Saturday night under lights on the grass pitch at the Fairgreen in the heart of Creggs village provided the setting for the opening Connacht League 1A fixture. The history between these two great clubs who have vied for superiority over the the decades set the scene for a classic.

Ballina launched their assault up the slope, dominating possession and territory for the initial phases. Multiple breaks by the team in green set the tone, crisp handling, hard running, Ballina looked dangerous. Blayze Molloy exploited one such multiple phase attack to gallop though the centre making 30 metres only to be tackled by the Creggs fullback, Shane Dowd.

Billy McVann, prominent throughout, was next up to make inroads into Creggs territory. His drive brought Ballina to within 15 metres of the Creggs line. The Quinn brothers combined off the ensuing ruck ball, with Cian firing the ball to the onrushing Calum who broke through the Creggs defence to score the opening try after 10 minutes which Cian Anderson converted.

Creggs answered with a penalty kick by Mark Purcell 10 minutes later after a period of pressure by Creggs.

A yellow card was shown to a Creggs player and Anderson kicked the resultant penalty to put the score at 3-10 in favour of the men in green.

Big tackles by Conor Boyce and Luke Sweeney, kept Creggs on the back foot. Ian West showed good skill before off loading to Paul Brennan who looked dangerous every time he got on the ball. Unfortunately crossing by Ballina in midfield, meant that referee, David Burke, denied Blayze Molloy a try.

The Ballina dominant scrum powered by Gary Kavanagh and Sean O’Connell, exploited their one man advantage driving Creggs in reverse. The referee gave the advantage to Ballina. A quick penalty tap opened the door for Calum Quinn to get over for a converted try.

Half time score 3-17 to Ballina.

Luke Sweeney was next over the Creggs line but was denied a score, being held up after great lineout take by Thomas Hannigan. An ensuing scrum to Ballina on the Creggs line gave the opportunity for Eddie Dodd to release Ronan Molloy who scored after 47 minutes.

Twenty minutes later, concerted Creggs pressure saw their best player on the day, Mark Purcell get over for a try. The Creggs replacements had injected energy into their efforts. Four minutes later Ronan Dowd got over for another Creggs try to put the score at 13-22 and the momentum was with the men in Purple and White hoops and 11 minutes left on the clock.

Ballina rallied. Subs Mike Finnerty, Alex Hennigan, Jack Murphy were giving it 100%.

An intercept by Billy Ruane who showed clean heels over 60 metres to the Creggs pursuers to touch down, scoring a fourth try for Ballina and guarantee a bonus point win.

The final word was left to schoolboy, Conor Connolly, who converted from wide out on the left to put the final gloss on the result.

Next up, Ballinasloe vs Ballina in Heffernan Park on Saturday next, October 4th KO 7.30pm