Ulster Club Senior Football Championship Preliminary Round: Ballybay 2-11 Crossmaglen 1-9
Ballybay have caused the first big upset of the 2022 Ulster Club series by knocking out Crossmaglen in a thrilling first round tie at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday night.
The Armagh champions were 2/7 with the bookies before throw-in with their Monaghan counterparts seeking their very first win in the provincial competition.
However, Pearse Brothers were full value for their five-point win after an impressive second half performance that overwhelmed the South Armagh side.
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The result now pits Ballybay joint-manager Jerome Johnston Snr against his native club and his three sons in next weekend’s quarter-final with Jerome Jnr, Ryan and Shealan all expected to feature for the All-Ireland champions Kilcoo.
There is already speculation that Johnston might step aside and let Mark Doran take the reins for that one.
In any case, Ballybay will fear nobody in Ulster after a dominant third quarter that saw them surge past Stephen Kernan’s men.
Despite losing Monaghan defender Drew Wylie to an early black card, Ballybay took the lead when Shane McGuinness converted a fourth-minute penalty after Crossmaglen full-back Alan Farrelly was ajudged to have pulled back Daniel Caraher.
McGuinness slotted the spot-kick low into the corner beyond the reach of Conor Deery, but Cross replied in kind as Rian O’Neill took full advantage of Wylie’s absence and fired home a stunning goal past Julius Sniauksta at the other end.
Rangers forged ahead before a Paul Finlay free cut the deficit to a single point, 1-5 to 1-4, at half-time, however Cross lost Dara O’Callaghan to a black card just before the break.
Ballybay made their numerical advantage count on the scoreboard as they hit 1-5 to Crossmaglen’s 0-1 in the third quarter.
Midfielder Aaron Toner, who failed to start with a quad injury, was introduced for the second half and plundered his side’s second goal while Shane McGuinness and Dessie Ware landed two points from play each.
Even when O’Callaghan returned to the fold, the Monaghan champions kept their foot on the throttle with further points from Finlay and Christopher McGuinness extending their lead out to eight points.
O’Neill blasted over a point when he had a sniff of another goal as Cross finished with three late points, but Ballybay deservedly held on for stunning five-point victory to set up a clash with the defending Ulster and All-Ireland champions next weekend.
Ballybay scorers : Shane McGuinness 1-2 (1-0 pen), Aaron Toner 1-0, Paul Finlay 0-4 (0-3fs), Dessie Ward 0-2, Drew Wylie 0-1, Christopher McGuinness 0-1, Thomas Kerr 0-1.
Crossmaglen scorers: Rian O’Neill 1-01; Cian McConville 0-3 (0-2fs), Caolan Finnegan 0-2, Ronan Fitzpatrick 0-2, Jamie Clarke 0-1.
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