Bearna 0-9

Salthill-Knocknacarra 0-8

Eanna O’Reilly at Pearse Stadium

BEARNA pulled off an upset on Saturday afternoon at Pearse Stadium as they turned over a much fancied Salthill-Knocknacarra outfit by a one point margin. David Donnellan’s side made light of the underdogs tag and were never behind on the scoreboard at any stage during this encounter.

Salthill-Knocknacarra’s defeat saw them overtaken in the table by Bearna, and leaves John O’Mahony’s side in must-win territory ahead of their round five meeting with Oughterard.

On a warm evening in Salthill, Bearna made a great start and led by 0-3 to 0-0 after ten minutes. Donal Folan opened the scoring with a pointed free after two minutes. Oisín Gormally then landed their second from the right wing, before Bearna turned over Ruairí Lavelle’s subsequent kick out.

Tom Curran won possession before being fouled by Eoghan Deely, allowing Folan to convert his second free, to give Bearna a three point lead. Daniel O’Flaherty soon drew a foul for Salthill-Knocknacarra, with Rob Finnerty pointing the subsequent free, to get his side off the mark.

Two minutes later, Folan played a good pass to Seán Dunne, who kicked an impressive point for Bearna. John Maher replied for Salthill-Knocknacarra with an excellent score, as he showed great footwork in the process.

Ten minutes passed without a score, as both sides struggled to break each other down. Bearna ‘keeper James Keane coming out of his goal and joining the attack on a regular basis provided an entertaining spectacle.

A well worked move from Salthill-Knocknacarra saw Maher, Finnerty, and Cathal Sweeney involved, before Mikey Culhane sent over a point. Bearna re-established their two point lead before half time, when Gormally converted a free after a foul on Cian Hernon.

Pictured: Seán Fitzgerald of Bearna breaking out of defence against Salthill-Knocknacarra’s Evan Nolan during Saturday’s Senior Football Championship encounter at Pearse Stadium.