Carey’s class the difference as Ardagh are pushed all the way
Teenager Tony Carey was in electric form for Ardagh who escaped Ballycroy with a one point win on Sunday.
James Carr may be making all the headlines lately as the club’s first All-Ireland winner, but it was the performance of Tony Carey that stole the show last Sunday afternoon.
The former Mayo minor struck all but five points of his side’s tally, with his eight points in the first-half giving Ardagh enough of a cushion to hold off a valiant comeback by Ballycroy in a game that was played in miserable conditions.
Indeed, Carey reeled off the first six scores of this contest inside the opening minutes of the game, with Ballycroy struggling to make inroads inside the Ardagh half. Carey’s opening two scores were frees, the next saw James Carr hold off two challenges before teeing up Carey for a single off the right boot, and his fourth point was a sweetly struck effort of the left.
However, Ardagh would go scoreless for the next 14 minutes as Ballycroy began to get a grip on proceedings. Rory Conway opened their account before Michael Conway left three between them with the first two-pointer of the game.
Carey’s St Tiernan College schoolmate Tom Varkonda stopped the rot for Ardagh on 23 minutes, and they would hit the next four scores through Carey (two, one free) and James Carr.
Rory Conway got the final point of the half for Ballycroy but the home side had much work to do in the second-half, trailing 0-11 to 0-4, but they would have a man advantage for the first 10 minutes of the second-half after Sean Moore was black carded for an incident shortly after the half-time whistle.
By the end of the third quarter, the gap was to cut to a single point, while Ardagh failed to register a score in that period. Rory Conway converted his third point via a free on 35 minutes and on the restart, Gary Kenny’s kickout was caught by Brendan Conway. His defence-splitting pass picked out Rory Conway and he coolly finished into the bottom corner.
In that period, Ardagh saw frees by Carr and Carey both drop short, while Ger Haran and Carey saw good opportunities go to waste. They were fortunate not to be punished further when Rory Conway was picked out again, this time by Michael McManamon, but with the goal at his mercy he struck his effort over the bar.
He followed it up with another point to leave a point between the teams before Ruairi O’Boyle got a much-needed score for Ardagh on 46 minutes.
Ballycroy were dealt a blow a minute late when Kevin Ginty was shown a black card, and Ardagh appeared to put the game beyond doubt when Paddy Walsh picked out Carey, who rifled the ball into the net.
A Paddy Walsh single made it a six-point game, but Ballycroy got a lifeline when John Conway picked out Stephen Grealis and he netted his side’s second major.
The game was stop-start from here, and Carey was denied a second goal thanks to a fine save by Jack Deane. As the seconds ticked away, Brendan Conway had a long range free to float into the danger area to salvage a draw, but his strike was tipped over for a two-pointer. Referee Paddy Chambers blew up proceedings on the restart as Ardagh could breathe a sigh of relief, and Ballycroy were left to rue what might have been.
Scorers – Ardagh: Tony Carey 1-0-8 (4f), James Carr 0-0-2, Tom Varkonda, Ruairi O’Boyle and Paddy Walsh 0-0-1 each.
Ballycroy: Rory Conway 1-0-5 (3f), Stephen Grealis 1-0-0, Michael Conway and Rory Conway 0-1-0 each.
Ballycroy: Jack Deane; Bryan Grealis, Michéal Grealis, Jason Calvey; Cillian Conway, John Conway, Michael McManamon; Shane Ginty, Brendan Conway; Michéal Cormack, Rory Conwya, Michael Conway; Dermot Ginty, Luke McManamon, Kevin Ginty. Subs: Colin Grealis (for Calvey 10-16 blood), Stephen Grealis (for Cormack ht), C Grealis (for C Conway 33), Ronan Grealis (for M McManamon 55-inj), Dylan McManamon (for J Conway 60+1-inj).
Ardagh: Gary Kenny; Declan O’Boyle, Joe Carr, Dionn Barrett; Ruairi O’Boyle, Adam Foody, Tom Varkonda; Sean Moore, Brendan Carr; Donal O’Boyle, Tony Carey, Stephen Rochford; Gerard Haran, James Carr, Paddy Walsh. Adam Naughton (for Moore 11-13 temp), A Naughton (for R O’Boyle 30-ht temp), A Naughton (for Moore 40), Oisin McAndrew and Luke Gilmartin (for Barrett and Haran 59).
REF: Paddy Chambers (Burrishoole)
