Ardagh blow Gaels off course to earn home draw
Selector Declan Kelly, left, and manager Sean Carey saw their Ardagh side confirm home advantage for the junior championship quarter-finals.
Ardagh issued their firmest statement yet that they are serious contenders in the race for the McDonnell Cup, when they swept aside the challenge of nearby Northern Gaels last Saturday evening.
Gaels were entering on the back of an eleven points victory against Killala but whatever momentum they had hoped to carry into this game was stunted by Ardagh having a goal and point on the board inside 52 seconds of the throw-in. By the fifth minute the home side were already eight points ahead and by the 23rd, Northern Gaels had only one score to their name.
The prize on offer to the winners was that of quarter-final home advantage as group winners, but with the excellent Tony Carey and Lee Traynor scoring nine points apiece, at no stage did Ardagh look in danger of dropping their first points of the group campaign.
All-Ireland winner James Carr had the ball in the back of Gaels’ net 18 seconds after throw-in, fielding Tony Carey’s diagonal delivery and holding off full-back Conor McHale before smashing the ball past goalkeeper Daire Devine. When Devine’s kickout was claimed by Ardagh hands, another route one ball into full-forward Carr resulted in a foul by McHale, which Carey popped over. All before the first minute had elapsed.
Carey and Carr hit points from play before back to back scores by Lee Traynor, the first a two-point free, the other a ’45. Traynor’s off the ground kicking was a sight to behold and by full-time the corner-forward had mined six points from placed balls.
The Northern Gaels attack lacks no shortage of ability – scoring 5-12 against Killala seven days earlier demonstrated that, so too when Ruairí McDonnell rose between defender and goalkeeper to flick Craig McCormick’s floated delivery into the Ardagh net on 15 minutes – but on the whole, the visitors struggled up front because of a lack of supply.
McDonnell’s goal was negated by further points from Carey and Carr, either side of one by Paddy Walsh, to leave Ardagh 1-9 to 1-0 in front after 21 minutes.
Mark Munnelly, a free, and Tommy Clarke, a two-pointer, and James Forde, a ’45, did raise three flags in quick succession to reduce their side’s arrears to five points and hint at a potential comeback, but half-time probably came at the wrong time, even if it was Ardagh’s Tony Carey who had the final say of the half with his third point from play.
With Brendan Carr on card trouble and sent to the full-forward line on a sabbatical, his brother James Carr had ended the first-half, and spent all the second, out at midfield, where he was just as influential. Besides, Ardagh had more than enough artillery to call upon. Tony Carey had added three more points within 10 minutes of the restart and allied with one apiece by Stephen Rochford and Lee Traynor, that saw the home side into a 1-15 to 1-4 lead before a superbly struck kick from outside the arc by Mark Munnelly landed Gaels two more points.
Traynor and Munnelly traded singles from play but a nine points gap was to extend significantly by full-time, as another four points by Traynor, including three exquisite placed balls, was augmented by two points from Tony Carey and one by Fionn Barrett, to round off the most comfortable of wins for Sean Carey’s side.
On Sunday evening Ardagh were drawn to host Kilmovee Shamrocks in the Mayo JFC quarters-finals while Northern Gaels will visit Shrule-Glencorrib.
Scorers – Ardagh: Lee Traynor 0-2-5 (2tpf, 2 ‘45s), Tony Carey 0-0-9 (2f), James Carr 1-0-2, Paddy Walsh, Stephen Rochford and Fionn Barrett 0-0-1 each.
Northern Gaels: Mark Munnelly 0-1-2 (1f), Ruairí McDonnell 1-0-0, Tommy Clarke 0-1-0, James Forde 0-0-1 (’45).
Ardagh: Luke Langan; Dean Martyn, Joe Carr, Fionn Barrett; Adam Naughton, Adam Foody, Tom Varkonda; Sean Moore, Brendan Carr; Dylan Murphy, Tony Carey, Stephen Rochford; Lee Traynor, James Carr, Paddy Walsh. Subs: John Cafferty and Dillon Sheridan (for Varkonda and Joe Carr 56), Martin Carr and Diarmuid Barrett (for B Carr and Naughton 59), Liam Pritchett (for Martyn 60+1).
Northern Gaels: Daire Devine; Fergal McHale, Conor McHale, Shane Loughney; Mark McDonnell, Daniel Coleman, Kieran Loughney; Owen Loughney, Craig McCormick; James Forde, Tommy Clarke, Daniel Walsh; Ruairí McDonnell, Cathal Boland, Mark Munnelly. Subs: John McLoughlin (for Walsh ht), Liam Ruddy (for F McHale 32-41, blood), Ruddy and Sean McKeon (for M McDonnell and C McHale 52), Sean Williams, JP Walsh (for Forde 60+1).
REF: Enda Nolan (Balla)
