Second half resurgence sees Ardee vanquish county champions

Anchor Tours Senior Football Championship Semi Final

Naomh Mairtin 0-10 Ardee St Mary’s 0-11

Ardee St Mary’s might not now know how they reached the Louth senior final, but Dáire McConnon’s last gasp effort was enough to see them eke out an unlikely victory over champions Naomh Mairtin at a packed Darver on Sunday afternoon.

The game took a life of its own in additional time with referee Fr Derek Ryan playing a reported nine and a half minutes due only one can surmise to the lengthy stoppage for Ardee midfielder Eimhin Keenan to leave the field and eight second half substitutions.

Both sides had chances in that time frame to win the game but Ardee with a lead to chase remained focused, while the exhausted champions run of four successive final appearances in succession finally caught up with them.

The holders began to unravel well before additional time when Conor Morgan was shown a red card for shoving Carl Gillespie. That was a huge turning point in the game as Ardee were in the midst of their seven-point unanswered scoring run in the second half.

The numerical disadvantage added more weariness to the champions as they tried to cling on to a 0-10 to 0-4 lead at that juncture. After all, they were much the better side after a half of their finest methodical work.

Led by Sam Mulroy and Conor Whelan, the Monasterboice men choked the game at one end and the duo lapped up the space provided down the other end to pick off Ardee on the counter, grabbing seven scores between them. Those points helped build a 0-9 to 0-2 half time lead. 

Whelan was majestic in his crafty finishing. And his point at the beginning of the second period would’ve had the Jocks supporters thinking of a fifth final. But as it transpired that would be their sole point of the entire second half.

In the final ten minutes of normal time replacement Ronan Carroll began the long march to victory with the first point of the match winning run. With Conor Morgan gone, John Clutterbuck would soon join him for a second yellow.

The champions were just clinging on but there was enough scoring power and importantly time for Ardee to land the knockout blow to do so. With the game opened up, McConnon took full advantage to land two points in that period and most dramatically, the winner.

NAOMH MÁIRTÍN: Craig Lynch; Mark Whelan, Thomas Sullivan, Eoghan Callaghan, Jack Murphy (0-1), Seán Healy, Conor Morgan; Wayne Campbell, John Clutterbuck (0-1); Bryan McQuillan, Val Leddy, Conor Healy; Conor Whelan (0-4, 0-1 mark), Sam Mulroy (0-4, 0-1 mark), Evan Whelan. Subs: Tom Gray for McQuillan (40), Shane Morgan for Leddy (53), Mick Fanning for Murphy (58), Dara McDonnell for Campbell (63), Gavan Mooney for E Whelan (60).

ARDEE ST MARY’S: James McGillick; Conor Keenan, Karl Faulkner, Donal McKenny; Kian Moran (0-1), Liam Jackson (0-1), Carl Gillespie (0-2 frees); RJ Callaghan, Eimhin Keenan; Conor Gillespie, Ryan Rooney, Dáire McConnon (0-2); Tom Jackson (0-2); Ciarán Keenan, Shane Matthews. Subs: Ronan Carroll (0-1) for S Matthews (HT), Jonathan Commins (0-1 free) for Conor Gillespie (HT), Robbie Leavy for E Keenan (34), Dean Matthews (0-1) for Rooney (49), Evan Malone for Callaghan (54).

REF: Fr Derek Ryan (Sean O’Mahony’s).