Courty Class too much for Gaultier

BALLINACOURTY 2-6
GAULTIER 1-4
BALLINACOURTY clinched the
Minor Football Division One County
championship with a deserved sixpoint
win over Gaultier under the
Fraher Field lights on Wednesday last
A steady fl ow of scores for Ballinacourty
sealed the win and the championship.
They recovered from a
fi ve-point defi cit in the fi rst-half and
had the ability to fi nd the net when it
counted.
For Gaultier it was a game they
could have won, however they were
left to rue a contest they littered with
wides – including six in the fi nal 10
minutes. Remarkably, their fi nal
score of the evening came in the 25th
minute, although their cause was not
helped by the loss of David Cullinane
to injury early in the second-half.
Ballinacourty opened the scoring
through a David Looby pointed free
on four minutes. Gaultier struck their
entire tally on the night in the space
of a 10 minute purple patch, beginning
with a fi ne score from David
Cullinane.
The fi rst of two penalties in the
game went to Gaultier. With 19
minutes on the clock, Cathal Ryan
sent in a searching ball to his fullforward
line, claimed by David Jones
who was dragged down inside the
box. Sean White stepped
up and found the net despite the best
efforts of Kevin Dwane.
Sandwiched between the two penalties
were three unanswered points
from Gaultier through Cathal Ryan,
Luke Nolan and Sean White.
The pick of the bunch, from White,
was struck from outside the 45-metre
line under some pressure.
But Ballinacourty were to respond.
David Looby, his side’s only scorer
in the fi rst-half, brought them within
two points of Gaultier with his wellplaced
penalty on 29 minutes, and the
centre-forward cut the defi cit to one at
the interval with another late pointed
free.
On resumption, a John Elsted-led
Ballinacourty began to turn the screw.
Midfi elder Conor Prunty knocked
over a point from long-range to level,
and a minute later they were ahead
thanks to Eoin Kiely.
From here Ballinacourty didn’t
look back, they were afforded six
second-half wides as their opponents
struck nine of their own.
With 13 minutes remaining they
clinched their second goal of the
game. Eoin Kiely picked out an
unmarked Anthony Fitzgerald, who’s
fi nessed shot rippled the net, putting
Ballinacourty 2-5 to 1-4 ahead.
The game was punctuated with only
one further score, in the 64th minute
from the boot of Conor Prunty for
Ballinacourty. Following a deserved
victory, top-scorer and captain David
Looby lifted the trophy for the newlycrowned
champions.
The mood down ‘Courty way,
given Abbeyside’s SHC win over De
La Salle the previous Saturday, could
hardly be better.
BALLINACOURTY: K Dwane; C Brennan, C
Dwyer, D McGrath; E Dwyer, J Elsted, R Conway;
C Prunty, J Beresford; C McCarthy, D Looby, A
Fitzgerald; E Kiely, N Montgomery, P Power.
SUBSTITUTES: T Looby and T Collins.
SCORERS: D Looby (1-3; 1-0 pen; 0-3f ); A
Fitzgerald (1-0), C Prunty (0-2) and E Kiely (0-1).
GAULTIER: P Lambe; M Hutchinson, D Lynch,
S Lynch; N Byrne, D Power, G Cullinane; S Kelly, D
Kearns; C Ryan, L Nolan, D Cullinane; D Jones, S
White, C Thomas.
SCORERS: S White (1-1; 1-0 pen); C Ryan, D
Cullinane and L Nolan (0-1 each).
SUBSTITUTES: D Dawson, D Morgan and A
Deegan.
REFEREE: Dessie O’Leary (Erin’s Own).