Gowna comfortable winners over Ballinagh

SFC round 1

Gowna 2-22

Ballinagh 2-9

Paul Fitzpatrick at Kingspan Breffni

Gowna cruised to a comfortable win over Ballinagh with a display which in many ways bodes well for their chances of a fourth final appearance in five years - but leaves plenty to work on, too.

Both sides were missing key men – Ryan McGahern, Ryan Donohoe and Conor Brady for Gowna, Evan Finnegan, Thomas Smith and Niall McDermott for Ballinagh – but, worryingly for the winners, Oisin Pierson and Ryan Brady both went off injured, although the substitutions were probably precautionary.

There was an eight-minute spell approaching half-time which told the story of the first half from a Gowna perspective.

First, a beautiful pass from Robbie Fitzpatrick found Pierson who rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home. From Ballinagh’s next attack, a careless push in the back handed them an easy point from a free.

Two Gowna wides followed and a straightforward point for Ballinagh before another Gowna wide. Then, Conor Madden intercepted a kick-out and fluffed his subsequent attempt to lob the goalkeeper.

However, from the kick-out, Vinny Corey’s side showed their quality as they drove at Ballinagh with power and speed and Tiarnan Madden slotted home to the bottom corner to make it 2-8 to 0-7. Within seconds, though, Ballinagh were almost in for a goal and bagged a point from a free.

It was that sort of performance from the 2022 and 2023 champions, combining fast, purposeful play with plenty of sloppy stuff. That may read as harsh after a 13-point win but the former holders have set a very high bar for themselves with their excellence in recent seasons. They should have had far too much for an understrength Ballinagh yet Ciaran O’Reilly’s side were still in the game at half-time.

However, Gowna’s superior conditioning did come to the fore in the second half and they surged clear with some quality points, although they’ll be annoyed that they let Ballinagh in for two goals in the closing stages, both well finished by Ronan Connolly.

Both sides were guilty of errors and it was hard to identify much of a discernible pattern to things early on. Cian Madden (free) and brother Daire landed early points before Ballinagh levelled via Paddy O’Brien and Kevin Smith.

Daire Madden, with a stylish point off the left, and Eamon McEvoy (two-point free) exchanged scores and when Smith – who caused Gowna trouble in the first half – registered again, Ballinagh were 0-5 to 0-3 up after 13 minutes.

Robbie Fitzpatrick (free), Pierson and Conor Casey got on the scoresheet and an excellent two-pointer from Cormac Brady opened a 0-8 to 0-5 lead.

Then came the first goal, Odhran Madden doing well around the middle and Fitzpatrick playing a perfect pass to Pierson, who finished coolly.

Smith scored a free and set Connolly up for a point from play but Gowna were turning the screw. After Conor Madden missed that glorious chance, Tiarnan Madden tucked away in the bottom corner of the net and a Smith free concluded the first-half scoring, with Gowna leading 2-8 to 0-8.

Gowna completely dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half, with Conor Madden particularly sharp, as they out-scored Ballinagh by 0-12 to 0-1.

Cian Madden and Fionán Brady kicked good scores from acute angles on the resumption as Gowna over-ran Ballinagh. Conor Madden, Cian Madden (two-pointer) and Daire Madden added further scores and although Smith stopped the bleeding with a free, it felt like only a sticky plaster.

Conor Madden kicked three in a row, two of them superb two-pointers, as Gowna made it 2-19 to 0-9. Cormac Brady fisted over another before Ballinagh finished strongly with two goals from the impressive Connolly either side of another Conor Madden point, with Madden rounding off the scoring with a 45.

Gowna will be content with the win as they ease themselves into championship, although there is a lot more in them, double-figure wides (10 here) in particular never a welcome stat. Ballinagh, for their part, are down bodies and also registered nine wides and two dropped short; improvement is needed.

Gowna: Mark Brady, David Phillips, Eoghan Hartin, Fiachra Brady, Fionnán Brady (0-1), Tiarnan Madden (1-0), Cormac Brady (0-3, 2pt), Ryan Brady, Conor Casey (0-1), Andrew Dewart, Cian Madden (0-4, 2pt, 1f), Daire Madden (0-3), Oisin Pierson (1-1), Conor Madden (0-8, 2 2pt, 45), Robbie Fitzpatrick (0-1f)

Subs: O Madden for R Brady (9), Cillian Brady for D Philips (ht), Cian Bannon for O Pierson (34), Seanie Hartin for A Dewart (47), Caolán Madden for Cormac Brady (54)

Ballinagh: Fionn Keating, Matthew Hislop, Patrick Carroll, Philip Bogue, Ronan Connolly (2-1), Kevin Ryan, Killian Fay, Gavin Smith, Eamon McEvoy (0-2, 2ptf), Cormac Timoney, Shane Finnegan, Damian Reilly, Paddy O’Brien (0-1), Kevin Smith (0-5, 3f), Tristan Graham

Subs: Aaron Reilly for K Fay (34), Sami Reilly for G Smith (41), Eoghan McGrath for T Graham (57), Peter Donohoe for M Hislop (58)

Ref: Mickey Lee