Ballinakill book Premier Intermediate final with Ballyfin thanks to strong first half display

Ballinakill, who were relegated from Senior ranks in 2020, have an opportunity to go straight back up at the first time of asking after they booked the spot in the Premier Intermediate final for 2021.

This clash between Ballinakill and Portlaoise would have been expected to be the more competitive of the two Premier Intermediate semi-finals, with Ballyfin believed to be comfortable favourites over Camross.

However, the opposite turned out to be true. Camross gave Ballyfin a real scare, although they did come up short, while Ballinakill easily accounted for Portlaoise in this one. 

Ballinakill roared into half-time with a fourteen point cushion, as first half goals from Evan Dunne and Gearoid Lynch, along with some sublime points from Cha Dwyer and Seamus Fitzpatrick had Ballinakill with one foot already in the semi-final.

Portlaoise had the wind in the second half, but Ballinakill never looked like they were in any trouble and were seven point victors in the end.

Ballinakill 2-16

Portlaoise 1-12

Ballinakill opened the scoring in the second game of this double header in O'Moore Park, with marksman Cha Dwyer getting them on the scoreboard. Ciaran McEvoy came up from wing-back to reply for Portlaoise, but Ballinakill would rattle off the next three points on the spin as they looked to make hay with a strong wind advantage.

Sean Downey burst up from centre-back with a superb catch to fire one between the posts, while Seamus Fitzpatrick and Cha Dwyer (free) added further points. David O'Mahoney was a late change on the Portlaoise side, and he grabbed 'The Town's' second score of the evening.

Seamus Fitzpatrick hurled brilliantly at wing-forward for Ballinakill in the opening half, as he scored two more points on the trot to extend his side's lead. Both teams exchanged efforts from there until the first water break, with Ballinakill's Podge Lalor and Cha Dwyer swapping scores with Cormac Rigney from Portlaoise.

Dwyer landed another two point, one from a free and one from play, after the water break concluded, before Ballinakill grabbed two goals to put daylight between the teams. 

The first came from Gearoid Lynch sending a long ball into near the square, with Evan Dunne doing well to catch and squeeze a low effort past Eoghan Nealon in the Portlaoise net.

Not long after that went in, Ballinakill rattled the net again. Gearoid Lynch went from provider to scorer, as he managed to scoop up the breaking ball and powerfully surge toward goal, before Lynch unleashed a piledriver into the bottom left corner.

Ballinakill kept on top towards the end of the half as well. Seamus Fitzpatrick landed his fourth, before Dwyer connected perfectly with a sideline cut from distance to send the Ballinakill faithful into claps.

Cormac Rigney knocked over only Portlaoise's fifth point of the half from a free, but Dwyer finished his half in style by landing a long-range effort over the bar. Ballinakill enjoyed a 2-14 to 0-5 advantage at the break, as this contest looked over already.

To be fair to Portlaoise, they had played against a massive wind in the first half and they went about cutting into it at the start of the second half. While Gearoud Lynch landed the first score of the half, Portlaoise strung together four points on the trot to leave ten between the teams,

Cian Taylor, Rigney (two frees), Gary Bergin and Ciaran McEvoy all raised white flags for Portlaoise in a four minute spell of dominance. However, they failed to maintain this momentum, as Ballinakill settled down for the rest of the third quarter.

Dwyer knocked over a free, and while Ballinakill missed two decent goal chances, they were under no real pressure to take them. They still led 2-15 to 0-10 during the second water break.

While Cian Taylor scored a consolation goal for Portlaoise late on, Ballinakill remained in control and deservedly set up a clash with Ballyfin in the county final.

BALLINAKILL

Scorers: Cha Dwyer 0-8 (0-5 frees, 0-1 sideline), Seamus Fitzpatrick 0-5, Gearoid Lynch 1-1, Evan Dunne 1-0, Podge Lalor 0-1, Sean Downey 0-1

Team: Paul Simms; Noel Duggan, Brian O'Mara, Mark Kehoe; Ian Shanahan, Sean Downey, Lir McDonald; Michael Moran, Podge Lawlor; Evan Dunne, Gearoid Lynch, Seamus Fitzpatrick; Cian O'Shaughnessy, TJ Lalor, Cha Dwyer. Subs: Cathal O'Shaughnessy for Cian O'Shaughnessy,(46 mins), MJ Dunphy for Shanahan (57 mins), Dan Bergin for Lynch (62 mins)

PORTLAOISE

Scorers: Cian Taylor 1-2, Cormac Rigney 0-4 frees, David O'Mahoney 0-1, Ciaran McEvoy 0-3 (0-1 free), Gary Bergin 0-1, Cathal Duggan 0-1

Team: Eoghan Nealon; Bryan Naughton, Frank Flanagan, Dean Lynch; Ciaran McEvoy, Ross Brennan, Eoin O'Connor; Eddie Critchley, David O'Mahoney; Cian Taylor, Gary Bergin, Cormac Rigney; Cathal Duggan, Keith Murphy, Sean Culleton. Subs: Jamie Keenan for Brennan (28 mins), Paddy Norton for Murphy (46 mins), Aaron Bergin for Culleton (46 mins), Lorcan Duff for D Lynch (54 mins)

REFEREE: Patrick Phelan (Castletown)