No ‘Mor joy for Deesiders
ARDEE Celtic’s excellent run of form was brought to a shuddering halt as title contenders Muirhevnamor produced a five-star performance on their home patch last Thursday night.
The Deesiders travelled to Dundalk on the back of two impressive wins over Bellurgan United and Duleek but came up against a Muirhevnamor side who showed they are serious challengers for the Premier crown along with Newfoundwell and Trim Celtic.
The hosts played some terrific football, particularly Billy Smith who grabbed a brace on the night.
In fairness, Ardee put together some neat passages of play themselves, with Conor McManus and Gareth Kane catching the eye as the visitors edged the opening exchanges.
Kane and Mikey Nulty both had goal attempts but failed to test Micheal Cooney and it was Muirhevnamor who scored first on 25 minutes, Brendan Hughes nodding past Ardee keeper
MUIRHEVNAMOR ARDEE CELTIC 5 2
Conor Ryan after a well-worked move involving Smith, Mickey O’Kane and Tiarnan Mulvenna.
Smith doubled the home side’s advantage on the half-hour mark when he beat Ryan from the penalty spot after being taken down by the visiting goalkeeper when racing onto a loose ball.
Before long Muirhevnamor were three to the good as Smith escaped two Ardee tacklers and rifled high to the net from an acute angle.
Nulty’s instant reply from a Darryn Gaynor cross gave Ardee some hope for the second half, but there were signs of more goals at the other end as Chris Caulfield fired over after an untimely fumble by Ryan.
Mulvennas 53rd-minute goal virtually killed off any hope of a comeback, the striker cutting in to finish via the post with his left foot.
To their credit, the visitors kept going and Lorcan Myles fired just wide of Micheal Cooney’s upright after a good combination between McManus and Ross Gaynor. Then McManus beat Micheal Cooney with a well-struck freekick to make it 4-2, but Muirhevnamor secured all three points when Paudie Hearty beat the offside trap to add his name to the scoresheet. MUIRHEVNAMOR: Michael Cooney; Niall Hearty, Chris Caulfield, Adrian Rafferty, Paul Mallon; Brendan Hughes, Ben McLaughlin, Philip Duffy, Billy Smith; Micky O’Kane, Tiarnan Mulvenna, Subs: Jimmy Cooney, Seán Conlon, Craig Dixon, Paudi Hearty, Brian Begley, Stephen Fisher.
ARDEE CELTIC: Conor Ryan; Robbie Reynolds, Niall Sharkey, Óisín McGee, Ciarán Clarke; Lorcan Myles, Conor McManus, Mikey Nulty, Gareth Kane, Ross Gaynor, Darryn Gaynor. Subs: Eddie Burke, James McMullen, Paul Matondo, Bernard Osborne, Darren Henry, Bryan O’Connor.