Ardfinnan far too slick for Moycarkey/Borris

FBD Insurance Senior Football Championship - Round 3

Ardfinnan 1-22

Moycarkey-Borris 1-12

Only outright victory would secure Ardfinnan’s place in the FBD Insurance county senior football championship group 3, round 3, clash with Moycarkey-Borris at Golden on Saturday and they were well on their way to achieving their objective after thirteen minutes by which time they had established a 1-7 to 0-2 lead.

It was a blistering start by the south side as they piled forward in waves showing an earnestness and urgency that had the Moycarkey boys on the back foot from the throw-in. Their movement, pace, and teamwork had them dominating to the extent that a rout was on the cards at the end of the first quarter, but Moycarkey never lost their composure and helped by a Kyle Shelley goal after 15 minutes, clung to the Ardfinnan coat tails for the remainder of the game without ever threatening to overtake them.

Ardfinnan’s opening quarter was most impressive with six different players getting on the scoreboard. Billy Hewitt and Michael Barlow were a constant threat but it was Gavin Whelan who did the most damage for them, his goal after 13 minutes putting them 1-7 to 0-2 clear. Moycarkey were being punished for handling and passing errors but Rhys Shelley’s goal in the 15th minute, steadied them and Bill Maher almost had a second a minute later only to be denied by the woodwork.

Still Ardfinnan controlled proceedings and by half-time had established a1-13 to 1-5 advantage that looked beyond redemption by Moycarkey. It was not for the want of trying however and four points on the trot from the 35th to 42nd minutes left Moycarkey just six points adrift(1-15 to 1-9) with the possibility of an unexpected comeback beginning to take shape.

Indeed it could have been better for the Mid lads but Rhys Shelley was denied a likely goal by Michael Goonan, the Ardfinnan custodian after 43 minutes. A goal for Moycarkey then and who knows how things might have transpired.

It was a wake-up call for Ardfinnan however, and they shot the next five points through Michael Barlow(3), Luke O Brien and sub Andrew Browne to open a 1-20 to 1-9 gap with 8 minutes to play. Again Moycarkey came at them with points from Rory Ryan, Michael Maher and Diarmuid Maher but time was against the Mid challengers, and Ardfinnan played a possession game to the finish, in the process extending their lead with points from Billy Hewitt and Colin O Gorman.

So, as Ardfinnan emerge as runners-up to unbeaten champions Loughmore-Castliney, they will take considerable encouragement from this performance, their best of the campaign so far. There is plenty of room for improvement and this will be needed as they face into the stiffer challenges ahead but this performance indicated clearly the quality there is in the team and if a bit more consistency can be achieved over the hour, they will be formidable opposition for any side.

As the scoreline suggests their attack was on its game with Billy Hewitt, Michael Barlow and Gavin Whelan all enjoying very productive hours. Further back, Gerry Cronin, Colin O Shaughnessy, Jonathan Ryan and Aaron Ryan were serious contributor to this success.

Moycarkey paid dearly for their sluggish opening quarter but subsequently gave as good as they got, almost, and they will draw on that for encouragement as they face into the Cusack cup competition, with their senior status secure for another year. They did not have the slickness or football nous of their rivals but they gave a very good account of themselves and could be a force in the Cusack Cup. The Shelley brothers, Kyle and Rhys led the charge for them but Rory Ryan, Peter Melbourne, Pat Molloy and Tom Ryan also worked very hard.

Teams and Scorers:

Ardfinnan: Michael Goonan; Jack O'Neill, Jonathan Ryan, Robert Condon; Aaron Lonergan, Colin O'Shaughnessy (0-1), Daire O'Leary (0-1); Sean Nagle, Gerry Cronin; Luke O'Brien (0-2), Jason Coffey (0-1), Gavin Whelan (1-4); Billy Hewitt (0-5, 0-1f), Michael Barlow (0-5, 0-1f), Mike Hogan.

Subs: Colin O'Gorman (0-1) for Hogan; Andrew Browne (0-2) for Whelan; Andrew Heffernan for Barlow.

Moycarkey-Borris: Ciaran Maher; Tom Hayes, Kevin Moran, Peter Melbourne; Kevin O'Regan, Rory Ryan(0-2), Tom Ryan (0-1); Eoin Hayes, Kevin Hayes; Pat Molloy (0-1), Kieran Morris, Bill Maher; Kyle Shelley (0-2), Rhys Shelley (1-5, 0-3fs), Darren Flood.

Subs: Diarmuid Maher (0-1) for Flood; Jack Hackett for Moran; Stephen Walsh for E Hayes; Michael Maher for B Maher.

Referee: Sean Lonergan, Moyle Rovers