Tullylish Premier Reserves endured a hard fought encounter against a physical Ballyholland side to record their first win of the 2010 A.C.P.R.F.L season.

It was the home side, boosted by the return of Eamonn Connolly to the management team, who recorded the first score on the board.  A direct ball from Paddy McKiverghan into the full-forward line was superbly fielded by playmaker Davey Corbett, who unselfishly passed to Brian Thompson to record the first point of the game.

Ballyholland hit back with two consecutive points from play, from full forward Adrian McAteer, who proved to be a thorn in the Tullylish defence the whole day.  The constant pressure on the Tullylish defence by a robust Ballyholland full-forward line saw ‘The Harps’ rewarded with two goal opportunities only to be squandered by Sean McManus and Kevin Dunne respectively.

It took ten minutes and an accurate Ryan McAnerney free-kick ten minutes into the game to level the scores again at two points each.

The ‘move of the match’ was made on the sideline, which resulted in target man Davey Corbett move to midfield after 18 minutes.  The physical presence and superb fielding of Corbett proved too strong for a young Ballyholland pairing of Connor Madden and Gavin McAteer.  This constant pressure in the middle provided an endless supply of ball to the lively, full-forward line of Brian Thompson, Peter Convery and Seamus O’Hare.  Ballyholland could not deal with the quick, direct ball into the ‘Lish forwards and persisted with misjudged, undisciplined tackles.  Dead ball specialist McAnerney availed of these opportunities to score a further three frees and give Tullylish a three point cushion score nearing the end of the first half.  However, a rare mistake from the experienced Ronan Barry as well as a dubious McAteer point allowed Ballyholland to level the game for the third time in the half.

Half Time: Tullylish 0.05  Ballyholland 0.05

Tullylish began the second half as they did in the first.  Fast, direct football from the hard-working, determined defence allowed Tullylish to stretch the lead to two points, thanks to two long range efforts from Paddy McKiverghan and McAnerney.

It was indeed twelve minutes into the second half before full-forward McAteer could register another score for ‘The Harps’ but a lack of concentration in the Tullylish defence allowed Ballyholland to register a further two points which proved to be their final score of the day.  Despite now trailing by a single point, Tullylish persisted to attack from defence through the impressive Sean McDermott and penetrate the Ballyholland rearguard.  This constant pressure proved to be too strong for the Newry men as Kevin Murphy availed of two opportunities to register two crucial points and steer the home side to an opening day victory, by the narrowest of margins.

Full Time: Tullylish 0.09   Ballyholland 0.08

Next up for Tullylish Premier Reserves is a journey to the Mournes for a tough encounter with Liatroim.