The home side were in control from the offset, and quickly opened up a commanding lead with a couple of pointed frees and a good score from Anthony Forde (pictured left). Kevin Devine’s reliable free taking kept hope alive for the ‘Lough, as he split the posts twice from impressive positions. However with John Donoghue started dominating midfield for Moynalvey and with some clinical finishing they found the back of the net on two occasions before the change of ends. This combined with some fine point taking, left their lead at 2-6 to 0-3 at the half time break.
Ballinlough started the second half with added purpose, and picked up four points on the bounce. First Ronan McGuinness finished off a nice move after great work by Sean Geraghty. Then Niall Farrelly expertly found his range to further reduce the deficit. Further frees from Devine left just five points between the sides, but unfortunately for the Reds, this was the closest they came for the remainder of the contest. Anthony Forde, who was a major source of problems for Ballinlough, raised another green flag for Moynalvey, as they kept the scoreboard ticking further with five unanswered points. Moynalvey were reduced to fourteen men before the final whistle, and Devine had time to convert a further two frees, but the result was by that stage inevitable.
Best for Ballinlough on the day were Devine, Farrelly and Geraghty. They will hope to get back to winning ways in the League against Kilmainham next Sunday.
Ballinlough: K. McGuinness, R. Farrell, P. Muldoon, B. Smith, R. McGuinness, K. Devine, J. Baugh, Cian Mallen, G. Reilly, M. Geraghty, D. Muldoon, S. Geraghty, J. Reilly, N. Farrelly, Colm Mallen. Subs: J. O’Higgins for Colm Mallen, J. O’Reilly for R. McGuinness.