Commercials class and pace a lesson for Ballina

GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Football Championship Group 1

Clonmel Commercials 1-20

Ballina 0-11

Report: Noel Dundon at Pairc Ciocaim, Dundrum

Champions Clonmel Commercials had little enough trouble in sweeping aside the challenge of a game Ballina in round 2 of the County Senior Football Championship on Saturday evening with the kicking of two pointers being a real feature of their game.

An outcome which was never in doubt from as early as the second minute by which time Commercials already had two points on the board. The game was not without its moments and credit has to go to Ballina for the manner in which they fought and battled right down to the very last attack before the final whistle.

Since being elevated to the top tier Ballina have failed to get a win over the football aristocrats of the Premier County. However, at times in this game it looked as though they were edging closer to them, only for the champions to flex their muscles and clear all before them like a giant scythe slicing through a field of corn.

The essential difference between the two sides was Commercials ability to cut through the Ballina defence and to take their scores. They kicked five two-pointers – all of them in the second half to race clear of their opponents who trailed by just three at the break. Commercials looked as though they could up the ante at any stage and they certainly went at it with intent from the very throw-in, putting any prospects or thoughts of an upset out of the minds of patrons. From the off, Ross Peters and Peter McGarry had two on the board in as many minutes and then Sean O’Connor and Kevin Fahey followed up with two more by the sixth minute.

O’Connor could have goaled in the eleventh minute but he struck the upright instead and perhaps having acknowledged the let-off, Ballina went up field and had their opening score through David Grace after a patient build-up.

Commercials had a penalty in the 17th minute after Cian Smith was fouled and from the spot Sean O’Connor made no mistake to extend the lead to six points.

In fairness to Ballina, they never dropped their heads. Instead, a two-pointer from James Hanley was followed by another from Steven O’Brien. And, the Tipp star did the trick again just before the break to cut the deficit to a single goal by the break – Cian Smith, Cathal Deely and Sean O’Connor getting the other Commercials scores.

The reducing deficit should have given Ballina some hope as they came out for the second half, but just as they did in the first half, Commercials put the game beyond their northern opponents with a blistering opening which left the blue jerseys floundering and chasing shadows.

The onslaught was relentless and it was fashioned by the ball winning of Seamus Kennedy and Joe Higgins in midfield who controlled the game and then by the industry and constant probing of man of the match, Peter McGarry.

Sean O’Connor’s two-pointer set the train in motion and there followed Tadgh Sheehan and Cian Smith scores, followed by two-pointers from Darragh O’Connor, Smith and the aforementioned Higgins to create a twelve-point gap with twelve minutes of the second half elapsed – the ball had scarcely moved beyond midfield in this period of Commercials dominance.

It was game over and Ballina knew it. But that didn’t stop them from trying to do their utmost to get back some of the scores. Steven O’Brien had a pointed free followed by a Ben King two-pointer, but those scores were wiped out before the end with Peter McGarry getting three points, including a two-pointer, to seal a very comfortable victory for Commercials.

This can certainly be labelled a lesson for Ballina who will point to their lack of cutting ability in attack as being one of their downfalls. They battled really hard and worked hard when not in possession, managing to turn them over on numerous occasions.

However, penetration up-front was missing and up against a defensive unit led by Kevin Fahey and Mark Corcoran in front of the impressive Ciaran Cannon who was deputising for Shane Ryan, Ballina were unable to make any meaningful headway.

The Ballina team will hope to build on their first round victory when they tackle Ardfinnan in the final round and if they continue to work hard as they have done in both their games to date, they will give themselves every chance of progressing. They need to find more scoring channels though – a curious call perhaps considering they kicked 3-15 in their opening round.

Clonmel Commercials are the team to beat again in Tipperary and on the evidence of the first two rounds of the championship they fully intend holding onto their crown.

They had nine scorers from play and the showings of Cian Smith, Sean O’Connor, Peter McGarry, Darragh O’Connor, Joe Higgins, Seamus Kennedy and Kevin Fahey were from the top drawer.

Player of the Match: Peter McGarry (Commercials)

Clonmel Commercials: Cian Cannon (7); Tadgh Condon (8), Mark Corcoran (7), Thomas Charles (7), Tadgh Sheehan (0-1, 7), Kevin Fahey (0-1, 8), James Morris (7), Seamus Kennedy (7), Joe Higgins (0-2play, 8), Cathal Deely (0-1, 7), Darragh O’Connor (0-2play, 8), Ross Peters (0-1, 7), Peter McGarry (0-4, 1x2play, 9), Sean O’Connor (1-4, 1x2play, 0-1f) 8), Cian Smith (0-4, 1x2play, 8).

Subs: Killian Smith (7) for Deely (47); Conor Deely (6) for Kennedy (51).

Ballina: Conor Shanahan (7); Cillian Ryan (6), Kian Donnelly (6), David Coughlan (6), James Hanley (0-2play, 7), Charlie King (7), Thomas Shanahan (7), Sam Loughran (6), JP Mbokha Tansia (6), Matthew Power (6), Stephen O’Brien (0-5, 2x2play, 7), Dara King (6), Ben King (0-3, 1x2play, 7), David Grace (0-1, 7), Finn Looney (6).

Subs: Paddy O’Donovan (6) for Looney (39); Zak Egan (6) for D King (51); Luke McKeogh (6) for Grace (51); Paddy Bradley (6) for Power (51); Luke Power (NR) for Shanahan (58).

Referee: Willie Fitzharris (Father Sheehy’s).