28/05/2026
Intermediate Men’s Div 3 St Mary’s V Ballinagore Match Report
By: Dylan Jessop
Jack Carrol lifts St Marys into League Title Contention
Venue: Rochfortbridge
Throw Up: 7:30pm
Referee: Shane Carrol
Final Score: St Marys Rochfortbridge 2:16 Ballinagore: 2:13
On a beautiful Tuesday evening, we were treated to a spectacle where St Marys had to battle it out to emerge victorious against a ballinagore side missing their star man Tommy McDaniels.
It was Ballinagore who got up and running early in the game when Darragh Seery put the ball over the bar inside the first 30 seconds after a darting run through the middle.
After Paddy Ennis added to Ballinagores lead, they became beneficiaries to St Marys poor finishing, with shots straying wide or dropping into the keepers' hands. Shane Cully ended the rot as he knocked over St Marys first point of the game.
Some ill- disciplined defending and sloppy turnovers by St Marys saw Paddy Ennis put over three consecutive free kicks alongside a point by Eoin Robinson to put Ballinagore into a five-point lead inside the opening 15 minutes.
It was St Marys however who struck the first blow against the run of play, Enda Cully picking out Jack Carrol with an inch perfect pass from the right flank to send him through on goal, where he cooly rounded the keeper to tap the ball into an empty net.
The Bridge followed the goal up with 3 points (Liam Carey, Enda Cully and Jack Carrol) in two minutes to level the score as they capitalised from some sloppy kickouts by the Ballinagore keeper.
Ballinagore hit back with a goal of their own after Philip Reynolds thumped Brandon Carey deflected effort into the net. Jack Carrol and Darragh hall responded with points each in the last few minutes of the half to leave the score at 1-07 to 1-06 in favour of Ballinagore.
Whatever was said to the Bridge players at HT sure worked its magic as they came firing out of the blocks at the start of the second half. After Enda slotted over his second point of the game to even the score once again, Jack scored his second goal of the match. A well-timed offload by Kevin Corrigan sent him through, where he again rounded the keeper to slide the ball into the back of the net.
The pressure did not relent, a goal chance for Kevin was palmed away by Enda Claffey and the following 45 was diligently worked to leave space for Jack to smash over the first 2 pointer of the game to give the bridge a 6-point cushion.
Darragh and Jack put another two points on the board for the Bridge as they hit Ballinagore for 8 points without reply.
Ballinagore were not going without a fight. A brilliant individual run and score by Captain Robbie Keegan ended the scoreless streak and the other Keegan hit gold seconds later. A gift from the kickout left ballinagore in a 3v1 situation which gave David Keegan all the time in the world to calmly pick his spot to half the deficit, putting Ballinagore back in the hunt to stage a comeback. Another free opportunity minutes later was granted to Darragh Seery, who took his chance to bring the lead down to three.
Enda scored his third point of the game just before the water break to put the lead back to four heading into the final quarter.
Ballinagore kept the score board ticking, with two points in the difference going into the last five minutes.
A massive opportunity came for the bridge to kill the game off when Liam Carey was sent racing through on goal, he could only find the side netting however with his effort.
Wasted possessions and blood rushed shots proved to be the demise for Ballinagore in the closing minutes as the Bridge were able to see the game out and keep their title hopes alive.
St Marys will go to Shandonagh in their next outing next in a title vs relegation matchup on the 3rd of June while Ballinagore will finish their campaign out after they head to title contenders Maryland.
St Marys starting XV: 1. Eoin Gorman 2. Billy Arthur 3. Peter Lawlor 4. Eddie Whelhean 5. Tirnan Fallon 6. Liam Clarke 7. Enda Cully (0-3) 8. Sean Lyster 9. Darren Kilcoyne (0-1) 10. Nathan Hall 11. Shane Cully (0-2) 12. Liam Carey (0-1) 13. Kevin Corrigan 14. Darragh Hall (0-2) 15. Jack Carrol (2-07)
Ballinagore starting XV: 1. Cathal Daly 2. Donal Barrett 3. Enda Claffey 4. David Pidgeon 5. Cathal Kelly (0-1) 6. Darragh Seery (0-2) 7. Robbie Keegan (0-1) 8. Eoin Robinson (0-2) 9. Brandon Carey 10. Philip Reynolds (1-0) 11. Colin Coleman (0-1) 12. David Keegan (1-0) 13. Conan Feery 14. Peter Reynolds (0-1) 15. Paddy Ennis (0-5)
