Tries from Daniel Molloy (right) and Ronan Molloy (left) dug Ballina out of a large hole this afternoon in the Junior Cup quarter-final in sunsplashed Castlebar.

It was one of the worst first half performances from the Moy men in a long time but the greens improved after the break to pull their cup dream out of the fire in the second half and book a place in the last four.

That said, Castlebar were by far the better team in the opening 40 minutes and played some very tight, controlled rugby as they took a 10-0 lead to the interval break. Their pick-and-go style caused a lot of problems and with Ballina also conceding too many penalties, the home side were on the front foot a lot of the time.

The Blues opened the scoring after 27 minutes when an unorthodox back-of-the-hand pass put Daire Mulgrew in for a try which was converted by Ronan Conway.
Conway added a penalty before the break to make it 10-0 and Ballina were in trouble.

However, some realistic discussions were held at the break and the men in green played with a different intensity after the resumption.
The breakthrough came in the 51st minute when Daniel Molloy gathered possession 25 metres out and powered past Castlebar fringe defenders to race in under the posts. Kieran Lindsay converted and the gap was closed to three 10-7.
Luke Sweeney, Shane Clarke and Paul Newell were powerful in the front row as David Brunker, Cian Mullarkey and Alex Corduff looked to attack whenever the ball was spread wide.

The action ebbed and flowed after that but when Lindsay kicked Ballina level at the start of the final quarter there was only going to be one winner.
In the final run-in, Daniel Molloy powered over for another try, Lindsay added a penalty and a conversion before Ronan Molloy brought the curtain down on an epic encounter with an intercept try to send the Ballina men into the semi-final despite the very best efforts of a fine Castlebar outfit.

All in all, this was a game where Ballina were poor for 40 minutes but an improved second half display proved to be enough for cup progression.

That certainly won’t be the case in Ballina next Sunday when Connemara come to town for the biggest game of the league season to date. This will be a crucial, critical and pivotal encounter and we are already sending out the message that we want the sidelines packed for that one, so make plans, change plans – do whatever is needed.

CASTLEBAR: Samuel Bolger, Ian MacDonagh, Brian Flannery, Daire Mulgrew, Ruairi Hughes, Gavin Sullivan, Paddy Flannelly, David Staunton, Damian Togher, Paul Coady, Fintan Casey, Luke Staunton, Mark Staunton, Tommie Keane, Ronan Conway
Replacments; Liam Molloy, Sean Tonra, Robert Hughes, Patrick Corless, James Staunton, David Lavelle
BALLINA: Paul Newell, Luke Sweeney, Shane Clarke, Andrew West, Brian Moylett, Marc Feeley, Daniel Molloy, Aiden McNulty, Mickey Murphy, Kieran Lindsay, David Brunker, Alex Corduff, Cian Mullarkey, Chris O’Neill
Replacements; Conor Mason, Richard Kelly, Patrick Howley, Richard Morrow, Ronan Molloy