County Champions

Congratulations to Ballykelly GFC on their momentous win on Saturday against Two Mile House in the final of the Junior A, County Chmpionship.  After a rocky start, Ballykelly imposed themselves on the game and quickly began to dominate proceedings.  A very well taken goal by Dean Dempsey in the first 15 minutes put Ballykelly into the lead and this was followed just before half time by another excellent goal by Derek McCormack to lead Ballykelly in at half time with a commanding 7 point lead. 

The second half began with both sides fighting to get the better restart.  A score for 'The House' would have been vital to get them back into the game and a score for Ballykelly would have reinforced their dominance.  They traded chances in the first 10 mins of the second half with Ballykelly in particular missing a few good chances, however, Paul Pender stepped in with an very well taken point, with his left foot, from an accute angle on the right hand side of the town end. Ballykelly were well on their way to taking this game.  They extended their lead to 10 points in the first quarter of the second half with some very well taken points. 

They then decided to concentrate on the defensive side having built up such a commanding lead.  The last quarter of the game saw Two Mile house get the upper hand slightly, with them reducing the deficit at the end, to a two goal margin, 2-11 to 0-11.  However at no stage did Ballykelly look like conceeding a goal, they were content to let the House get the occasional point from long range.   

The final whistle was met with a resounding cheer and the inevitable pitch invasion.  This was to be expected as Ballykelly have waited quite a long time for success at this level, in fact it was 33 years previously that they last won the A Chmpionship, with Brendan Brereton, captaining the side, they subsequently went on to win  3 Intermediate Championships in the years following this.  Maybe that is a sign of what might follow this victory. 

This is particularly satisfying for the mentors and officers of the club.  Certainly two or three generations of footballers have come and gone since the 70's with no major success until last Saturday.  The mentors and officers have in the main, continued unflagging in their support and dedication to the club in that time.  Well done to all concerned and lets hope for more success in the future.

Anyone who has photographs of Saturdays match or the post match celebrations might like to e-mail them to monasterevin@kildare.ie and we can put them on the website.