| Final Ballyfad 1-12 (15) Askamore 2-05 (11) |
Ballyfad's first ever adult county hurling championship was achieved after a decisive 4 point victory over Askamore in the Junior A Hurling County Final played in Gorey on Sunday, October 18th. A last minute goal for Askamore put a much tighter look to the final scoreline, than the 4 point margin suggests and a whopping 10 wides for Askamore told their own story. The fact that Ballyfad were only guilty of 5 wides themselves, excellent under the heavy conditions, showed the greater efficiency of their forward line. Ballyfad's ace in the pack was undoubtedly sharpshooter Matty Forde with a superb haul of nine points. He proved to be the difference between two teams that gave their all but couldn't apply the finishing touches. Askamore started brightly and opened the scoring with a pointes free after just 3 minutes. Matty Forde responded with a free on 7 minutes but it was obvious from the outset that the respective defences would dominate. After 24 minutes the score was 1-1 to 0-1 to Ballyfad, with Chris Murray netting Ballyfad's goal on the 9 minute mark after some good work by John Hegarty. Indeed, Askamore failed to add to their total until right on half-time, such was the dominance of the Ballyfad defence. PJ Gethings was excellent at full back as was Eddie Fanning and Michael Higgins. Matty Forde scored three points in quick succession, the third an excellent solo effort on 28 minutes. However, Askamore finished the half with a goal and a point to leave the half-time score 1-5 to 1-2. Pointed frees were traded at the start of the second half before Pat Jones scored a great point from 45 yards. A Chris Murray point was sandwiched between two Askamore points before Ballyfad took complete control. Four unanswered points from Seamus Hughes, John Hegarty, and two from man-of-the-match Forde sealed the victory. Askamore's last minute goal was just reward for their hard work throughout the match, but the victory could not be denied from Ballyfad. Team: Enda O'Leary; Eddie Fanning, PJ Gethings, Michael Higgins; Pat Forde, Jim D'Arcy, Aodhan Kavanagh; Peter Kavanagh, Pat Jones (0-1); Jim Bushe (capt.), John Hegarty (0-1), Matty Forde (0-9, 5 frees); Chris Murray (1-1), Seamus Hughes (0-1), Tommy Boland. Subs: Niall Kavanagh for Pat Jones; Tomas Woodbyrne for Tommy Boland; not used: Donal Noonan, Stephen Kavanagh, James Boland, John Gethings, Micheal Hughes, Barry Gethings, Niall Gethings, Peter Bushe, Michael Hegarty. |
| Semi-Final Ballyfad 4-10 (22) Oulart-The Ballagh 1-13 (16) |
Ballyfad overcame their stiffest challenge to date when they beat Oulart-The Ballagh by 6 points to qualify for the Junior A Hurling Championship Final for the first time since 1985. Both semi-finals were played in good conditions at Gorey on Sunday October 4th, and saw an impressive Askamore side beat Ballygarrett in a hard fought semi-final before Ballyfad's semi-final took place. Seamus Hughes returned from holidays to lead the attack while Stephen Kavanagh took his place on the subs bench after returning from America. Oulart had beaten Ballyfad after a replay in the First Round of last year's championship and made a good start to the first-half keeping with the Ballyfad men while facing the breeze. After 7 minutes the scores were tied at 0-3 each; John Hegarty, Matty Forde (free) and Seamus Hughes on target for Ballyfad. However in the eighth minute a long puck-out from Enda O'Leray was helped onto Matty Forde by John Hegarty and Forde crashed the ball to the net after soloing to the 21. Oulart responded with a freed point but didn't score again until the half-time whistle where they pointed another free. In the meantime, Ballyfad took a stranglehold grip on the game. Forde pointed another free before Tommy Boland finished to the net after some great work by Tomas Woodbyrne