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By Larry Cooney

Fr. Murphys interest in this year’s All-Ireland club championship ended at Ruislip on Saturday following a seven-point defeat by Munster champions Ballinhassig from Cork.

The London champions could have no real complaints about the final score after trailing by 0-9 to 0-3 at the interval.

A huge travelling contingent of almost 200 brought some much-needed atmosphere to Ruislip as referee Tom McIntyre got the game under way. Fr. Murphys defended the pavilion end in the opening half and got off to the perfect start when Simon Byrne sent over a long-range point in the opening minute.

Exchanges were quite competitive in the opening quarter and the visitors had to wait until two Darren Dineen frees in as many minutes in order to take the lead. However after a foul on Martin Harrell Simon Byrne equalised from the resultant free.

Despite a plentiful supply of the ball in that opening half it was noticeable that the Murphys attack was making little headway against the Cork team’s half-back line where centre-back Brendan Lombard was in outstanding form.

After Stephen Dineen put the visitors back in the lead Simon Byrne missed his first opportunity from a free to equalise after 13 minutes. Ballinhassig were now beginning to take a significant grip on the game and within the next nine minutes had opened up a four-point lead through scores from Declan O’Sullivan and two Darren Dineen frees.

Although another Simon Byrne free kept the Murphys in touch the London champions were clearly struggling and it was no great surprise when the visitors added three further points before the interval through Declan O’Sullivan, Dan O’Callaghan and finally another Darren Dineen free.

Trailing by six points the contest already looked a lost cause for Fr. Murphys unless they made a good start on the resumption. Unfortunately for the hosts a Paul O’Sullivan goal inside the opening minute appeared to end the game as a contest.

To their credit Murphys refused to capitulate and managed to match their fitter and sharper opponents point for point for much of the half.

However a shoulder injury to Mick O’Hara at the end of the third quarter further depleted the London club’s attack and Murphys management decided to move centre-back and captain Mick Gordon up front with Tom Simms returning to a defensive role.

Further points from three Simon Byrne frees and two from Michael Harding in reply to points from a Darren Dineen free, John Mullaney and Dan O’Callaghan left the score 1-12 to 0-8 with six minutes of normal time remaining.

Ballinhassig then made a triple substitution in their attack by introducing Tadhg Coleman, Mick Higgins and John O’Sullivan.

Although the Murphys added a further goal through Mick Gordon and a point from Tom Simms late in the game the visitors finished strongly with points from Mullaney, Darren Dineen and two from Tadhg Coleman to run out deserving winners with seven points to spare leaving the final score Ballinhassig 1-16 Fr. Murphys 1-9.

Team line-ups

Fr. Murphys: E Roche, E Leamy, P Greene, P Lynch, D Howlin, M Gordon, P Mahon, M Harding, S Byrne, E Kinlon, P Dowling, M Hughes, M Harrell, T Simms, M O’Hara.
Sub: S Howlin for M O’Hara.

Ballinhassig: M Coleman, S McCarthy, B O’Sullivan, B Coleman, J Ahern, B Lombard, K O’Sullivan, D Brennan, D O’Sullivan, J Mullaney, D Dineen, S Dineen, P O’Sullivan, D Duggan, D O’Callaghan.
Subs: T Coleman for D Duggan, M Higgins for P O’Sullivan, J O’Sullivan for S Dineen.

Scorers

Fr. Murphys: S Byrne (0-6) (0-5)f, M Gordon (1-0), M Harding (0-2), T Simms (0-1).

Ballinhassig: D Dineen (0-7) (0-6)f, P O’Sullivan (1-0), D O’Callaghan, D Brennan, J Mullaney, T Coleman (0-2) each, S Dineen (0-1).

Player ratings

Fr Murphys

Enda Roche (7) No chance with the goal but dealt capably throughout. Made one exceptional save in the first-half from Duggan.

Eamonn Leamy (5) Had a tough job containing Paul O’Sullivan but kept trying throughout.

Pat Greene (7) Held his man scoreless and kept battling until the final whistle.

Pat Lynch (8) Had an exceptionally good game and limited speedy corner forward Dan O’Callaghan to just two points.

Darren Howlin (6) Battled bravely and cleared his lines well as well as passing effectively to other teammates.

Mick Gordon (6) The Fr. Murphys captain was well below his inspirational best. Dealt reasonably well with the taller Darren Dineen.

Pat Mahon (6) Coped reasonably well against Stephen Dineen.

Michael Harding (7) Not far behind Lynch in overall performance but can play better.

Simon Byrne (7) Superb from frees and never stopped trying to inspire his teammates.

Eric Kinlon (5) Well below the Kildare man’s usual standard. Failed to raise a flag after hitting some poor wides.

Paddy Dowling (5) Up against it in opposition to the commanding Brendan Lombard at centre back.

Matt Hughes (5) Played well below his usual sharp self and was held scoreless.

M Harrell (5) Won a couple of useful frees but found Brendan Coleman a tough marker.

Tom Simms (5) The experiment of playing the defender up front didn’t work.

Mick O’Hara (5) Had a quiet game until he injured his shoulder and went off.

Ballinhassig

Martin Coleman (7) Good sound performance between the posts.

Stephen McCarthy (6) Cleared his lines repeatedly and held his marker scoreless.

Brian O’Sullivan (8) Commanding performance from the full-back.

J Ahern (6) Solid display apart the booking.

Brendan Lombard (8) Had an outstanding first-half.

Kevin O’Sullivan (7) Held his marker scoreless and cleared his lines well.

David Brennan (7) Formed an effective partnership with Declan O’Sullivan after a shaky start.

Declan O’Sullivan (7) Scored two points to complete a fine performance for the Munster champions.

John Mullaney (6) Had a quiet first half but finished strongly by picking off two nice points.

Darren Dineen (7) Did not miss much from place balls and finished top scorer.

Stephen Dineen (6) Least effective of the forward line but still scored an early point.

Paul O’Sullivan (7) Scored the decisive goal early in the second-half and generally caused panic in the Murphys defence anytime he got possession.

Diarmuid Duggan (5) Held scoreless by Pat Greene and was substituted in the last quarter.

Dan O’Callaghan (7) Scored two points but had to work hard for his scores.