'Ard day for Kilmeena as Sarsfields continue rapid rise
Ardnaree's joint-captain Jonathan Doherty with the AbbVie Mayo SFL Division 3 league trophy. Picture: Conor McKeown
A goal in each half would be the difference as Ardnaree Sarsfields held off last year’s intermediate county champions Kilmeena to win the Division 2 league title at a windy Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last Saturday evening.
Kilmeena, who could not call upon their talismanic county midfielder Jack Carney, had the aid of the strong breeze in the first but it was Ardnaree who got off to a lightning quick start. John Timlin saw an early goal attempt tipped over the bar in the opening minute by Paul Groden in what would be a busy evening for the Kilmeena goalkeeper.
Nathan Roddy and Ethan Convey, a free, would open their accounts shortly after and in the 7th minute, a quick one-two between Jason Crean and Jonathan Doherty saw the former finish into the net.
Kilmeena halved the deficit by the end of the first quarter through Luke Durcan, a Paul Gorden ’45 and Colin Hastings. Damien Egan’s men could have been closer after John McGlynn’s ‘garryowen’ landed into the hands of Darragh Keaveney, but Blaine Ginty was quick to deny the Kilmeena corner-forward.
Convey got his first from play on 17 minutes but a blistering four-minute spell would see Kilmeena go in front for the first time. Four points from McGlynn (including a two-point free) and Liam Moore’s own effort from outside the arc put the black and white two ahead on 22 minutes.
That two-point gap would remain at the break as Convey and Moore traded singles. Kilmeena had a chance to open the gap further, but a pair of wild two-point efforts went wide, and Kilmeena’s lead would remain 0-10 to 1-5 at half-time.
Ardnaree had the wind in their sails quite literally for the second half and they made full use of it. Roddy got his second point of the day, followed by Seaghan Duffy and Convey. A brilliant run by Roddy through the heart of the Kilmeena backline set up Timlin for his second goal chance of the game but Groden again stopped him in his tracks.
Convey added his fifth of the game, a free, before Cormac O’Malley stopped the rot for Kilmeena with their first score of the second half on 42 minutes.
However, Ardnaree continued to motor on into the final quarter. Timlin and Charlie Beale extended their lead further with singles and Crean, the goalscorer of the first half, turned provider for Jonathan Doherty on this occasion, and the Ardnaree joint captain thundered his strike past Groden.
Roddy’s third point on 50 minutes meant Ardnaree had outscored Kilmeena 1-7 to 0-1 in the second half and the game looked beyond the west Mayo men. Late resistance from Kilmeena saw a brilliant two-point free off the ground and against the breeze by Darragh Keaveney and a point from Moore, but a pair of late efforts by substitute Cathal Noone saw the league title go the way of Cathal Judge and Liam McHale’s troops.
Kilmeena will now have three weeks to prepare for a home tie against Claremorris in the opening game of the Mayo Senior Club Championship, while Ardnaree, intermediate semi-finalists last year, also have home benefits in their opening game of the championship against Kilmaine.
There was an Ardnaree connection to Limerick’s recapturing of the Liam MacCarthy Cup last Sunday. The Treaty County, who won a sixth All-Ireland senior hurling title in nine years with a comprehensive win against Galway, had among their substitutes Darragh Langan, a grandson of Joe Langan who captained Ardnaree Sarsfields to the 1971 Mayo Junior Football Championship title after which they contested back-to-back county intermediate finals. Darragh’s father Joseph is a past pupil of St Muredach’s College.
Darragh Langan, who plays for the Monaleen club, was part of the University of Limerick team that this year won the Fitzgibbon Cup for a fourth time in five seasons. He captained the Limerick minor hurling team in 2022 and made his first National League appearances earlier this season.
