Ardee St Mary's (Louth) 2-09 Rathvilly (Carlow) 0-08
Ardee St Mary's advanced to their first ever Leinster Club Championship semi-final with a seven-point win over Carlow champions Rathvilly in front of their home supports in Pairc Mhuire, Ardee on Sunday.
Two goals in the first 10 minutes paved the way for this win, thanks to majors from Donal McKenny and Tom Jackson for the Deesiders.
Tom Jackson played a key role in the first goal, as his turnover, led to McKenny playing a neat one/two with Tadgh McDonnell, before firing low to the bottom corner to give the Mary's an ideal start.
Rathvilly responded with a well-taken point from Ed Finnegan from range, before a clever move through the hands involving Colin Byrne saw Eric Molloy score from play.
Ardee St Mary's were guilty of some poor shooting at times, as well as being caught over-carrying the ball, and conceding turnovers. They scored 2-09 from 24 shots over the hour.
But Andy Murphy calmly fisted over the bar from close range, before Ardee landed their second goal through Tom Jackson, following excellent approach play from McKenny, who finished with 29 possessions over the hour.
Eric Molloy and Tadgh McDonnell traded scores, before a Kevin Murphy free left four between the sides at 2-02 to 0-04.
Two late scores from Jonathan Commins and McKenny left Ardee with a six-point lead at the break.
In the second half, Ardee St Mary's kept their opponents at arm's length, with Kian Moran, and Tom Jackson scores putting them seven points ahead by the end of the third quarter, as the game began to peter out as the half continued.
You felt that a goal was required to keep Rathvilly in the game. The one time they managed to breach the Ardee defence, keeper Tiernan Markey produced a smart save to deny Brandon Kelly from close range.
Tom Jackson and McKenny points had Ardee nine ahead with seven minutes left, despite the best efforts of Kevin Murphy (f) and Colin Byrne for Rathvilly.
Rathvilly kicked directly into the square, as they searched for that goal, but late frees from Liam Gavin and Eric Molloy was all they could muster as Ardee advanced to the semi finals of the Leinster championship with seven points to spare at 2-09 to 0-08.
Ardee St Mary's: T Markey; T McDonnell (0-01), K Faulkner, E Keenan; J Commins (0-01), D McKenny (1-02), A Murphy (0-01); RJ Callaghan, S Callaghan; C Keenan, L Jackson, K Moran (0-01); P McKenny, R Carroll, T Jackson (1-02).
Subs: T Corrigan for E Keenan (44 mins), R Leavy for R Carroll (46 mins), C Gillespie for A Murphy (57 mins), E Malone for J Commins (58 mins), J Crawley for L Jackson (61 mins)
Rathvilly: R Molloy; C Byrne (0-01), D Curran, P Deering; P Bolger, J Moore, E Molloy (0-03) (1f); B Smith, A Burgess; B Kelly, C Doyle, E Finnegan (0-01); D Murphy, K Murphy (0-02) (2f), K Curran.
Subs: Regan Murphy for R Molloy (25 mins), BJ Molloy for Curran (36 mins), L Gavin (0-01) (1f) for B Smith (40 mins), J Elliot for P Bolger (43 mins), R Murphy for D Murphy (48 mins).
Referee: F. Pierce (Co Offaly).
