Ballydonoghue 1-15. St.Michaels/Foilmore 3-08.

St Michaels/Foilmore, who were already relegated, made Ballydonoghue work right down to final whistle to retain their Division 3 status for next year.  A point apiece by Martin O’Mahony and Jim Cremin got Ballydonoghue off to a good star,t but eight minutes into the game, St. Michaels/Foilmore’s Luke Shea struck for their first goal.  Both sides then exchanged points to make it 0-03 to 1-01 in favour of St Michaels.  Ballydonoghue then had their best spell of the half, kicking three points without reply, with 23 minutes played.  The Ballydonoghue keeper then gifted St. Michael/Foilmore a life line, when his short kick out went straight to the hands of Stephen O’Connor and he made no mistake for their second goal 20-1 to 0-05.  St Michaels’ tails were up now and fullback Jason Foley had to be at his best to stifle a few more scoring chances.  It was nip and tuck for the rest of the half with both sides tacking on three points apiece to leave it 0-09 to 2-04 at half time.

Early in the second half, St Michaels Foilmore’s Jason Shea opened their account, followed soon afterwards by a Mathew O’Sullivan point, which was separated by a Jack Foley point for Ballydonoghue.  Ten minutes into the half, a pin-point pass from Jack Foley to Padraig Lyons ended up in the St Michael/Foilmore net to put Ballydonoghue a point ahead 1-10 to 2-6.  This certainly gave Ballydonoghue a much needed boost, with Brian Ó Seanacháin winning vital position and setting up several attacks that resulted in five points on the board for the home side to St. Michaels two points. However, they weren’t finished yet with three minutes of normal time left and Ballydonoghue ahead by four points, Mathew O’Sullivan bore down on the Ballydonoghue goal and blasted to the corner of the net for their third, leaving only a point between the sides.  With three minutes of injury time to be played, it was hectic stuff.  Ballydonoghue backs were to the wall now, as St. Michaels pressed for at least the equaliser if not the winning score.  It took some stalwart defending to keep them at bay with John Enright and Billy Foley to the fore.  St. Michaels did have one last chance, but the ball flashed across the
front of the goal mouth and wide. Final score Ballydonoghue 1-08 St. Michaels/Foilmore 3-08.

Ballydonoghue: Darragh O’Shea, John Enright, Jason Foley, Billy Foley, Colin O’Mahony, Diarmuid Behan, Danny Power, Martin O’Mahony, Eamon Walsh, Jim Cremin, Brian Ó Seanacháin, Darragh Sheehy, Jack Foley, Padraig Lyons, Paul Kennelly (capt).

St Michaels/Foilmore: Ciaran Shea, Emmett Curran, Daragh Scanlon, Kevin Griffin, Stephan Cronin, D.J. Moran, Ciaran Clifford, Mathew O’Sullivan, Darren O’Sullivan, Stephen O’Connor, Luke Shaw, Jason Shea, Barry O’Connell, James Moran, Pierce McGill.