Prolific Chord Celtic advance in Shield

CHORD Celtic put Ardee Celtic to the sword on Friday night in their final clash in Group B in the Kilmessan Shield.

Cormac Reid’s side travelled to Ardee knowing that a win would leave them in a top-two position behind Carrick Rovers, and Chord have now hit a team for six for the second week running after the Premier Division team ran out 6-1 winners.

Alan Dyas hit four goals on the night with an impressive individual performance which brought Chord’s tally to 13 goals across their three group games.

Ardee were hoping to register their first points of the campaign and Gary Malone’s side certainly put it up to the Drogheda outfit in the first 10 minutes.

Bryan O’Connor and Adam Farrell both had chances early on, but an incisive through-ball from Nathan Llewellyn undid the Ardee defence and Damien Beslic skipped through the cover before he was upended and Brandon Sullivan dispatched the resulting penalty.

Vincent O’Hare, making his first appearance for the senior side, pulled off some good saves as Chord continued to impose themselves on the game.

In the 47th minute it looked as if Ardee would get into the halftime break just one goal behind, but it was then that Chord struck for the second time. Beslic again used his pace to get around his man and he whipped a ball into the box for Dyas to fire home from 10 yards out.

That goal gave Chord the impetus to push on and they hit a third early in the second half. Dyas pressed the Ardee defence and stole back possession before rounding O’Hare and slotting home.

Dean Haggins hit a ball over the top for Dyas to race onto and finish for his hat-trick on 53 minutes.

Aidan Murphy made if 5-0 on 56 minutes when he bent a 35-yard free kick into the top corner.

Ardee pulled one back when a rare foray into the Chord box resulted in a penalty which Bryan O’Connor stuck away to make it 5-1.

The scoring finished just after the hour mark when Dyas finished off a team move inside the box.

The game very much petered out from there, with Chord securing a place in the knockout stage of the competition.

A feisty affair at the School Grounds in Ardee saw Square United eke out a 1-0 win against Albion Rovers thanks to their player manager Ross Gaynor who converted from the penalty spot.

The game was scoreless at the break, but Albion were reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Noel Myles picked up a second yellow card on 50 minutes. Then on 57 minutes Square won a penalty which Gaynor put past Stephen Beirth to give Square a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Albion brought Conor McQuillan, Georgi Hristolov and Ross Kinch off the bench as the half wore on in an attempt to regain parity, but Square held firm.

The win sees Square move top of Group C, while Albion finish second, ahead of Kingscourt on goal difference.

Duleek cruised to a 10-0 win at home to Parkvilla 2nds on Sunday morning to finish second in Group H.

That makes it 19 goals in two games for Bryan Murphy and Dylan Moore’s team, which is close to the total they scored all last season across the league campaign.

Former Drogheda United U19s player Dylan O’Boyle hit five goals and an assist and he has proved to be a revelation for the Tollstone-based team, with eight goals in this campaign already.

Matthew Noone also scored one from the penalty spot, while Cormac McGroggan came off the bench to hit a brace.

Termonfeckin Celtic had a chastening defeat against NEFL supremos Trim Celtic on Sunday.

Manny Smith travelled with a threadbare squad and his team finished on the wrong side of a 9-1 scoreline.

Andrew Hand bagged the only goal for the Seasiders and they now move their focus to the start of the league season after a winless Kilmessan Shield campaign.