on 18 minutes. Seamus Hughes pointed twice from play and Peter Kavanagh scored the best point of the day from 60 yards out on the sideline on the run. At half-time Ballyfad led 2-7 to 0-6. However, Oulart weren't going to give up easily and after Matty Forde pointed a free within a minute of the restart, Oulart enjoyed a purple patch in which they scored 4 unanswered points. Niall Kavanagh, who had come on for Tomas Woodbyrne pointed for Ballyfad to stop the rot in the 13th minute. The Ballyfad defence had soaked up huge pressure from Oulart throughout the third quarter with PJ Gethings, Jim D'Arcy and Aodhan Kavanagh excellent. Oulart's fightback was ended in a four minute spell when three goals were scored in quick succession. John Hegarty goaled following a Tommy Boland pass and Tommy Boland goaled spectacularly immediately after Oulart scored their only goal in the 18th minute to ensure of victory. Team: Enda O'Leary; Eddie Fanning, PJ Gethings, Michael Higgins; Pat Forde, Jim D'Arcy, Aodhan Kavanagh; Peter Kavanagh (0-1), Pat Jones; Jim Bushe (capt.), John Hegarty (1-1), Matty Forde (1-4, 4 frees); Tomas Woodbyrne, Seamus Hughes (0-3), Tommy Boland (2-0). Subs: Niall Kavanagh (0-1) for Tomas Woodbyrne. |
| Quarter Final Ballyfad 3-16 (25) Ferns St. Aidan's 0-06 (06) |
Ballyfad easily qualified for the Junior A Hurling Semi-finals after routing a dreadfully disappointing Ferns St. Aidan's at Monamolin on Saturday September 18th. Matty Forde proved to be the ace in Ballyfad's hand as he scored 2-9 for a Ballyfad side that was minus Wexford Senior Seamus Hughes and regular full back Peter Bushe who were on holidays. Ballyfad led by one point (0-3 to 0-2) when a 65 struck by Forde ended up in the Fern's net. He added another after some good work by Tomas Woodbyrne in a first half dominated by Ballyfad. At half-time they led by 10 points (2-7 to 0-3). 5 unanswered points at the start of the second half streched the lead, and after Fern's had scored three points of their own, half-time substitute Chris Murray sealed the win with a fine individual goal. In the end it was just target practice for Ballyfad, who now meet Askamore in the semi-finals, but after being guilty of a host of wides the hurlers will have to improve. Team: Enda O'Leary; Eddie Fanning, PJ Gethings, Michael Higgins; Pat Forde, Jim D'Arcy, Aodhan Kavanagh; Peter Kavanagh, Pat Jones; Jim Bushe, John Hegarty (0-1), Matty Forde (2-9, 7 frees, 1 '65); Niall Kavanagh (0-2), Tomas Woodbyrne (0-3), Tommy Boland (0-1). Subs: Chris Murray (1-0) for Tommy Boland; Tommy Boland for Jim Bushe (inj.). |
| Second Round Ballyfad 2-18 (24) Clongeen 1-11 (14) |
The Junior Hurlers got off to a great start in the junior hurling championship after a very impressive win over Clongeen in the Second round. The match was played in excellent conditions at Hollymount, the home of Shelmaliers on Saturday August 15th. Matty Forde was Ballyfad's ace marksman with ten points, while Tomas Woodbyrne also chipped in handsomely with a haul that included both of the goals. Woodbyrne, a half-time substitute, scored a point before he pounced on a rebound from the excellent clongeen goalkeeper, Paddy Colfer, and scored a brilliant individual second shortly afterwards, which killed off the game as a contest. The excellent midfield partnership of Pat Jones and Peter Kavanagh grabbed the much of the plaudits with outstanding displays from both men. Jim D'Arcy excelled at centre-back while Minor star Aodhan Kavanagh lined out at corner back. Team: Enda O'Leary; Michael Higgins, Peter Bushe, Aodhan Kavanagh; Eddie Fanning, Jim D'Arcy, Pat Forde; Peter Kavanagh, Pat Jones(0-1); Jim Bushe(0-1), Seamus Hughes (0-2, 1 free), Matty Forde (0-10, 7 frees); Niall Kavanagh, Nigel Sheridan, Tommy Boland (0-2). Subs: Tomas Woodbyrne (2-1) for Niall Kavanagh; Nicky D'Arcy for Jim Bushe. |