Ballingarrys reward for beating Tulla United of Clare in the third round of the FAI junior cup is a home game in the open draw against Rathkeale. In the FAI Under 17 cup Ballingarry have progressed to the third round without kicking a ball. Second round opponents Tralee Dynamos of Kerry have withdrawn from the competiton giving Ballingarry a walkover. They will now play the winners of Askeaton and NCW Rovers at home in round three. Having received a bye in the first round Ballingarry will be relieved to play a game in the competition. In the under 16 National cup (Barry cup) Ballingarry are away to NCW rovers with the winners at home to Corbally United or Rathkeale in the second round.

Under 12 Division 2 – Ballingarry 3 Broadford United 2 (O’Donnell, Clancy, O’Keeffe)

A fine game of football in Ballingarry saw Broadford drop their first points of the sesason and Ballingarry record their first win since the opening day. Ballingarry went 1 up from O’ Donnell after ten minutes before the visitors equalised with a fine long range effort. Ballingarrys lead was restored for half time when Clancy chipped the keeper from the edge of the box. Broadford drew level again from a free from 20 yards before O’Keeffe made sure of the points also from a long range free kick after Clancy was fouled.

Saturday November 1st 2008
Under 14 Division 1 – Ballingarry 0 Abbeyfeale United 1
Youth Division 1 – Broadford United 1 Ballingarry 1 (O’Riordan)

Sunday November 3rd 2008
FAI Junior Cup Rd 3 – Ballingarry 6 Tulla United (Clare) 1 (Donal O’Grady 3, Scanlon 2 pens, Kelly)
Junior Division 3 – Rockhill Rovers 1 Ballingarry B 3 (Doyle 2, O’Hanlon)

Pride of place over the weekend goes to the junior A side who put six past visitors Tulla United to progress to the National draw of the FAI junior cup. In truth this game became a farce midway through the first half. Ballingarry had already drawn level from their first penalty of the day when Scanlon scored after the visiting full back handled on the line. Tulla were now down to ten men and when they felt an effort had crossed the line before being cleared they had a further two players lined for dissent.
To their credit they gave a brave performance but Ballingarry were never going to lose this game from there on. Donal O’ Gradys hat-trick wasn’t just his first for the club but was also the first ever FAI hat-trick from a Ballingarry player. Joe Scanlon got a second penalty while Denis Kelly also got on the sheet to confirm what was Ballingarrys biggest ever FAI win.

The B team returned to the top of the table in the morning with a fine away win against Rockhill Rovers. Kristian Doyle with two and David O’ Hanlon were the scorers in the 3-1 success. On Saturday both the under 14 and youths recorded draws in their league games. The 14s held table toppers Abbeyfeale United to a scoreless draw while in Broadford the youths drew 1-1 with Damien O’ Riordan getting the Ballingarry goal.

Under 16 Division 1 – NCW 2 Ballingarry 1 (O’Gorman)
Under 8 Division 1 – NCW A 0 Ballingarry 5 (O’Connor 3, O’ Kelly 2)

The under 16 team lost some ground with the leaders following this 2-1 defeat at NCW. A dubious penalty set NCW on their way before the break only for John O’Gorman to restore parity. However NCW got a second without reply for Ballingarry from a break midway through the second half. The result was harsh on Ballingarry who were the better side throughout dominating long periods of the game.
The under 8s got their first win of the season with a 5-0 win in NCW. Two up at the break Ballingarry never looked like losing with a Sean O’Connor hat trick and a brace from Keith O’Kelly securing their first points of the season.

Under 10 Division 1 – Ballingarry 2 NCW 3 (Fitzgibbon, O’ Kelly)
Under 14 Division 1 – Ballingarry 2 NCW Rvs A 0 (O’ Connell 2 – 1 pen)
Sunday October 26th 2008 – MYC Round 2 – Ballingarry 1 Rathkeale 3 (Hayes)

The weekend saw three Ballingarry teams in action with the fourth, the junior B team, ruled off due to the rain. The under 10 side lost their first game of the season when they fell to NCW on Saturday on a 3-2 scoreline. Moss Fitzgibbon gave the home side the lead which was cancelled out before the break. Mark O’ Kelly was on the mark again for Ballingarry in the second half but it wasn’t enough as NCW added two more to secure all three points.
The under 14s recorded their first win and indeed secured their first points of the season at home to NCW Rvs also on Saturday. Barry O’ Connell from the spot with a twice taken penalty put the winners 1 up at the break. O’ Connell made sure of the points in the last minute with his second.
On Sunday the youths went out of the MY cup in round two when they lost at home to Rathkeale on a 3-1 scoreline. James Hayes on the mark for Ballingarry. A fourth game fixed for Ballingarrys only pitch was thankfully cancelled due to the weather, that being the Reidy Cup game at home between Ballingarry B and Adare United.

