Our senior team began their season with a comfortable victory over Ballinrobe in the opening round of the Michael Walsh Senior League. The wide open spaces of Ballinrobe Community School pitch provided the venue for the clash in windy but very mild conditions. Ballintubber took the lead with two well-taken scores from Stephen O’Malley, a member of last year’s Mayo Minor panel who finished the game with eight points to his name, kicking five from play. Playing with a strong breeze, the Abbeysiders remained comfortably in front for the rest of the game, taking some fine scores including a sweet score from wing-forward Brian Walsh and an outstanding second-half point from O’Malley from a very acute angel. Our full-back line were solid throughout as Ballinrobe’s lumbering full-forward Darren McDonnell made a nuisance of himself after number 3 Cathal Hallinan was withdrawn through injury in the second half.
It was a proud occasion for the Geraghty family as brothers Hugh, Ray, Danny and Joe lined out in the Red and White for the first time together. Midfielder Danny was lively throughout, kicking two points and taking Ballintubber first “mark” of the season in the second half. Senior debutant Hugh, a key player on the minor team which claimed the county “C” championship last year, impressed at corner forward, finishing with two very well taken points.
Our second-half substitutes all gave good accounts of themselves. Particularly impressive were Seanie Larkin who drove forward to raise a white flag and the youthful Gavin Roache, scoring a point on his senior debut and playing with no shortage of determination despite his inexperience at this level. The home side were ultimately unable to capitalise on a strong second-half breeze as the Boys from The ‘Tubber ran out comfortable thirteen-point winners in the end.
Ballintubber team that lined out: (1) Brendan Walsh (2)Gary Loftus (3)Cathal Hallinan (4)Brian Murphy (5)Kevin Shannon (6)Joe Geraghty (7)Myles Kelly (8)Danny Geraghty(0-2) (9)Dave Clarke (10)Damien Coleman (11)Ray Geraghty (12)Brian Walsh(0-1) (13)Hugh Geraghty(0-2, 1f) (17)Conor Finnerty(0-2) (15)Stephen O’Malley(0-8, 5f) Substitutions: Sean Larkin(0-1) for Cathal Hallinan, Declan Larkin for Kevin Shannon, John Kerrigan for Myles Kelly, Gavin Roache(0-1) for Damien Coleman, David McHale for Ray Geraghty, Aaron Lally for Hugh Geraghty