Ballinagh a cut above in Intermediate

GAA review

In the Intermediate Football Championship, Ballinagh conquered all comers, hitting their stride in the last round of the group stage and carrying their momentum all the way through to the final where they delivered a magnificent performance to overcome a gallant Butlersbridge.

The Intermediate is always the hardest of the three main county championships to win and this year was no different, with as many as eight or nine potential champions shortlisted before a ball was kicked.

In the group stages, the big casualties were Cuchulainns, who had been in the final in 2018 and narrowly lost the semi-final to eventual winners Laragh in 2019. Despite being the only side to defeat Ballinagh in the competition, they were edged out before the knock-out stages, as were 2019 semi-finalists Drumlane, who exited after a round four loss to Bailieborough in Stradone.

The group stages were dominated by the ‘Killer Bs’ – Ballyhaise, Butlersbridge, Ballinagh, Bailieborough, Ballymachugh and Belturbet made up the top six in that order, with Killinkere in seventh and Drumgoon in eighth.

Ballinagh had beaten Belturbet well in the final round of the group stage and they followed this up in the quarter-final, winning by 2-15 to 1-8 at Kingspan Breffni.

Elsewhere, Ballyhaise, under Monaghan man Declan Brennan, beat Ballyhaise by 2-15 to 1-9, with Bailieborough edging past Ballymachugh on a scoreline of 1-17 to 3-10 in one of the best matches of the season.

In another absolute thriller, Butlersbridge got over Killinkere by 2-21 to 3-16 after extra time to set up a last-four line-up of Ballinagh v Ballyhaise and Butlersbridge v Bailieborough.

By now, Adrian Maguire’s Ballinagh were beginning to really hit their stride. Inside forwards Niall McDermott and Kevin Smith bagged 1-11 between them as they saw off the Annalee Park men by 1-17 to 1-13.

The second semi-final saw the Bridge get over the Shamrocks by 3-12 to 2-6. After a thrilling opening quarter, Butlersbridge gradually got on top, with youngster Fiontán O’Reilly turning in a Man of the Match performance, finishing with 1-4 to his name.

In the final, Ballinagh delivered an exhibition of attacking play as they ran out 12-point winners.

Former county star Niall McDermott, who finished with 0-12 to his name, was immense for the winners as was centre-back Cormac Timoney, who kicked 0-3, but in truth, Ballinagh were best all over the field.

The winners suffered a blow early on when they lost full-back Patrick Carroll to injury just three minutes in and they had to deal with a Butlersbridge side who were tactically tuned in and played very well for the first half an hour, racing into a 0-8 to 0-4 lead.

But the eventual runners-up would go almost 20 minutes either side of half-time without a score as Ballinagh turned the screw. Around the middle, Padraic O’Reilly and Timoney were dominant and there was a constant supply of possession to the inside line, where McDermott and Kevin Smith won a huge amount of ball.

Over the course of the hour, Adrian Maguire’s side only registered five wides, with sub Killian McBride also excelling in a sweeper role after his early introduction.

So, Ballinagh got their hands on the Intermediate title for the fourth time in the club’s history. The last time they won it, in 2007, they followed up with a provincial success and it was a shame they didn’t get the chance to take on the best intermediate sides in Ulster again as on the evidence of what they showed in 2020, they would have taken a hell of a lot of stopping.