Anthony Forde played for seventy minutes of the under 16 friendly against Northern Ireland at Whitehall on Tuesday October 21st last. Unfortunately the side after going a goal up, were beaten 3-1 on the day.

Saturday – Under 8 Division 1 – Ballingarry 3 Athea United 7 (O, Kelly, Kavanagh, Mulqueen)
Munster Youth Cup Round 1 – Askeaton 1 Ballingarry 1 (Hayes) aet – Ballingarry win 5-4 on pens
Sunday – Premier Division – NCW 1 Ballingarry 0
Junior Division 3 – Glantine Rovers 1 Ballingarry B 0

Just one of the four teams in action over the weekend made progress with the youths progressing to the second round of the Munster Youths Cup. The under 8s were well beaten at home to Athea on Saturday with Keith O’ Kelly, Mark Kavanagh and Bryan Mulqueen on the mark for the home side. The youth team were in Askeaton and had to come from behind to draw with their hosts through a James Hayes goal. Ballingarry should have won in normal time such was their dominance but had to go through the drama of a penalty shootout to progress. Alymer, O’ Keeffe, both Fordes and Moore scored from the spot for Ballingarry to seal their passage.

On Sunday both junior sides were on the receiving end on a one-nil scoreline. In the morning the A team probably saw their title dream evaporate with the one-nil defeat at NCW. The only goal of the game came in the 26th minute from poor defending. It would have been worse but for a super show from John O’ Grady in goal who made a string of fine saves to deny the winners more goals. At Glantine in the afternoon the B team suffered their first league loss of the season going down by the same scoreline. The only other game down for the weekend was the under 12 game at Breska but that was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

Ballingarrys under 15 midfielder Anthony Forde was involved in both under 16 friendly fixtures in Bolo against Turkey during the week. On Tuesday (October 14th) he played 55 minutes of the 4-0 defeat before being replaced by John Mountney while in Thursdays (October 16th) 4-2 win he came on for the final 16 minutes in place of goalscorer John O’ Sullivan. Early reports say that Forde gave a good account of himself during both games. He will be on international duty again next week following his call up for the friendly against Northern Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday (October 21st).

F.A.I. Cup Round 1 – Ballingarry 3 Killarney Celtic 2 (Scanlon, D. Kelly, Moore)

Ballingarry came from a goal down at half time to win this very entertaining cup tie with a real edge, and thus advance into next round of competition.

In other news, Anthony Forde has been called into the Under 16 Ireland squad to play Northern Ireland on October 20th.

Under 10 Division 1 – Ballingarry 3 Athea United 1 (O.G., Hickey, Storin).
Under 14 Division 1 – Askeaton 4 Ballingarry 2 (Lynch, Callaghan)
F.A.I. Youth Cup Round 1 – NCW 4 Ballingarry 4 aet (S. Doherty 2, Alymer 2) NCW Win 3-1 on pens.

The under 10 side recorded a 3-1 win at home to stay right on course for the title. Goals from Mark Storin and Mikey Hickey plus an own goal saw Ballingarry ease through. The under 14 side had no such luck as they lost their second successive game of the season at Askeaton. Ballingarrys scorers were David Lynch and Mark O’ Callaghan. The 4-2 loss leaves them still looking for their first points of the new season.

Meanwhile the youths bowed out of the FAI youth cup at the first time of asking at Newcastlewest in what was an absorbing contest. Ballingarry were 3-1 up at the break thanks to Darren Alymer and Shane Doherty but somehow left it slip in the second period with NCW two strikes sending the game to extra time. Even then Ballingarry regained the lead only to concede a fourth minutes from the final whistle in extra time. Sadly from a Ballingarry point of view they could only convert one of their penalties through Darren Alymer and went out 3-1 on penalties.