St Michael’s 1-16
Ardara 2-11
St Michael’s picked up their first win of this year’s Senior Football Championship courtesy of a hard fought two-point victory over Ardara at the Bridge on Sunday.
The home side held an eight-point advantage as we entered the final five minutes in this encounter.
However, six successive points from the visitors left us with a grandstand finish but Cathal Sweeney and Raymond McLaughlin’s men held on to secure the win.
St Michael’s made a flying start to this encounter and almost found the back of the net inside 15 seconds.
Colin McFadden received the ball and drove forward before rifling a shot at goal but Paddy Gallagher produced a fine save to tip it onto the post and over the bar for a point. Ardara soon got off the mark, with Eoghan Ban McNelis seeing the orange flag raised for his superb effort.
However, a pair of quick-fire frees from Daniel McLaughlin had the home side quickly back in front.
Shortly afterwards, Michael Langan got his name on the scoresheet as he shrugged off the challenge of Kian McCabe before firing the ball over the bar from outside the arc to push his side three clear.
On the ten minute mark, St Michael’s had the ball in the back of the net when an attempted free from Langan dropped into the square, where Carlos O’Reilly palmed it home, but it was ruled out for a square ball.
Their advantage was stretched to four points on the quarter hour mark when Carlos O’Reilly created space for himself before curling the ball over the black spot.
The visitors responded well, kicking three successive scores courtesy of Kyle McHugh, Paddy Gallagher (45’) and Eoghan Gallagher to reduce the arrears to the minimum.
On 25 minutes, Clint Walsh’s men hit the front as they landed a big score in the form of a major.
Shane Sweeney spotted the run of Paddy McGrath who fisted passed the ball across the face of goal where Ban McNelis was on-hand to palm it home.
On the 28 minute mark, the Bridge residents hit back as Langan struck over his second two-pointer, this time from a free, to level terms.
As the clock entered red, Daniel McLaughlin fired over a fine effort for the home side to give them the slender advantage at the short whistle.
In the early stages of Act Two, the Pearse Memorial Park residents found the back of the net for the second time.
The ball broke into the St Michael’s box, where John Ross Molloy contested it. It fell in the direction of Eoghan Gallagher, who palmed it home to give his side a two-point lead.
The hosts replied with a well-taken point courtesy of Daniel McLaughlin before landing a goal of their own on the 40 minute mark.
Colin McFadden played a one-two with McLaughlin before firing the ball into the bottom corner of the net to push the Bridge residents two points clear.
Cathal Sweeney and Raymond McLaughlin’s outfit began to grow in confidence and they kicked the game’s next six scores to take control of proceedings.
This fruitful spell was started by a pair of tidy points from Edward O’Reilly before further white flags were found by Martin McElhinney, Langan (45’), Max Roarty and O’Reilly to extend their lead to eight as we entered the final five minutes.
Clint Walsh’s outfit remained spirited and they hit back with two successive two-pointers through Eoghan Gallagher and Eoghan Ban McNelis.
This was closely followed by back-to-back points courtesy of Josh Malley and Shane Sweeney to reduce the arrears to two as we entered stoppage time at the Bridge.
The away side searched for a score that would earn them something from the game in the closing stages but the hosts held on to secure the victory.
Teams
St Michael’s: Oisin Cannon; Seamus Ferry, Kyle McGarvey, Stephen Doak; Max Roarty (0-1), Fionn Chernick, Michael Cannon; Martin McElhinney (0-1), Michael Langan (0-5,1tp,1tpf,0-1 45’); Colin McFadden (1-1), Daniel McLaughlin (0-4,0-1f), Andrew Kelly; Edward O’Reilly (0-3), Michael McGinley, Carlos O’Reilly (0-1). Subs: Oisin Langan for McGarvey (8 mins), Pacikie Spiers for Kelly (54 mins).
Ardara: Paddy Gallagher (0-1,0-1 45’); Shane Mooney, Shane Whyte, Paddy McGrath; Kevin Whyte, Darragh Hannigan, Joe Melly; Eoghan Gallagher (1-3,1tp), John Ross Molloy; Josh Malley (0-1), Kyle McHugh (0-1), Callum Malley; Cian McCabe, Shane Sweeney (0-1), Eoghan Ban McNelis (1-4,1tp). Subs: Danny Walsh for McCabe (47 mins), Jamie Elliott for Whyte (59 mins).
Referee: Anthony McCallig (Naomh Ultan).