CCFL: Little to the fore as Ballybrittas United defeat Portlaoise Ramblers
Ryan Little started in goals, but once he went up front, the game changed completely
Ballybrittas United have their third win from five games in Division 3 of the Combined Counties League after they defeated top-of-the-table Portlaoise Ramblers by two goals to nil in Rath on Sunday morning.
It was an even enough game up until the 53rd minute when Ryan Little came out of the goals and went up front. By the 60th minute, he won his side a penalty, which Dylan Keane converted and then by the 70th minute, he made it 2-0 with a bullet header that nestled in the top corner of Brochan O’Reilly’s net.
Ramblers dominated the early proceedings and got on a lot of possession, but couldn’t turn that possession into chances. Keane rattled the crossbar one of the few times that Ballybrittas ventured forward, as Ramblers continued to keep hold of the ball. It was a game of near misses for the away side as Ross Holmes’ ball into the box almost fell to Cian Dowling Byrne, but it just whizzed past his outstretched boot.
Ramblers’ Chris Mulhall went down in the box and was certain he should have been awarded a penalty, but the referee waved play on. Keane had another big chance to open the scoring, but couldn’t find the target after a superb through ball from Evan Kelly. O’Reilly saved from Sean O’Flynn before the break with the sides locked level, 0-0 at half-time.
O’Flynn was in the right place at the right time after the restart as he made a great interception in his box to deny Ramblers a goal. The game then flipped on its head when Ballybrittas brought on Niall Quinlan for Paul O’Flynn, which saw Eddie Bolland don the goalkeeper jersey and Little go up front wearing 18. In one of his first involvements, Little ran at Sean Hughes and was brought down inside the 18-yard box with the referee pointing to the spot. Keane stepped up and smashed the ball low and hard into the bottom corner, with O’Reilly at full stretch unable to get a hand on it.
Jack O’Connell came on at left wing and had a shot saved wide by Boland. Ramblers struggled to create any clear goalscoring opportunities, with the centre-back partnership of Sean O’Flynn and Andrew Flynn dealing with any danger that came their way. O’Reilly ensured Ballybrittas’ lead remained at just one by denying Kelly a goal. However, the Ramblers goalkeeper couldn’t do much when Keane’s pinpoint cross found the head of Little and it flew into the top corner. 2-0 with 20 minutes to play.
O’Reilly was Ramblers’ best player by a mile and he was forced to make another two big saves, first from Little and then a point-blank save from Neil O’Connell. Kelly had a great chance to score from the rebound off O’Connell’s shot, but he somehow put the ball wide of the target. The game fizzled out as Ballybrittas made sure of the clean sheet to take their points tally to 10 after five games.
Ballybrittas will travel to Mount Temple next weekend to take on Temple Villa B, while Portlaoise Ramblers will welcome Walsh Island Shamrocks to the field in Ballyroan as they look to put Sunday’s defeat behind them.
FINAL SCORE
Ballybrittas Utd 2
Portlaoise Ramblers 0
SCORERS- Ballybrittas: Dylan Keane (penalty) and Ryan Little 1-0 each.
BALLYBRITTAS UNITED: Ryan Little; Eddie Boland, Sean O’Flynn, Andrew Flynn, Ciaran Boland; Darragh McEvoy, Rohan O’Toole, Paul O’Flynn; Dylan Keane, Neil O’Connell, Evan Kelly. Subs: Niall Quinlan, Fred Kerins.
PORTLAOISE RAMBLERS: Brochan O’Reilly; James Henderson, Mark Devery, Sean Hughes, Ross Holmes; Ogie Brown, Vincent Akeyyi, Chris Mulhall; Dylan Rogers, Cian Dowling Byrne, Joe Gilligan. Subs: Liam Kitchen, Sean Kitchen, Ross Brennan, Jack O’Connell, Ben McEvoy.