News

Davitts v Balla - Minor C Championship match report

November 8, 2018

Davitts were beaten by Balla, 2-9 to 3-5, in the county minor C championship semi final, in Mayo Abbey on Friday evening. When these two sides met in the league in July, Balla were the victors by 14 points in a one sided game. On this occasion the Davitts lads lost in dramatic and heartbreaking fashion, when Balla scored a goal, with virtually the last kick of the game, to win by a point, in a very tight and hard fought match.
Davitts felt very aggrieved however as the winning goal materialised when Davitts midfielder Josh Ronayne appeared to be fouled when soloing through from midfield, only to be penalised for over carrying by referee Michael Vahey. The Balla players, to their credit, made full use of their good fortune, and rattled in the winning goal seconds later in a last gasp attack.
Davitts had led by 2-2 to 0-5 at half time with impressive forward Clive Hennigan scoring both goals. Balla got on top early in the second half and went into a 1-7 to 2-3 lead, but an opportunistic goal by Tommy Clarke put Davitts in front again, a lead they held until the last seconds.
David Mitchell excelled in the Davitts goals, and got great protection from defenders Tommy Ruddock, Tommy Heneghan, Dara Halligan and Mark Ronayne. Josh Ronayne and Michael Waldron were impressive at midfield. Up front team captain David Hyland, Clive Hennigan, Darren Connolly and Tommy Clarke all worked extremely hard, in a game they hardly deserved to lose. Well done to the Mayo Gaels club for having their pitch in such good shape for this game.