It would be grossly unfair to both sides in this game at Ballinasloe to berate them for the game's lack of quality - the day was not designed for fancy football.

Indeed both sides provided a crowd of some 6,000 people with a quite fascinating match, for all its faults.

The pitch was in superb condition, but the wind and rain saw to it that the players were frustrated in their attempts to play good football. The result was that the second half was something of a shambles.

Both sides lost whatever shape they had struggled for in the first half and by and large the match became something of a lottery as errors crept in all over the place, particularly in a grossly-overcrowded midfield.

In a low-scoring match, it may be of some interest to note that as many as five scoring attempts came back off the woodwork. The most significant of these was in the 13th minute of the second half, when a free kick from Ger Brady bounced back into play off the crossbar.

A goal at that stage would surely have sealed the issue.

Yet it was not until the last minute of the match that Doonbeg had to surrender, when David Brady scored the point from play which left the Clare side trailing by four points. The possibility of an equalising goal had been snatched out of the grasp of the Clare men.

One can only marvel at the standard of fitness of both teams. As they set about their various tasks nobody spared himself, and to everyone's credit, including the referee John Bannon, little happened which could be regarded as unsporting.

Fierce tackles came in from all angles as the sides struggled for supremacy; but nobody could detect anything that might be regarded as vicious, and that is a tribute to both sides.

There was considerable surprise when Ballina, having won the toss, decided to play against a strong wind in the first half. Their gamble paid off when they managed to be ahead by 0-5 points to 0-3 at halftime.

The most influential player on the pitch was Ballina's Liam McHale. With quite admirable support from his full back, James Devinney, centre half back Brian Heffernan, wing back Shane Sweeney and attacker Brian McStay, Ballina always had the upper hand.

Frank McInerney and Senan Hehir tried manfully to match McHale David Brady at midfield, and they were given consistent support by Ciaran Nugent on the left flank of the Clare attack; but not to any great effect.

In the Ballina attack, Paul McGarry and Keith Lynn contrived to put considerable pressure on the Doonbeg defence. With the wind in their backs and with a margin of two points in their favour for the second half, Ballina showed they were in control. Both sides missed several good chances as the rain and wind swept towards the Doonbeg goal; and as the Clare side seemed to scorn opportunities of points from play in pursuit of the goal which would have given them a draw.

Every one of their efforts was frustrated by Ballina, and when the westerners eventually prevailed it had to be said that the better side had won.

BALLINA STEPHENITES: J Healy; D Leydon, J Devinney, K Golden; B Ruane, B Heffernan, S Sweeney (0-1); L McHale, D Brady (0-1); B McStay (0-1, free), D Coen (0-1), M McGrath (0- 1); G Brady, P McGarry (0-2), K Lynn (0-1). Sub: C Deacy for Coen (57 mins).

DOONBEG: N Dillon; D Griffin, K O'Mahoney, C Whelan; D Conway, K Burns, P Gallagher (0-1); F McInerney, S Hehir; P Smith, P Conway, K Nugent; P Hehir (0-2, frees), B Shanahan, G Killeen. Sub: D Lynch for D Griffin (half-time).

Referee: J Bannon (Longford).