Ballybay reached the Ulster club senior football championship quarter-finals following a 2-11 to 1-9 victory over Crossmaglen at the Athletic Grounds.
Crossmaglen led 1-5 to 1-4 at half-time before a dominant second-half display saw the Monaghan champions score a five–point victory.
Ballybay started well and opened up a three point gap on five minutes when Shane McGuinness scored a penalty goal.
Cian McConville opened Crossmaglen’s account on eight minutes and the Armagh champions took the lead 60 second later when Rian O’Neill found the net.
McConville stretched Crossmaglen’s lead to three points on 24 minutes before two points from Paul Finlay made it a one-point game at the break.
Ballybay moved three points clear within six minutes of the restart thanks to two points from McGuinness and one from Dessie Ward.
Caolan Finnegan opened Crossmaglen’s second-half account two minutes later but his side would fail to score for another 15 minutes.
Ballybay amassed 1-3 during that period; the goal coming from Aaron Toner who finished to the net following a wonderful move.
Suddenly, Ballybay were eight points clear 16 minutes from time and while Crossmaglen responded with three unanswered points, the Armagh champions still fell short in the end.
Next up for Jerome Johnston’s men is an Ulster quarter-final clash with reigning All-Ireland champions Kilcoo on Sunday, 13th November.
