly just over the bar. Ballyvary opened the scoring after 30 minutes with another long throw, an oft used tactic on a narrow looking pitch. The ball was heaved into the Crossmolina 18 yard area and goalkeeper Johnny O’Hora was impeded by a congregation of bodies which led to scrappy attempts at goal by the Bombers to score. The ball ricocheted around for what seemed like an eternity until eventually Ballyvary lashed it home to make the score 1-0. Bert Carolan had a free kick go just over the bar soon after. Neither team could maintain possession of the ball for any telling length of time and half-time was welcomed by both teamsas an opportunity to start from scratch again. Unfortunately for the visitors Ballyvary seemed to make better use of the intermission as they bossed the opening 20 minutes of the second half. Aidan Loftus was introduced as a substitute striker at half time but such was the dearth of passes to him he probably would have done just as much on the bench! Ballyvary repeatedly charged forward to pepper the Crossmolina goal with shots which O’Hora dealt with capably. Indeed on two occasions he made stupendous saves which interrupted premature Ballyvary goal celebrations. Early in the second half the Bombers won a throw on the left wing and once again it was "bombs away" as they launched the ball into the Crossmolina area. O’Hora misjudged the flight of the ball in the sun and his punch only propelled the ball into the net. At this point Ballyvary seemed to relax somewhat and this allowed Crossmolina to play their best football of the afternoon. Steven Canavan, who was outstanding throughout, gained the upper hand in midfield and consequently Loftus got more involved in the game. A lengthy spell of pressure was rewarded when Padraig Whittaker was felled in the penalty box and the visitors were awarded a spot-kick. Paul Flaherty calmly slotted home his second penalty of the season and the Bombers looked shell-shocked. Crossmolina’s newfound optimism was nearly destroyed though when Duggan weakly misplayed the ball near midfield. Ballyvary pounced on the wayward pass and raced towards goal. They rounded O’Hora and had an empty net at their mercy but Donal McDonald had followed the play all the way back and he cleared the ball defiantly off the line. Duggan nearly made amends with 5 minutes remaining when he latched onto Loftus’ pass down the right wing and swung a dangerous cross to the back post for Derek Greham who was steadying to shoot. The bumpy surface betrayed him though and the ball bounced awkwardly at the last second leaving him with no chance to recover. Neither did Crossmolina recover and Ballyvary deservedly took all 3 points. A point would have been valuable to the visitors considering the circumstances, but hopefully the casualty ward will empty in the coming weeks and the full strength side can help the club to climb up the table.

Crossmolina - J O’Hora, J Heffernan, D McDonald, P Whittaker, J O’Malley (J Hegarty 70), K Canavan (A Crowley 80), P Flaherty, S Canavan, B Carolan (A Loftus 45), J Duggan, D Greham

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