THE old adage, 'A game of two halves' was certainly in vogue in Heffernan Park last night as Connemara won a well-contested league match 15-9.
Ballina had the advantage of the very strong wind in the opening half but failed to make it count and ended the first 40 minutes with just three Craig McCormick penalties on the board. That left Connemara just four behind as they had scored a try early in the half when excellent prop, Ian Staunton, barged over from a close-range penalty. The concession of the try was poor from Ballina's point of view, and it meant that there was little between them when the sides turned around for the second half.
Connemara were backed by the strong breeze in the second half and kept Ballina pinned inside their own '22 for long periods. The home side found it hard to break out and the men in black went in front when Oran O'Neill got over for a try.
Staunton added the conversion and a later penalty to secure the win for the guests in a match which was littered with yellow cards, penalties and poor handling - a lot of which can be attributed to the very poor weather conditions which made good rugby very difficult.
#ontothenextone
BALLINA
L Golden, L Jones, O Smyth-Rouse, R Fridd, N Feeney, C McCormick, R Lawrence; S O'Connell, C Brown, B Donohoe, G McKenna, O McNicholas, C Hopkins, A Hennigan, J Bloomfield
Replacements; D Donegan, A Duffy, R Molloy, N Molloy, D Feeney.