A brilliant try from Sean Murphy secured victory for our fine U16 team on Saturday when the Moy boys defeated Ballinasloe in an Attymass thriller.
This was always going to be a classic because this Ballinasloe side started the game with only one defeat to their name - a surprise loss to Sligo back in September.
The majority of the Ballinsaloe side are part of the Garbally Schools team who are in the Connacht junior schools semi final, so it was a high-paced game from start to finish.
Luckily, the skies cleared before both teams took to the field with steely-eyed intent, so although the conditions underfoot were far from ideal, both sides tried to play good running rugby.
From the kick-off, the visitors drove at the heart of the home defence and were soon awarded a penalty to make it 0-3.
Fired up by this the home side worked up the field, but the visitors were not having any of it and soon regained possession and Ballinsaloe were awarded a penalty try after subjecting the home team to unaccustomed pressure.
That left Ballinasloe 10-0 in front and posed serious questions for the hosts. This was long forgotten territory for the Moy boys, but they didn’t panic and kept faith with their plan. Their rucking and ball retention was vastly improved and it showed as they moved up the pitch and back into contention.
Usually Ballina defend in their own half and then break out and score but on Saturday they kept the pressure on in the opposition half and were unlucky not to score on a number of occasions.
They pounded the visitors' line and eventually it paid off when Alex Hennigan pounced on a loose ball for a try, converted by Harry West.
That gave the home side a huge boost and a well-hit penalty balanced the scores at 10 apiece at the interval.
After the break, both sides went all out for the lead and Ballina hit the front thanks to a superb try wide on the left from Sean Murphy and an amazing conversion to leave the hosts 17-10 clear.
The visitors were determined to get back into contention and worked their way up field to earn and score a penalty to leave four between the teams 17-13.
That set up a very tense finish as Ballina looked to stay in front and Ballinasloe powered forward in search or redemption.
The visitors piled on the pressure, but the Moy boys refused to crack and soon the final whistle sounded to signal another famous Ballina victory for this hard-working team and management.
BALLINA: Cormac Jackson, Darragh Walsh (Capt), Daniel Boland, Harry Reagan, Jack Gawley, Hedd Morgan, Alex Hennigan, Fiachna Barrett, Davin Feeney, Harry West, Liam Golden, Thomas O'Boyle, Sean Murphy, Alex Moran, John Ginty, Liam Connor, Kian Meyerink.