Ardnaree heroes walk in 'fields of gold

Homeland Minor ‘D’ Football Championship – Final 

Ardnaree Sarsfields 2-14 

Belmullet 4-03 

Maggie Chambers at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park 

Not even the yellow wind warning could stop the green and gold of Ardnaree Sarsfields from securing the minor ‘D’ championship title last Wednesday evening. PJ Sweeney’s side put in a superb performance in both periods of the game, using the wind to their advantage when it was at their backs, and defending well and taking their scores when the opportunity arose when playing into it. Belmullet will have gone home disappointed but will learn from the defeat, with seven of their players still of the under-16 grade.

With only eight minutes on the clock, Ardnaree had opened up a four point to no score lead whereas the Belmullet attack was having to be patient in their attempt to deal with the conditions, and most of their first-half football was played through the hands.

The Erris side’s first score arrived in the 11th minute, when Fionn O’Donoghue raised the green flag. O’Donoghue showcased some excellent skill to break through the Ardnaree defence before slotting the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal. But Belmullet were unable to use this goal as a springboard and Ardnaree responded with two points through Cathal Finan and Jack Doherty, to lead by three.

Belmullet continued with their patient attacks but were becoming frustrated at the number of turnovers Ardnaree were winning inside their half. However, with 19 minutes played, Belmullet found a second goal through Paddy Dixon. The game was now level, but not for long, as it was only two minutes later when Ardnaree responded with a three pointer of their own. A Cory Lavery shot was excellently saved by Leo Reuland but Lavery was alert to the rebound and rattled the back of the net soccer-style.

Both teams were playing some good football but the difficult conditions meant that constructing a promising attack in the final third was particularly difficult. That was until the 29th minute, when James Fox stepped forward for Ardnaree to fire the ball into the back of the net for what was the fourth goal of the half. This goal left eight points between the sides but once again, Belmullet found a response. One minute later, the excellent Fionn O’Donoghue had a shot saved by Ardnaree goalkeeper Conor Bohan, however, Jack Lynch was quick to tap the rebound into the back of the net.

The half-time whistle quickly sounded, the scoreboard reading 2-8 to 3-0, in favour of Ardnaree, and with the wind at the back of the Belmullet men in the second-half, there was a sense that this game was far from over. However, it was Ardnaree who had the better second period.

Belmullet kicked three wides in the opening five minutes, as they began to attempt some long-range efforts.

The teams kicked two points each before Ardnaree extended their lead through a free from Nathan Roddy. Roddy was accurate from placed balls all evening, having played in goal for the Mayo minors earlier in the year.

With 43 minutes on the clock, Belmullet gave themselves a lifeline when Paddy Dixon found the back of the net for the second time, thus reducing the deficit to two points. Michael Togher’s side followed this up with a point, but that was their last score of the game.

Ardnaree remained calm and continued to tick over, shooting three further points to secure the victory and begin great celebrations for the team in green and gold.

Scorers – Ardnaree; Cory Lavery 1-2, James Fox 1-1, Nathan Roddy 0-4 (3f), Jack Doherty 0-3 (1f), Dylan Sweeney 0-2, Cathal Finan and Luke Lavelle 0-1 each Belmullet; Paddy Dixon 2-0, Fionn O'Donoghue 1-2, Jack Lynch 1-1.

Ardnaree Sarsfields: Conor Bohan; Michael Sweeney, Fiachra Mahony; Cathal Finan, Cathair Tighe, Mikey Sheridan; Dylan Sweeney, Alex Healy; Luke Lavelle, Nathan Roddy, Jack Doherty; James Fox, Cory Lavery. Subs: Kenzie McKee (for Lavelle ht), Michael Finan (for Doherty 59).

Belmullet: Leo Reuland; Jack Gaughan, James Ivers; Paddy Dixon, Coilin O’Donnell, Jamie Reilly; Tadhg Quinn, James Lavelle; Oisin Reilly, Jack Lynch, Kyle Hefferon; Hugh Ruane, Fionn O’Donoghue. Subs: John Howard (for Hefferon ht), Mikey Maughan (for O Reilly 52), Sé Sullivan (for Quinn 57).

REF: Garyowen McMahon (Davitts)