They have spoken about resilience all season and last Saturday in Belfast, the men from Ballina showed that trait in all its glory. A try conceded in the opening exchanges, leaking penalties, yielding another try from an attacking position and facing a 13-0 deficit against a rampant home team before they’d even found their first breath – other teams would have folded up the tent, but that’s not Ballina’s style.
They steadied themselves; stopped the rot and set off in search of glory. They matched Instonians’ renowned power up front and then unleashed the artillery out the back. The scores began to flow and when the final whistle sounded there were scenes of unbridled joy in the Ballina camp.
However, when the dust settled, all thoughts turned towards next Saturday’s massive test in Ashbourne where victory will promote the Moy men to next season’s AIL.

There was a party atmosphere in Shaw’s Bridge when Saturday’s game began. The Belfast club were celebrating a family-day but on the pitch the home boys were in unforgiving mood and went to work immediately.
They won a penalty at scrum time, kicked to the corner, mauled the lineout before full-back Gareth Burns Delaney got over in the corner for an unconverted try.
That gave the home side the impetus to go for the jugular and that what they did. A penalty won by their effective maul made it 8-0 and the Ballina supporters were a worried lot at that stage, but the front row of Conor Mason, Luke Sweeney and Shane Clarke were rallying to the cause and when Mason forced former Ulster prop Jon Andreus to concede a penalty the Moy men went for the corner.
Aiden McNulty won the lineout brilliantly but a knock-on in the subsequent play, followed by a penalty in the scrum allowed Instonians to clear their lines and subsequently maul their way into Ballina territory.
Ballina turned the ball over and kicked long into the opposing half but Burns Delaney got his hands on it and ran a full 70 yards to score his second try of the day and leave the scoreline reading 13-0 after 15 minutes.
The Mayo men were in trouble but the instruction from the coaching team was to keep the ball and get back into the game.
They set off in search of redemption immediately from the restart and powered forward. They were awarded a penalty within moments when ex-Ireland and Ulster second-row Roger Wilson was sin-binned for an illegal shoulder charge and Kieran Lindsay slotted the penalty.
The subsequent restart was fielded by the inspirational Richie Morrow and led to Mickey Murphy and Lindsay moving the guests deep into the Instonians ’22.
Excellent play from Sweeney, Marc Feeley, Fergal Tully and the pack moved the ball towards the line and when Daniel Molloy emerged from a myriad of bodies with the leather in his hands nobody could keep him out.
Lindsay kicked the conversion and the Mayo men were within three at the break, 13-10.
David Newman and JP Leonard settled their charges at the interval and sent them out again with a pep in their step.
Instonians tried to reassert their mauling game but Ballina were a different animal after the break and showed this powerfully. After five minutes of the new half, Murphy intercepted brilliantly on half way and Lindsay Kicked his side deep into enemy territory.
Tully robbed the lineout and great play from Alex Corduff, Calum Quinn and Chris O’Neill in midfield brought the ball towards the line. David Brunker and Lindsay cut holes in the home defence before the ageless wonder Aiden McNulty cut back against the angle to score under the posts.
Lindsay added the extras and Balliina were rampant. They swarmed forward and superb play from Cian Mullarkey turned the ball over in a dangerous position again.
Murphy, Quinn, Andrew West, Clarke and Sweeney combined impressively before Murphy found Quinn powering through on his shoulder and the powerful centre got over in the corner for a 13-22 lead after 60 minutes.
There was no stopping the Connacht champions at that stage and their pack was rampant. That power saw another Instonians man sin-binned and from the subsequent scrum, Molloy picked the ball and powered over in his trademark style to secure the bonus point.
Things got even better a few minutes later when a set-move off the back of a scrum saw Murphy feed O’Neill and he powered past five tacklers to score under the posts. The highly-influential Lindsay converted and Ballina were almost out of sight, 13-34.
To their credit, Instonians never stopped looking for scores and they were rewarded with a try of their own in the final quarter but it was little more than a consolation at that stage.
Ballina’s new front, Paul Newell, Richard Kelly and Gary Kavanagh were dominating their opposite numbers and laying the foundation for numerous attacks as time ticked away.
In the final minutes, a thundering tackle from McNulty which echoed across Belfast set Ballina on the front foot again and after excellent play from Ronan Molloy and Quinn the ball was transferred to the jet-propelled O’Neill who raced in under the posts.
That brought the curtain down on a very special day for Ballina RFC and leaves them one game from their cherished target of bringing All Ireland League Rugby back to Mayo. They sit on top of the table with ten points going into their game in Ashbourne next weekend, four ahead of their nearest challengers, Bandon.
Special mention must go Henry Hewson and Bradley Nealon, the non-playing reserves on Saturday. They filled an often-frustrating, but very crucial role.

BALLINA: Conor Mason, Luke Sweeney, Shane Clarke, Aiden McNulty, Richard Morrow, Marc Feeley, Fergal Tully, Daniel Molloy, Mickey Murphy, Kieran Lindsay, David Brunker, Alex Corduff, Calum Quinn, Cian Mullarkey, Chris O’Neill
Replacements; Richard Kelly, Paul Newell, Gary Kavanagh, Andrew West, Ronan Molloy, Henry Hewson, Bradley Nealon