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*Morgan Garry of Ballyea is tackled by Inagh/Kilnamona captain Aidan McCarthy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
BALLYEA manager Robbie Hogan admitted his side’s opening-round defeat has left them with work to do but insisted they have been in a similar position before.
After playing against the breeze in the opening half, Ballyea never led at any stage of Friday’s first round game against Inagh/Kilnamona.
They now face a crucial clash with Clonlara in two weeks’ time as they look to get their championship campaign back on track. “Everyone goes out with the intention of trying to get the win on the first day, but we know what we’ve to do now anyway, that’s it. We were in the same position last year, so we’ll just knuckle down and keep working hard for the next few weeks,” Hogan outlined.
Ballyea were without two of their key forwards from the outset, with Niall Deasy not fit enough to start and Aaron Griffin unavailable due to injury. “It’s just one of those days, things didn’t go right for us, we were in a good position towards the end of the first half against the wind and it just went from four points to eight points. That penalty save was a big turning point in the game, it would’ve brought us back to two”.
Despite not hitting their usual heights, Ballyea had the chance to cut the deficit to two points when Tony Kelly stepped up to take a second-half penalty. Instead, Éamonn Foudy came up with a crucial stop, shifting the momentum back in Inagh/Kilnamona’s favour. “That was a big moment, it lifted the crowd and they went up the field and tagged on a couple of points as well. It wasn’t the only part of the game, we had other areas we weren’t happy with”.
Hogan told The Clare Echo, “It’s a great man that steps up and takes them. Credit to Foudy there, they got joy off his puckouts too, he’s an inter-county goalie and he’s going to chisel that ball out with intent”.
