Sayeh shines as Rosemount beat Ballymore to finish top

Westmeath IFC: Rosemount 1-17 Ballymore 2-8

Rosemount produced a strong first-half performance to see off Ballymore in this Westmeath Intermediate Football Championship encounter last Saturday, a 1-17 to 2-8 victory ensuring they finished top of Section B.

The victory should also give them a psychological edge as the quarter-final draw, which took place on Sunday night, paired these teams together again, with Milltown awaiting the winners in the semi-finals.

In next Saturday’s rematch, Rosemount will be hoping for a repeat of their first half performance here when they took a firm grip on proceedings to lead by nine at the interval, 1-9 to 0-3. Ballymore fought hard after the break and twice threatened to make a game of it, but Rosemount had done enough damage in the opening half to see them through.

Ironically enough then it was Ballymore who had the first score of the afternoon after six minutes when John Gilligan struck a superb two-pointer, finding the target on the run. Rosemount had two early wides and also saw another Ben Cox effort saved before David O’Reilly finally got them off the mark in the eighth minute.

O’Reilly then levelled matters with a straightforward free (13th minute), before Eamon Boland put Rosemount in front two minutes later with the first of his three points from play. When David Tone added another (16th minute), finishing superbly from an acute angle, Rosemount were beginning to look increasingly dangerous.

They then got the game's opening goal in the 18th minute following a quick counter attack. Cathal Byrne seized on a loose ball deep inside his own half before breaking forward at pace. O’Reilly was heavily involved in the move too, setting up Boidu Sayeh, who kept his composure to slip the ball underneath McNeill and into the net.

Andy McCormack added a point a minute later and Rosemount were now 1-5 to 0-2 ahead. O’Reilly continued to cause problems and he struck a superb two-pointer in the 24th minute to stretch the lead to seven points.

The men in green and gold were still creating opportunities and they came close to a goal twice in the space of two minutes. Ivan Smyth was involved on both occasions. For the first chance, Owen McCabe won a difficult ball and released Smyth, but his shot went wide, while Smyth then turned provider for Brian Finerty, whose effort was smothered by Rosemount goalkeeper David Fox.

Colm O'Roarke eventually got Ballymore's third point, but Rosemount immediately responded when Ben Cox showed neat footwork before finding the target. Padraig Nestor added another Rosemount point before half-time, while Ballymore had one more opportunity when Smyth burst through from midfield and found Mark Scally, but his effort drifted wide.

Rosemount went into the break nine points clear and, in the context of the game, that proved crucial. Ballymore needed a fast start to the second half and they got one when corner-back Jack Kearney somehow found himself upfield and fired over in the opening minute.

Their hopes of a comeback were given a further boost when they were awarded a penalty after Owen McCabe collected Finerty's 45 and was fouled by two Rosemount defenders. Finerty took responsibility and made no mistake, firing the ball into the net to reduce the deficit to five points, 1-9 to 1-4, with five minutes of the second half played.

The same player added a point a couple of minutes later after Derek Molloy had done much of the hard work, and suddenly the nine-point half-time advantage had been cut to four.

Karl Dermody’s charges steadied themselves, however, and Sayeh responded with a fine score from an acute angle to restore some breathing space. Dan Ennis followed with an excellent point (42nd minute) before Ballymore came close to another goal. Finerty's long-range free hung in the air and Owen McCabe got a touch to it, only for the ball to rebound off the crossbar.

Ballymore continued to push and Eanna Keena produced another fine score with ten minutes remaining to reduce the gap to three points. Rosemount nearly got a second goal themselves when Eamon Boland got through on goal, only for Brian McCabe to make a superb diving block to deny him.

Sayeh immediately eased the pressure, however, with a two-pointer, restoring a five-point advantage at 1-12 to 1-7. Shortly afterwards, Boland had another chance to add a goal but opted to fist the ball over the bar, putting Rosemount 1-13 to 1-7 ahead. Declan Mullen then converted a two-point free to stretch the lead to eight points with five minutes remaining and Rosemount looked to be home and dry.

Ballymore, however, refused to give up. Gilligan picked out McCabe with a good pass and he in turn released Ennis, whose timing of his run was excellent as he arrived onto the ball to palm it into the net to reduce the deficit to 1-15 to 2-7 with four and a half minutes remaining.

Finerty converted a free soon afterwards and Ballymore were now within four points with three minutes left. Rosemount remained composed, though, and Declan Mullen restored their five-point advantage from a free. Boland then added his third point during injury time to leave the final score at Rosemount 1-17, Ballymore 2-8.

It was a deserved victory for Rosemount, who were simply too strong in the opening half. Ballymore showed plenty of character to fight their way back into contention after the interval, but the damage had already been done. Yet in the bigger scheme of things, this game is irrelevant compared to their quarter-final date on Saturday (TEG Cusack Park, 3pm).

Scorers - Rosemount: B Sayeh 1-3; D O’Reilly 0-4; E Boland, D Mullen (tpf, 1f) 0-3 each; P Nestor, A McCormack, D Tone, B Cox 0-1 each. Ballymore: B Finerty 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-1f); D Ennis 1-1; J Gilligan 0-2; E Keena, C O’Roarke, J Kearney 0-1 each.

Ballymore - Conor McNeill; Darragh Monaghan, Brian McCabe, Jack Kearney; Mark Scally, Eoin Ryan, Dan Ennis; Ivan Smyth, Owen McCabe; Shane Kincaid, John Gilligan, Ronan McLoughlin; Brian Finerty, Colm O’Roarke, Derek Molloy. Subs: Eanna Keena for I Smyth (half-time); David Jelistratovs for R McLoughlin (43 mins).

Rosemount - David Fox; Cathal Byrne, Padraig Nestor, Luke Kelly; Ben O’Brien, Andy McCormack, Lorcan Daly; David O’Reilly, David McCormack; Darragh Healy, Boidu Sayeh, Andy Geoghegan; David Tone, Eamon Boland, Ben Cox. Subs: Declan Mullen for D McCormack (39 mins); Enda Boland for B Cox (39); Ciaran Maxwell for D Healy (43).

Referee - Niall Ward (Garrycastle).