Deesiders get shirty and pay ultimate price
Bellurgan Utd Ardee Celtic 1 0
ARDEE Celtic saw red for the second time in successive games as they finished Sunday’s league game away to Bellurgan with nine players and no points.
However, the Peninsula side made heavy weather of their numerical advantage and John Flanagan’s men almost salvaged a draw right at the death in what was another eventual match involving the Deesiders.
In a wide open first half there were opportunities aplenty at both ends and it was a mystery how the 45 minutes ended scoreless.
Ardee, who were without Ross Gaynor following his red card the previous week, had the better of things in the early stages and a Shane Hickey effort was deflected over the bar and Bryan O’Connor blazed over befoe seeing another goal-bound effort deflected wide.
At the other end, Michael Osobe broke clear of the Ardee defence, but his touch then let him down and Ardee’s keeper Stuart Reynolds was able to collect.
Gareth Kane was next to threaten for Ardee as he broke Bellurgan’s offside trap but then shot straight at Robert Arthur who parried the ball away to safety.
The visitors were out of luck when Shane Hickey got on the end of Dean Gaynor’s cleverly taken free kick, only to be denied by the crossbar.
Osobe was the chief Bellurgan threat and he set up a chance for himself when springing the Ardee offside trap, only to blaze over.
Late in the first half Kane had another glimpse of the Bellurgan goal, but one of their defenders threw themself in front of his effort to keep it out. Worse was to follow for the Ardee player as he was sent off right on the stroke of half-time. He appeared to go into a 50/50 challenge on the half-way line that sparked a mini melee, but referee Daryl Carolan adjudged him to be the aggressor and brandished a yellow card before dismissing him for dissent seconds later.
Bellurgan went on to take the lead in the first minute of the second half when a cross from the left evaded Reynolds and was tapped home by the home side’s winger.
Despite being a man down Ardee were more than a match for Bellurgan and they continued to create opportunities, notably when a long ball found Darren Gaynor who seemed destined to finish, only to hit a fresh-air shot.
The introduction of John Gallagher for Ardee had a huge impact on the game and almost immediately his centre across the face of goal only needed the slightest touch, but unfortunately there were no takers on that occasion.
Gallagher next flicked on a long ball towards Hickey whose header was easily saved by Arthur.
At the other end Reynolds denied Osobe with a fine save, but on 78 minutes Ardee suffered another major blow when they had Lorcan Myles dismissed, the referee deeming him to be last man as he tugged at the jersey of John Smith.
Not surprisingly, the hosts then assumed control of the match and missed three really good efforts to finish off Ardee, and they nearly paid a heavy price right at the death when the industrious Niall Sharkey got on the end of a free kick from keeper Reynolds but shot inches wide of the post. BELLURGAN UTD: Robert Arthur, Mark Murphy, Owen Traynor, Alan Connor, Sean Matthews, Shane O’Brien, Simon O’Shaughnessey, Stephen Finnegan, Saheen Ogunwora, John Smith, Declan Sharkey. Subs: Patrick Lynch, Cian McDonald, Chris Lawson, Dermot Traynor, Leonard Grey.
ARDEE CELTIC: Stuart Reynolds, Robbie Reynolds, Niall Sharkey, Ken Thornton, Lorcan Myles, Dean Gaynor, Aaron Roche (Shawni Dowdall), Shane Hickey (Tristan Knowles), Gareth Kane, Bryan O’Connor (John Gallagher), Darryn Gaynor. Subs not used: John Finnegan, Hugh Murphy.