Club c’ship kicks off with a bang in Louth
DREADNOTS staged an impressive second half comeback as they came from six points down to record a two-point win over St Mary’s at Dunleer on Sunday evening.
Aided by a quick-fire 1-3 from Conor Gillespie in an eight-minute spell either side of the break, the Ardee men were good value for their six-point advantage after 40 minutes and appeared set to get their campaign off to a winning start against a Dreadnots side who just couldn’t find top gear.
However, the Clogherhead men suddenly found their rhythm and their quick counter attacking style saw them repeatedly cut through the Marys defence and in the closing 20 minutes the outscored their opponents by 1-8 to 0-3 to clinch an impressive win.
Defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Marys as they were the better side for the opening 40 minutes and will be disappointed that they were unable to find an answer to the Dreadnots revival in the final quarter.
The Marys began on the front foot and had points from Ronan Carroll (2) and Darren Clarke, but a succession of missed chances gave the Dreadnots the opportunity to keep on terms and they did so with points from Pepe Smith (2) and Peter Kirwan.
However, the Ardee men upped the tempo in the second quarter and Clarke edged them in front before Darragh McConnon ran from the middle and found the bottom corner. Carroll added a point soon after to put his side 1-5 to 0-3 in front.
The Dreadnots had limited possession but hauled themselves back into contention with points from Anthony Williams, Kirwan, Smith and James Califf to cut the gap to one.
However, Conor Gillespie took centre stage just before the break as he landed a free and with the final kick of the half saw his effort cross the line despite the best efforts of Chris Mulroy to make it 2-6 to 0-7 at half time.
Califf had the first point of the second half but when Gillespie (2) and McConnon made it 2-9 to 0-9, the game looked to be drifting out of the Dreadnots’ reach.
However, they responded well to the challenge and driven forward by the Dermot Campbell and Anthony Williams from the back, they launched wave after wave of attacks.
That good approach play was rewarded on 41 minutes when Liam Shevlin picked out Kirwan to slide the ball home. It was a different game after that as the Clogher side grew in confidence and the Marys just couldn’t get out of their own half.
Califf, Carl Monaghan and Darragh Shevlin had the game level after 47 minutes before Smith edged his side in front two minutes later, and Kirwan added two to make it 1-15 to 2-9.
The Marys showed great character to get back on terms with points from Carroll, Clarke and Kian Moran, but in a tense finish they were unable to sustain the effort and points from Califf and Smith saw the Dreadnots edge home.
DREADNOTS: Chris Mulroy; Brian Gargan, Dermot Campbell, Derek Shevlin; David O’Brien, Padraig Rath, Barry Faulkner; Cian McEvoy, James Califf 0-4 (45, 2f); Pat Lynch, Pepe Smith 0-5 (2f), Anthony Williams 0-1; Carl Monaghan 0-1, Peter Kirwan 1-4, Liam Shevlin 0-1. Subs: Darragh Shevlin 0-1 for B Gargan, Cathal Lynch for D O’Brien.
ST MARYS: Alan McGauley; Brendan Matthews, John Bingham, Conor Keenan; Eimhin Keenan, Donal McKenny, Kian Moran 0-1; Karl Faulkner, Robbie Leavy; Paudy Clarke, Ronan Carroll 0-4, Darragh McConnon 1-1; Conor Gillespie 1-3 (3f), Mark Fay, Darren Clarke 0-3 (1f). Subs: Liam Jackson for P Clarke.
REFEREE: Paul Kneel.