Rampant Aodh Ruadh destroy Ardara
RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta senior football championship
Premliminary round, first leg.
29 April 2007
Aodh Ruadh 1-15
Ardara 0-7
Sean Perry reports from Father Tierney Park
A five star performance from Aodh Ruadh saw them overcome Ardara with 11 points to spare in Fr Tierney Park on Sunday afternoon.
In addition to the drubbing, the visitors lost key men, Damian Diver and Stephen Gildea to injury in the first half. The Diver injury was particularly sickening, the inspirational wingback fell awkwardly breaking two bones in his leg in the first minute.
Diver spent Sunday night in Sligo General Hospital. The shopowner typically chose to seek a silver lining afterwards, he recalled the last time he suffered a broken bone was in Gweedore in 1992, Donegal went on to lift a first ever Sam Maguire.
A Niall McCready goal on 24 minutes was the kick-start Aodh Ruadh needed, the former inter-county defender was deployed at left half-forward to great effect. Seamus Kane was immense for the victors, his strong runs and quality finishing saw him point twice in the opening period to put the Ballyshannon club into a 1-5 v 0-6 lead having played against the breeze.
Deprived of Gildea's scoring power, Ardara notched up a solitary point in the second half as Aodh Ruadh piled on the misery for the champions of 2004. Captain Michael Ward came into the game forcefully at full-forward, Peter Gallagher's men could even afford the luxury of withdrawing the hard working Brian Roper for the final quarter although the league final man-of-the-match did aggravate his hamstring.
There was even a cameo performance from assistant manager, John Duffy in the dying moments as Aodh Ruadh head to Ardara for the return leg in 10 days, halfway to clearing the first hurdle for the first time in three years.
Afterwards, Seamus Kane put the victory in perspective. "We've been working hard on the training field since January. The club badly needed this victory but we've won absolutely nothing yet, Ardara in Ardara will be a very different animal," he said.
| Vital Statistics |
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| Teams |
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Aodh Ruadh David Greene; Darren Drummond, Eamon O'Donnell, Philip O'Reilly (0-1); Thomas McPhelim, Patrick McGrath, Ciron Whoriskey; Barry Ward (0-1), Conor Gurn; Brian Roper (0-1), Seamus Kane (0-3), Niall McCready (1-0); Garret Blake (0-3, 1 free), Michael Ward (capt, 0-3), Barry Mulligan (0-2, 2 frees). Substitutions Pauric Buggy (0-1) for Roper, Michael Gurn for McPhelim, Donagh McIntyre for Mulligan, Kerry Ryan for O'Reilly, John Duffy for M Ward. |
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Ardara Conor Curran; Seamus Byrne, Declan Gallagher, Thomas Maguire; Damian Diver, Kevin Byrne, Eamon Doherty; Kenneth Doherty (capt), Francis Diver; Michael Doherty, Peter McHugh (0-1), Aodh Brennan (0-1); Stephen Gildea (0-3), Stephen McHugh (0-2), Gareth Concarr. Substitutions Paddy Gallagher for Diver, Ciaran Breslin for Gildea; D Gavigan for Aodh Brennan |
| Referee |
| Jimmy White (Killybegs) |
Report Filed: 29 August 2007