Carnaross bowed out of the championship in the group stages with a disappointing outing against Ballivor who were full value for their victory.

Junior Championship (Round 3)
Played in Pairc Tailteann – 29/8/2020

The game began with Ballivor scoring the first 2 points before Frank O’Reilly opened the scoring from a free. At the first water break it was 3 points apiece, with all 3 scores coming from frees. The match continued in a similar vein with both defences on top as Ballivor held the minimal advantage with the half drawing to a close.

Cillian Comaskey sent over a fine long range point before Ballivor saw their attempted effort at a point rebound off the upright landing in the grateful arms of Adam Gannon who buried it into the net. At half time Ballivor lead 1-05 to 0-04 in a half where neither team had fully clicked.

The game was won for Ballivor in the third quarter. They shut down Carnaross’ attack and broke devastatingly on the counter registering 4 unanswered points to leave the game beyond reach for the North Meath men. Frank O’Reilly received a second yellow after an off the ball incident which seemed to spark the game into life. The next 10 scores were shared evenly including 3 in a row for Carnaross. Dermot McGee and Paddy McDermott began to establish a foothold in the full forward line after good surging runs from Cormac O’Reilly.

McGee, Cian O’Reilly and McDermott all converted frees to give the Ross a glimmer of hope but Ballivor raised the intensity again to close out proceedings. Darragh O’Reilly chipped in with a fine score after he was ably assisted by McGee. McDermott kicked another score from play but Ballivor picked off points at their ease to conclude the match.

It was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for Carnaross who never got going at all. Ballivor had their homework done and nullified the influence of talisman Frank O’Reilly ensuring he never got a moment’s peace. They controlled the game from the beginning and despite having 2 men black carded, they never relinquished that control until the final whistle was blown.

Carnaross: Conor Kenny; Ian Donoghue, Tomás PLunkett, Jack Roche; Odhran Farrelly, Cian O'Reilly (0-1), Pierce Fleming; Luke Gillic, Cian McGlynn; Paddy McDermott (0-2), Dillon Fox, Cillian Comaskey (0-1), Shane O'Reilly, Frank O'Reilly (0-3), Niall McDonnell. Subs - Dermot McGee (0-1) for S O'Reilly, Cormac O’Reilly for Cian McGlynn, Peter Carpenter for Odhran Farrelly and Darragh O'Reilly (0-1) for Fox.