Ballina fielded a strong side against Buccaneers in Athlone on Sunday and came away with an impressive victory. Coaches, Murphy, Morrow and McNulty will be pleased with the weekend performances with both Ballina senior sides winning over the weekend. The Seconds on Saturday and the First team on Sunday.
Ballina showed intent from the start, the forwards producing clean ball from set pieces and the backs running with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. Crisp passing and direct running set Ballina at a different level to the Buccaneer opposition.
Liam Jones opened the scoring after five minutes with a trademark free-wheeling run after a multi-phase approach by Ballina with backs and forwards handling at ease. The final phase saw the ball move from Ben Matheson at scrum half, through the back line to Jones on the wing to score. Conor Connolly added the conversion.
This was soon followed by a score from Calum Quinn who cut through the middle of the Buccaneers defence. Five minutes later, Paul Brennan got on the end of a superb sequence of play to round his man to get on the scoreboard. Connolly’s unerring boot gave the Ballina side a 21 point advantage after as many minutes.
Further scores by Jones and Brennan put Ballinia 33 poinyts clear by the half hour mark.
It wasn’t that Buccaneers weren’t trying, they had struggled to get possession of the ball for 30 minutes and Ballina were ruthless in defence and attack.
A series of pick and drives by Buccaneers got them over the Ballina line when Ballina were reduced to 13 men due to two yellow cards. Referee, Shane Tuohy, awarded a score which encouraged the Buccaneers effort.
However, Ballina were not finished. Team captain Sweeney, getting a score for the forwards after good play by Dylan Rice. Connolly converted to put the halftime score at 5-40.
Much credit goes to the Ballina pack who laid the foundations for their outside runners. Scrums, lineouts, rucks and mauls were controlled sources of possession. Hennigan and Donohue in the powerhouse were immense. The unsung heroes of the front row, Kavanagh, McVann and O’Connell were as much at ease in the middle of the scrum as they were in midfield attacks.
Jones got his hat trick just after half time after a break by Ronan Molloy.
The Ballina management rang the changes after 50 minutes and the reconstructed backline took some time to realign. Craig McCormick was now directing operations at outhalf, Ian West moved to midfield where he was joined by Cian Anderson. Their defence was solid. It took some minutes to get their attacking rhythm but when they got back to business, Liam Golden was next to benefit, scoring in the left corner. McCormick added the conversion from the touch line.
A barnstorming run through the middle by Conor Boyce, like a young Limousin bull going to the sales in Carrick, was carried on further by Dan Molloy who left four defenders in his wake setting the platform for Paul Brennan to get his hat-trick. 
Danny Donegan played a brief cameo. Jack Murphy made an impact off the bench and was lively in attack. With the light fading and the final whistle approaching, Gary Kavanagh’s twinkle-toed sprint on the touch line to latch onto a try scoring pass after a skillful break by Cian Quinn was denied by the touch judge.
Referee Tuohy called a halt with the final whistle on a score line of 5 - 59 in favour of the Davy’s Tool Hire sponsored men from Ballina.
A great team performance by Ballina where many players were excellent. Ball handling in wet conditions was very good. Paul Brennan in both defence and attack was outstanding and he was presented with the Man of the Match award by Ballina chairman, Alan Rowe. 
BALLINA: Paul Brennan, Liam Jones, Calum Quinn, Ronan Molloy, Ian West, Conor Connolly, Ben Matheson; Sean O’Connell, Billy McVann, Gary Kavanagh, Thomas Hannigan, Brian Donohoe, Conor Boyce, Dylan Rice, Luke Sweeney.
Replacements; Jack Murphy, Danny Donegan, Dan Molloy, Cian Anderson, Cian Quinn, Craig McCormick, Liam Golden
BUCCANEERS: Harry Hughes, Cameron Rooney Dinan, Harry Balsiger, Leon Cassidy, Jack Dowd, Sam Tan, Donncha Connolly; James Kelly, Cian Daly, Finnian Murray, Anthony Markov, Sam Fogarty, Robbie Byrne, Cathal Walsh, Jack Crampton.
Replacements: Oisin Donohue, Bobby Foxe, Atrio Abono, Killian Foxe, Jack Rosney, Prefima Malassou, Michael Egan

Ballina host Tuam in Heffernan Park on Saturday next, December 6th in the Jimmy’s Coffee-sponsored match under lights with Kick Off at 7.30pm. Having played their last home game on September 15th, Ballina have won five away games including the Cawley Cup Final. A big crowd is anticipated at Heffernan Park for what should be an entertaining game.