Louth's two best sides play out entertaining stalemate in Senior Decider

Anchor Tours Senior Football Final

Ardee St Marys 1-12 Newtown Blues 1-12

It was wet, it was windy and far from an ideal afternoon for football. But despite the conditions, the county’s two most in-form sides produced a cracking Senior Decider at the home of Clan na Gael, where in reality no team deserved to lose.

Both had great purple patches, both had periods they'd wish to forget, and the duo will feel they had plenty of chances to eke out the victory. Yet the end result is we get to do it all again this Sunday at the same venue (Throw in 2PM).

Ardee started as well as humanly possible as they went in search of a first Joe Ward success since 1995, a Daire McConnon goal helping them build an early nine-point lead after just five minutes.

But instead of backing off, the wily Blues bounced back in style. Backed by a lovely three pointer of their own from John Kermode, remarkably they outscored their opponents 1-8 to 0-2 from that point up to half time to somehow lead by two at the break, having used the breeze perfectly.

Conditions didn’t improve as the second half commenced, with neither side able to build up more then a two-point lead. They were level on four occasions, both teams having their time ahead.

A late brace put the Drogheda men in front only for McConnon to grab a deserved equaliser on 62 minutes to quite simply dubious scenes in the packed stands. A replay the final result. And a Fair one. Let’s hope both teams settle in the score in what is sure to be better conditions this weekend.

But it must be noted that Cathal Murray’s troops could have taken the spoils. Shane Matthews and Liam Jackson both came close to grabbing a goal during another Ardee's purple patch early in the second half.

And late on there was a chance for a gimme winner for Dean Matthews if he could have gotten both hands onto the ball and not just one. That would have earned a simple mark, which at this stage may have gotten them over the line. Those are the fine margins.  Tune in next week to see if more arise.

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Back to the start of this cracking tie now and despite playing against a stiff breeze, it was St Marys that came of the blocks fast, amazingly bagging 1-3 in the opening five minutes of action.

Given the wind, they were forced to move the ball out from the back, but it was their ability to get through the phases at a lightening pace that meant time and time again they were cutting the Blues open. A series of short passes in the Blues half creating chance after chance.

Points from Tom Jackson and Carl Gillespie opened up an early lead, before a goal on three minutes created significant daylight. A long-ranged ball from Jonathon Commins fell short of the posts and into the hands of Daire McConnon. He duly turned his man and blasted home.

A lot of this dominance came via winning possession around the middle, however despite another point coming the way of McConnon, once the Blues got the hang of things in this sector of the field, the tide changed quickly.

In just as quick a fashion as Ardee, the Drogheda men notched 1-3 of their own, the crucial goal coming on nine minutes. Emmet Carolan launched one into the square for the awaiting John Kermode, who fired it home impressively.

Backed by points from Colm Judge (2) and Chris Reid, Des Lane’s troops had regained clarity after just 10 minutes of action.

As conditions worsened the scores dried up, four misses in front of the posts stopping the Blues from taking the lead.

With the backing of the wind, they favoured a more direct approach to play, utilising the fielding of the in-form duo of Andy McDonnell and Chris Reid to create plenty of chances for their potent attack.

Yet despite their dominance, it was the men in their Red away colours that again took the lead via a brace of scores from Tom Jackson and Cian Moran. From here though, the 2019 champions upped the gear and finished the half with five in a row.

The Blues have rarely found their best form early in contests, tending to peak later. But this wasn’t the case on Sunday. Maintaining dominance around midfield, a fast and long diagonal ball was cutting the Marys open time and time again.

Then from Ardee kickouts, they tended to win the breaking balls and recycle it back into scorable positions. It helped Ciaran Downey grab three nice scores from play, teed up veteran Andy McDonnell, who was impressing in a performance that saw him pop up all over the field, while another from Fergal Donohue created a 1-8 to 1-5 lead at the break.

Now playing with an ever-growing breeze, Murray’s troops still opted to continue with their high-octane tactics, moving the ball at speed and through the hands as fast as they could. All while throwing in the odd long ball to keep the Blues guessing.

They quickly levelled proceedings, via a lovely score in the corner from Tom Jackson and a 45 from Johnathon Commins. But what ended up proving costly was two missed goal chances on 34 and 39 minutes respectively.

Shane Mattews was the man tasked with finishing off a lovely team move, only to be denied by a point blank save from Johnny McDonnell, while soon after it was the evergreen McDonnell that got back near his own goal to grab a crucial block to deny Liam Jackson from close range.

While unable to find the net for a second time, they did make their time on top count, as another two scores from Liam Jackson and Carl Gilespie put St Mary’s two up, all while keeping their opponents scoreless in the third quarter. A missed free from Colm Judge their only real attack.

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Throughout this piece it has been mentioned how crucial the midfield battle was on this final, particularly after kickouts. While struggling for long periods now playing against the breeze, Lane’s side soon got their act together, helped by gaining any ball that spilled free in the centre.

A lovely angled solo run from Downey saw him end his side's barren run on 46 minutes. From the resulting kickout, they turned Ardee over, allowing Jamie Kelly to get in on the scoring act following a solo run of his own to leave the teams level once again.

Unfortunately for them, they just could not bag enough scores when dominating, despite creating plenty of chances, as more misses followed from Donohue, Reid and Kelly. Like the missed goal opportunities for St Marys, these wides, in both halves while on top, proved costly.

Substitute Ronan Carroll showed some sublime fielding late on to get Ardee back in front, but it was quickly cancelled out by a free from Downey.

Following the kickout there was a scrum for possession, won by the Blues, a diagonal ball from Kelly then teeing up Robert Carr on 60 minutes to go one up entering additional time.

Ardee would regain the ball around the middle following a highly contested kickout and it was Karl Faulkner that ended up spotting McConnon in space. Having launched it into the unmarked forward, McConnon pumped the ball over the bar to level the match for the sixth and final time.

Four minutes of additional time were added by referee Ultan McElroy, but no winner came. But to any neutrals present, this was the perfect result. They get to see these two sides lock horns once again.

Who knows what sort of titanic tussle we might be in for. In the pouring rain and breezy conditions, the sides put on a classic. A dry and calm day at the same venue may just led to an even better clash.   

Ardee St. Mary's: James McGillick; Conor Keenan, Donal McKenny, Paraic McKenny; Kian Moran (0-1), Karl Faulkner, Carl Gillespie (0-2 frees); RJ Callaghan, Liam Jackson (0-1); Jonathan Commins (0-1 45), Shane Matthews (0-1), Tom Jackson (0-3); Ciarán Keenan, Daire McConnon (1-2), Ryan Rooney. Subs: Ronan Carroll (0-1 mark) for Rooney (HT), Robert Leavy for Callaghan (42), Dean Matthews for Commins (50), Conor Gillespie for S Matthews (54), Darren Clarke for T Jackson (58).

Newtown Blues: Johnny McDonnell; Conor Ayson, Ciaran Cluskey Kelly, Emmet Carolan; Alan Connor (0-1), Johnny Connolly, Fergal Donohoe (0-1); Chris Reid, Andy McDonnell (0-1); Daire Nally, Colm Judge (0-1), Ciarán Downey (0-5, 0-1 free); Jamie Kelly (0-1), John Kermode (1-0), Rob Carr (0-2). Subs: Conor Moore for Ayson (40), Conor Branagan for Kermode (47), Ian Connor for Reid (57), Declan McNamara for Kelly (60).

REFEREE: Ultan McElroy (Kilkerley Emmets)