Aodh Ruadh and Ardara to meet again

Under 16 Championship
22 June 2009
Ardara 1-09
Aodh Ruadh 0-08

Ardara under 16s lived to fight another day on Monday when they took the spoils against Aodh Ruadh to push their first round clash to a third outing.

Aodh Ruadh travelled to Pearse Memorial Park in confident mood following their previous first leg victory a fortnight ago.

However a blistering first half, spearheaded by Kevin Herron at centre-half forward, meant that the home side exited at the interval in a commanding position; leading by 1-6 to 0-3.

The Ballyshannon boys got off to an encouraging start when they posted twice inside the opening two minutes thanks to Niall Murray and PJ Gillespie.

Kevin Herron halved the difference with a 21m free, before Aodh Ruadh weaved through the home rearguard allowing Murray to register his second of the tie.

That was as good as it got for the Ernesiders for the remainder as Ardara lifted their efforts considerably, hitting 1-5 uninterrupted to effectively seal the deal.

It was Herron that grabbed his side's second score on ten minutes when he droved over a fine effort from the ground from wide on the left.

The centre-half forward's '45' was then pushed onto the bar by the Ballyshannon net-minder; midfielder Brendan McNelis was the first to react before he was grounded.

Referee Ian Molloy showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot, affording Herron the opportunity to take his personal tally to 1-2 for the day.

McNelis (2), Michael Maloney and Gary Sweeney all got their names on the score sheet before half time, meaning the Erne men would need a big team talk to turn this one around.

The home side picked up where they left off following the restart as Herron and Tomás Boyle chipped over to give Ardara a 1-6 to 0-3 advantage.

A full thirty-seven minutes had elapsed before Aodh Ruadh troubled the scoreboard operators for only the forth time in the contest through Marcus Harley. That gave Barry Gallagher's side a much needed lift and they pegged on two more points soon after through Ruairí Drummond.

Brendan McNelis tried hard to rally his side with a fine individual effort but with Drummond starting to get the upper hand around the middle, Ardara were in danger of letting all their good work go to waste.

The visitors proceeded to cut the deficit to just four points when Drummond and substitute James Kelly raised white flags. But time was well and truly against them at this late juncture and Ardara hung on for a deserving victory.

Vital Statistics
Teams
Ardara Aiden Shovlin; Neil Campbell, Nicolas Breslin, Ryan Sweeney; Shaun McGuinness, Patrick White, Michael Maloney (0-1); Brendan McNelis (0-3), Kelvin Slowey; Tómas Boyle (0-1), Kevin Herron (1-3), Paul Gallagher; Aaron Bennett, Gary Sweeney (0-1), Ethan Kelly.
Aodh Ruadh Martin Gallagher; Pauric Story, Conor Patton, Sylvester Maguire; Tomas Patton, Ciaran Keown, Brian Drummond; Marcus Harley (0-1), Ruairi Drummond (0-3); Stephen Clarke, Ronan McGurn, PJ Gillespie (0-1); Charlie Patton, James Barron, Niall Murray (0-2). Subsitutes James Kelly (0-1) for Charlie Patton.
Referee:
Ian Molloy (Naomh Conaill)

Report courtesy of Donegal News. Filed: 26 June 2009