BALLINASLOE Minor hurlers made a positive start to their Minor Championship campaign in recent weeks with a win and a draw over Sylane and Ahascragh/Fohenagh respectively. In their opening game they eventually overcame Sylane to win 4-15 to 1-9, but for much of the match Ballinasloe had a battle on their hands, and only managed to pull away in the closing stages.

A goal by Gavin Hynes in the first half and some fine points by Keith Kelly saw the Town side go in with only a point to spare at half time. Ensuring Ballinasloe's slight advantage were great performances by Barry Croffey and Conor Headd, both playing well in defence, while Alan Burke was having a stormer at midfield.

For the first twenty minutes of the second half both sides traded score for score in an exciting tussle before a Noel Dillon goal between two rapid points broke the Sylane resistance. Two further goals from Niall Stack and Gavin Hynes sealed the issue for Ballinasloe, who were delighted to secure that important opening win, and the two points.

In their second game Ballinasloe faced a much stiffer task and in some ways were fortunate to escape with a draw against an excellent Ahascragh/Fohenagh outfit. A brilliant solo goal from Brian Minton gave Ballinasloe a great start but Ahascragh/Fohenagh proved to be able opponents replying with two goals of their own during the first half. Another excellent goal from Cormac Casey put Ballinasloe only a single point ahead at half time, on a score line of 2-5 to 2-4.

The second half proved to be just as tight and excellent defending by goalkeeper Philip Pender, along with Barry Croffey, Sean Martyn and David Connolly, kept Ballinasloe in the game. Brian Minton was trying hard in attack, as were all the forwards, but defences were on top in the second half keeping Ballinasloe to four scores, all points, and Ahascragh to three scores, one of which was a goal. The final score was 2-9 to 3-6, a fair result, according to Ger Connolly and his management team.

In the two games Ballinasloe were served well by: Philip Pender, Robert Burke, Barry Croffey, Mikey Kelly, Conor Headd, Sean Martyn, David Connolly, Alan Burke, Ralph Carty, Noel Dillon, Keith Kelly, Cormac Casey, Gavin Hynes, Brian Minton, Niall Stack, Donal Fenton, Shane Gavin, John Ward, Cian Ward, Stephen Cogavin, Ian Renehan and Alan Brannelly.