Connacht Club SFC Final/Stephenites 2-8 St Brigid's 0-12:This was a bright jewel of a match played in the shadowlands of the season. Ballina were All-Ireland champions in the 2004-2005 season but have been locked inside the gates of Mayo since then, slumbering and perhaps sated by that national triumph.
This autumn, they have rediscovered much of that old ambition and yesterday, in front of a crowded and raucous house in St Stephen's Park, they won their third Connacht club title in thrilling circumstances.
This match kept us guessing until deep into injury time. St Bridgid's trailed by two points when Mark O'Carroll, their powerful midfielder, powered through the Ballina full-back line and hammered a fine shot against the crossbar. Given the general drama of the game, it would have been no surprise had he buried it.
But, in a moment that reflected the St Brigid's day, the ball rebounded into play, David Brady dived to gather it and won a free, and the home crowd breathed a sigh of relief.
It had been the most composed of performances by the Mayo champions, who played out the last 15 minutes with 14 men, after corner back David O'Mahony was slightly unlucky to walk with two yellows in a match littered with hefty challenges.
Ballina took just 15 seconds to construct their first goal, David Brady delivering a long ball down on Stephen Hughes, who finished coolly. Later, they would weather a 27-minute period that bridged half-time during which they failed to score.
That sort of bleak spell would kill the spirit of lesser teams, particularly given St Brigid's struck a hot patch and narrowed what had been a four-point gap at half-time to just a single kick. But Ballina kept on running.
Brigid's have played some stunning football this winter and lost here despite raising the umpires' flags more often than Ballina.
They were up against a physically strong outfit and were forced to play their sharp, direct brand of football on a field as soft as an old mattress. In addition, their free-taker and orchestral conductor Frankie Dolan had a tough afternoon.
In the 22nd minute, he skewed a 13-metre free wide, and from that moment the man who has concocted points from the most outrageous of angles suffered a miserable kicking day. Busy as ever, he picked up a yellow card and a black-book warning that hampered his activity, and though he delivered several delightful killer passes, he was not functioning at full tilt.
And yet St Brigid's scored 10 points from play and most of those were of the highest quality.
Senan Kilbride shot on sight in the first half, and both midfielders have terrific range. St Brigid's thundered into the task of reducing the deficit after half-time, but having placed Ballina in their sights, they went 18 minutes without another point.
St Brigid's undoubtedly missed the presence of their charismatic goalkeeper Shane Curran. While his replacement, James Martin, showed great variety in his kick-outs, he was caught out for Ballina's second goal, whistled for a technical foul while in possession in the small square. Pat Harte's penalty was Premiership stuff.
But the winners needed those goals. They had to work hard for their points. All the Brady boys found the scoresheet, David firing two fine points early on and Liam landing the late free that kept Ballina safe.
David Clarke made two brilliant saves, and in front of him Martin Wynne had a strong match at full back, while the industrious Ronan McGarrity was immense in the second half.
"We are back where we were two years ago," smiled the manager, Mick Higgins, sitting on a washing machine in the storeroom while his players sang rowdily next door.
"A combination of things put us out in the last two years. A goal by Peader Gardiner put us out in the county semi-final last year. The year before that we were four or five points up against Charlestown and lost the run of ourselves. So it's great to be back.
"David Brady has won his third Connacht medal in 10 years . . . but the other guys, like Stephen Hughes, can produce it too."
Ballina have the right mix to prove tough opposition for the Munster champions in the semi-final in February. But that can wait until next year.
BALLINA STEPHENITES: D Clarke; K Golden, M Wynne, D O'Mahoney; B Ruane, C Leonard, S Sweeney: R McGarrity, D Brady (0-2); G Brady (0-2), P Harte (1-0), E Casey; S Hughes (1-1), P McGarry, L Brady (0-3 frees). Subs: E Devenney for E Casey (half-time), S Melia for P McGarry (57 mins)A Kelly for G Brady (58 mins).
ST BRIGID'S: S Curran; E Ruane, D Donnelly, R Kelly; P Comican, G Aherne, N Grehan; M O'Carroll (0-2), K Mannion (0-1); J Tiernan (0-1), F Dolan (0-2 frees), G Dolan; D O'Connor, S Kilbride (0-4), C McHugh (0-1). Subs: B O'Brien for D O'Connor (38 mins), D Blaine for G Dolan (41 mins), I Kilbride for E Ruane (53 mins), P Kilcommins (0-1) for G Aherne (54 mins), K Noonan for C McHugh (59 mins).
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo).
