Nov 04,2024
Ardee St Mary's (Louth) 3-14 Abbeylara (Longford) 2-08
Louth county champions Ardee St Mary's advanced to the quarter-final of the Leinster club SFC as they saw off Longford winners Abbeylara on Sunday afternoon.
The Mary's left plenty to spare at the finish, but it was far from vintage stuff from Cathal Murray's side, with the concession of two first-half goals leaving the sides level at the break.
Credit should go to Abbeylara however, as they made life difficult for the home side early, with players behind the ball, and double marking the dangerous St Marys’ forwards, including county star Ciaran Keenan.
The Longford champions also brought a strong cohort of supporters, who made themselves heard throughout proceedings.
The visitors, who are managed by former Roscommon star Frankie Dolan, opened the scoring after the first minute through a fine score from Jason Kelly, before Ciaran Scanlon converted a close-range free to give them a 0-02 to 0-00 lead after eight minutes.
The Mary's eventually opened their account through Shane Matthews from play.
Abbeylara’s scorer in chief Robert Smyth traded efforts with Ardee’s Carl Gillespie to leave the sides level at 0-03 each by the end of the first quarter.
Kian Moran put the Mary's ahead, before a fine move saw Liam Jackson dance his way through the Abbeylara defence to fire to the net to give the Mary's a 1-04 to 0-03 lead after 20 minutes.
However, Abbeylara soon responded to stun the home support when Cathal Gilligan parried a deflected Robert Smyth shot to the net seconds after Jackson’s major.
Kian Moran and Carl Gillespie (f) soon gave Ardee a three-point lead.
The Deesiders were guilty of conceding some cheap frees and some unforced errors in possession. They were punished just before the break when a free from Abbeylara’s Ciaran Scanlon found its way to the net to leave the sides deadlocked at the break at 1-06 to 2-03.
Abbeylara were dealt a huge blow when they lost Cathal Gilligan to a black card, and Jason Kelly to a straight red card in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
It really ended their hopes of causing an upset, as the Mary's took over, winning five out of 13 on Abbeylara’s kickout in that period.
Ardee St Mary's punished them emphatically, with Tom Jackson and Karl Faulkner grabbing the goals, while Kian Moran and Carl Gillespie tagged on further scores.
Tom Jackson was particularly influential, with 25 possessions over the hour, with Ciaran Keenan (24) finding more space.
Abbeylara’s Robert Smyth did keep Ardee honest with some excellent scores, but the Mary's pushed for home, with sub Ronan Carroll and Tom Jackson adding late scores as they marched into the quarters.
Ardee St Mary's: T Markey; T McDonnell, K Faulkner (1-0), E Keenan; J Commins, D McKenny, C Gillespie (0-3) (3f); RJ Callaghan, P McKenny; C Keenan, L Jackson (1-1), K Moran (0-4), S Matthews, D McConnon, T Jackson (1-1).
Subs: R Carroll (0-2) for Rooney (39), S Callaghan for Matthews (45), C Gillespie for Commins (51), T Corrigan for E Keenan (54), E Malone for Moran (55)
Abbeylara: G Kelly; M McHugh, PJ Masterson, S Mahon; C Brady, B Masterson, C.P Smyth; F Battrim, C Scanlon (1-1) (1f); P. Berry, J Kelly (0-1), C. Lynch; R Smyth (0-5) (3f), C. Gilligan (1-0), C Gilna.
Subs: N Rabitte for Berry (48), R Reilly (0-1) for Padraig Berry (41), Connor Berry (0-1) for Gilligan (51), M Brady for S Mahon (58).
Referee: B Cawley (Co Kildare).
