Mary’s ‘Leavy’ it late
ST MARYS 0-9
DUNDALK GAELS 0-8
ROBBIE Leavy was the hero for St Marys on Friday night as he landed a late point to hand the home side victory over Dundalk Gaels.
The teams traded points for much of the hour and the outcome was in doubt right up to the end, but ultimately it was the Marys who snatched their second win of the campaign.
The pattern of the game was established in the opening minutes when Alan Kirk got his side off the mark only for Chris Sweeney to level matters.
Paudy Clarke edged the hosts in front only for Derek Crilly to respond from a free, but the Ardee men had his side back and went in front at 0-3 to 0-2.
The Dundalk men then took charge of the game and points from Crilly (2) and Barry Watters saw them head into the half time break with a 0-5 to 0-3 lead.
However, the home side raised their game and points from Daire McConnon and Kian Moran helped them draw level once again, while the next four points of the game were shared to leave the teams level at seven points apiece. McConnon added his second point to put the Marys back in front entering the closing moments.
It looked as if the Gaels had done enough to secure a draw when Sweeney landed a fine point in the last minute but Leavy had the final say when he slotted over the winner in injury time. ST MARYS: Peter Duffy; David Carroll, Niall Carroll, Barry McCoy; Conor Keenan, Eimhin Keenan 0-1, Niall Eccles; Daire McConnon 0-1, Robert Leavy 0-1; Wayne Matthews, Paudy Clarke 0-2, Mark Fay; Alan Kirk 0-2, Kian Moran 0-1, Eamon Callaghan. Subs: Shane Carroll 0-1 for N Carroll, Cian Commins for P Clarke, Jamie Rooney for C Commins, Mark Gorman for D Carroll.
DUNDALK GAELS: Micheal Lambert; Daire O’Callaghan, Jamie Faulkner, Conor Morgan; David McComish, Derek Crilly 0-3, Errol Boyle; Barry Watters 0-2, James Stewart; Shane Rice, Sean Murray, Jason Clarke; Sean Fee, Gerard McSorley 0-1, Chris Sweeney 0-2. Subs: Niall Hearty for E Boyle, Stephen Murphy for S Fee, John Byrne for J Clarke.