McCabe’s trusty left foot seals win for Bective.
This was a competitive game between two teams working very hard to secure the win. It was played on a “heavy” but well turned out pitch in Ballinlough with a strong diagonal wind at 2 degrees centigrade and a biting wind chill. Ballinlough opened with a point from a free kick in the first minute and added another point in the third minute. Bective’s Paul McCabe first free kick hit the post and went wide but he made amends with a fine point after seven minutes, followed by a well taken Marty Mulhall point after eight minutes. Ballinlough score a point in the fifteenth and twenty-fifth minutes. Bective, playing into the wind, were being closed down efficiently and were prone to some speculative kicking which was easily cut out by the Ballinlough defence. However, Paul Lyness added a much welcome point for Bective in the twenty-sixth minute. Ballinlough went in at half time with one point advantage with a score line of Ballinlough 4 points to Bective’s 3 points.
The second half was “nip and tuck” all the way through with continued enthusiastic contesting for every ball. This resulted in a higher number of free kicks and Ballinlough and Marty Mulhall converted frees to points in the first minute. Well worked points from play by Marty Mulhall and Brian Cantwell in the tenth and twelfth minutes put Bective ahead for the first time in the match. Brian and Ciaran Mc Connell had been brought into the game and added their strength and experience in this tight encounter. Bective looked the more likely winners at this stage with another Bective point. Ballinlough brought in Peader Byrne and continued to press and were rewarded with a point in the seventeenth and twenty-third minutes to draw level. Davin Fitzpatrick was introduced to wing-half back for Bective and Paul McCabe pushed forward. Both teams were giving it their all and a draw seemed the most likely result but a free kick won by a closely marked Sean Keating allowed Bective a final chance from near the sideline and twenty metres out. Paul McCabe pointed with his trusty left foot and the final whistle was blown on the resumption of play.
It was a satisfying win for Bective as they had to show plenty of willingness and resolve to overcome a strong experienced Ballinlough side.
Bective 0-8, Ballinlough 0-7.
Bective team:
Ciaran Breslin, Jack Grant, Diarmuid Rogers, Craig Roche, Paul McCabe, Jarlath Brennan, Dara Maguire, Paul Lyness, Kevin Brennan, James Davis, Mark O’Brien, Colin O’Rourke, Michael Lyness, Marty Mulhall, Sean Keating.
