Shamrocks had eighteen players togged-out for competition with Ballymartle despite six regulars being unavailable on the night.
The lads on duty got off to a flying start with two excellent points recorded in the first few minutes. This was as a result of direct and no-nonsence football. Alas. when Ballymartle made their very first excursion into Shamrock’s territory they scored a very soft goal and quickly the gloss was knocked of the fine start.
However Shamrocks responded magnificently and great goals from Ciarán Carragher and Joey Brady lifted the the spirits leading 2-2 to 1-0. For the remainaing twenty minutes of the first half Shamrocks scored just 1pt to Ballymartles 7pts. Ballymartle led 1 – 7 to 2 – 3 at the break.
Shamrocks resumed with an early point and dominated the first ten minutes but poor finishing and cumbersome play put very little on the scoreboard. Ballymartle went on to score another 6pts to Shamrocks 3pts leaving a goal between them at the end. Ballymartle were sharp and competitive and was it not for some poor finishing particularly in the second half the winning margin could have been more.
