The season began in the best manner possible for the senior squad today when they traveled to Monivea and recorded a wonderful 51-5 win in the quarter-final of the Cawley Cup in Monivea.
Victories in Monivea have been few and far between over the years, so there was a huge sense of satisfaction doing the rounds after the final whistle.Of course, the performance wasn't perfect and there is much work to be done over the coming weeks, but it's hard to find fault with a 51-5 win in Monivea.
Ballina led 30-5 at the interval after tries from Ciaran Rouse, Paul Newell, Rouse again and Chris O'Neill. Darragh Whyte was in excellent form with the boot and ended the half with ten points to his name.
The opening minute of the second half saw a stunning break and sidestep from Paul Newell to set up John Keavney for a try. Newell's footwork was reminiscent of the finest Fijian sevens play at the Olympics and was received with great acclaim but the Ballina supporters.
Monivea tried to play their way back into it at that stage but Ballina were having none of it and they scored the last two tries of the day before the end. Both came from excellent prop Conor Mason and when the final whistle sounded a special victory had been recorded.
Now, all eyes turn to next weekend's Cawley Cup semi-final when an improved performance will be required.

BALLINA: Chris O’Neill, Darragh Whyte, Ciaran Rouse, Michael Allen, David Brunker, Callum Quinn, Mickey Murphy, Aiden McNulty, Mark O’Dowd, Richard Morrow, Steven Dolan, Andrew West, Tom Tolan, Richard Kelly, Conor Mason
Replacements; John Keavney, Paul Newell, Henry Hewson, Aaron Wooten, Robert Melody