Ardee St. Mary's book their place in Leinster Club SFC final

Ardee St. Mary’s booked their place in the AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship final with a dramatic one-point victory over St. Loman’s at Lakepoint Park, Mullingar on Saturday afternoon.

The Louth champions dug deep and put in a brave performance to claim a historic win and set up a clash against Dublin's Cuala at Croke Park on Saturday.

A big crowd from both sides created a lively atmosphere in Westmeath and the action on the pitch didn’t disappoint the spectators.

It has been 22 years since a club from the Wee County last reached the Leinster final and St. Mary’s played with the confidence of a team determined to rectify that.

Cathal Murray’s Ardee side took an early lead through a superb long-range point from Louth All-Star nominee Donal McKenny. 

St. Loman’s quickly found their rhythm and responded with four unanswered points including a brace from T.J. Cox.

St. Mary’s struggled to break down the Mullingar men's defence early on but stayed in touching distance with scores from Shane Matthews and Tiernan Markey.

St. Loman’s held a narrow 0-6 to 0-5 lead at halftime and looked the sharper of the two teams in the first half, but the game was far from over and Ardee had the benefit of the breeze in the second half.

St. Mary’s quickly levelled the game after the restart thanks to Ciarán Keenan who produced a masterclass all afternoon.

A brilliant mark and point again from the sharpshooter Keenan moments later gave Ardee the lead for the first time in proceedings since the opening minutes.

Both sides traded scores throughout the second half with T.J. Cox and San McCartan on target for St. Loman’s and Dáire McConnon and Tom Jackson keeping Ardee in the mix.

Referee Barry Tiernan was questionable with a couple of contentious decisions midway through the second half. 

A harsh black card for Ardee’s Jonathan Commins was followed by a penalty appeal on Ciarán Keenan with a free being given instead and no card of any sort issued

The teams were level at 0-14 apiece in injury time to make for a dramatic finale before midfielder Seán Callaghan stepped up with a brilliant point to edge St. Mary’s ahead in the 63rd minute.

St. Loman’s had one last chance to force extra time but San McCartan’s free from distance came to nothing as the full-time whistle sounded in a game that had no shortage of drama.

St. Loman’s will feel they left opportunities behind but there can be no doubt that St. Mary’s earned their victory. 

Ciarán Keenan's performance in particular was crucial for the winners as he led by example through creating chances and taking scores. 

T.J. Cox and San McCartan were impressive for St. Loman’s but their efforts weren’t enough to prevent the Westmeath champions from defeat.

St. Mary’s now looks forward to a historic Leinster final in Croke Park next Saturday – can they go all the way and become champions of Leinster for the first time in their history?

St. Loman’s: Jason Daly; David Whelan, Darragh O’Keeffe, Oisin Hogan; Kelvin Reilly (0-1), Eoghan Hogan (0-1), San McCartan (0-3); Jack Geoghegan (0-1), Fola Ayorinde, Rory Sheahan, Ronan O’Toole (0-1), Seán Flanagan; Danny McCartan (0-1), John Heslin (c) (0-1, 1f), T.J. Cox (0-4, 1 mark).

Subs: Enda Gaffney on for Oisin Hogan (35’), Kevin Reagan (0-1) on for Rory Sheahan (39’), Peter Foy on for TJ Cox (47’), Shane Dempsey on for Fola Ayorinde (56’).

St. Mary’s: Tiernan Markey (0-1, 1f); Tadhg McDonnell, Karl Faulkner, Éimhín Keenan (0-1); Jonathan Commins (0-1), Donal McKenny (0-1), Páraic McKenny; R.J. Callaghan, Seán Callaghan (0-1); Ciarán Keenan (0-4, 1 free, 1 mark), Liam Jackson (c), Kian Moran (0-1); Shane Matthews (0-1), Dáire McConnon (0-1), Tom Jackson (0-2).

Subs: Rónán Carroll (0-1, 1f) on for Shane Matthews (39’), Robert Leavy on for R.J. Callaghan (56’), Adam Gillespie on for Dáire McConnon (61’).

Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).