The result may not have gone our way on Thursday in The Sportsground but rarely have Ballina supporters left Galway in a more positive frame of mind. A wholly home-grown squad represented our great club with style, skill and honour and showed everyone that the future of Ballina RFC is very bright indeed.
Afterwards, Peter Murphy, a man steeped in every aspect of the club came into the dressingroom and thanked the players and management for the way they had represented the crest on the chest. "You did us proud out there today. Each and every one of you deserve huge credit," Peter stated.
His words perfectly captured the feelings of all Ballina followers who had been present at the well-contested final. Buccaneers were deserving winners on the day, but the Athlone men were made fight for every inch of ground from first whistle to last.
Afterwards, the Ballina players and management were devastated by the result, which said a lot about their effort and attitude.
On Thursday, it would be fair to say the Ballina men and the match officials were on different wavelengths when it came to a lot of the forward engagements. It was obvious that Ballina were on top in the scrum but any penalties awarded in that zone went against them. This was extremely frustrating, despite the best efforts of team captain Luke Sweeney to communicate with the officials.
Buccaneers were clearly on top in the line-outs and this gave them a great foundation from which to build attack after attack throughout the game. That put the Mayo men under pressure but some of the defensive efforts on Thursday were top drawer.
One particular period of play near the end of the first half exhibited all that was positive in Ballina's play. Time after time, Buccs tried to rumble over the line and time after time Ballina men denied them. Very disciplined defending kept the line intact and Ballina were deservedly awarded a penalty. However, the referee then reversed the penalty after some handbags between the teams and the successful kick put Buccs 15-5 clear.
The opening quarter had been well-contested but twice Ballina lost the ball and twice they conceded tries.
First to flying winger, Rory O'Connor on the right and then to Shane Layden on the other side after Buccs men swept through the middle. Out-half Michael Hanley landed one conversion and later kicked the penalty from in front of the posts.
In between, Ballina had their best spell - moving the ball at pace and probing in the red-zone time after time. Cian Quinn almost got in on the left and Ian West was inches from a score on the right but good ball retention eventually paid dividends when Darragh Whyte powered over for a deserved try.
The 15-5 half-time scoreline left Ballina well in the game and the next score was always going to be crucial. However, the penalty count against Ballina hindered progress and Buccs gradually built more and more pressure.
Another interesting scrum penalty gave Stephen Mannion the chance to extend the lead to 18-5 after 61 minutes and the deal was sealed in the 66th minute, when Cian McCann managed to exploit a gap that opened up in front of him to cruise over the try line.
Hanley converted the try and that was the end of the scoring for both sides.
The Ballina men will have learned a lot from this encounter and will take a lot of positives which will stand them in good stead for the hugely important league run-in.

Buccaneers:
15. Ruaidhri Fallon
14. Saul O’Carroll
13. Shane Layden
12. Stephen Mannion
11. Rory O’Connor
10. Michael Hanley
9. Frank Hopkins

8. Tabo Maree
7. Evan Galvin (C)
6. Cian McCann
5. Danny Qualter
4. Ruairi Byrne
3. Martin Staunton
2. Darren Browne
1. James Kelly

Replacements:
16. Rory Grenham
17. Ryan O’Meara
18. Fergus Galvin
19. Eoin O’Reilly
20. Ross Murphy-Sweeney

Ballina:
15. Darragh White
14. Ian West
13. Callum Quinn
12. Alex Corduff
11. Cian Quinn
10. Harry West
9. Mickey Murphy

8. Dan Molloy
7. Luke Sweeney (C)
6. Fergal Tully
5. Thomas Hannigan
4. Andrew West
3. Shane Clarke
2. Mark Walker
1. Conor Mason

Replacements:
16. Billy McVann
17. Evan Creavan
18. Marc Feeley
19. Niall Keane
20. Liam Golden