Deesiders not out of the woods yet after champions’ away win
ARDEE CELTIC NEWFOUNDWELL 1 3
ANY prospect of defending champions Newfoundwell being plunged into a relegation battle was extinguished at Townparks last Friday night as they proved too strong for gallant hosts Ardee Celtic.
It’s a result that ensures that the Deesiders still have a bit of work to do to secure their Premier status, with just four points accrued from five matches, but on this evidence they seem to have sufficient quality to avoid being drawn into a dogfight along with Duleek and Carrick Rovers.
Newfoundwell hit the front after barely a minute thanks to Reynolds nipped in between Duleek’s two centre-halves to plant a firm header past Sweeney for 2-0.
Cormac McGroggan had a good opportunity to drag Duleek back into contention, but his effort was saved by Jason Lowney and after that the effects of their earlier endeavours began to catch up on the Meath side’s players.
That said, Harps’ final goal was of the bizarre variety as Duleek keeper Sweeney twice saved from Stephen Carter but seemed to spill the ball on each occasion, and Harps sub Conor Tully blasted a fine solo effort from Brandon Sullivan, and the game was still well inside the first quarter when the Drogheda side doubled their advantage.
As a cross came into the Ardee box there was an offtheincident involving the ‘Well’s Craig O’Connor and it was spotted by the referee who duly pointed to the spot. Centre-forward Ian Devine stepped up and beat veteran goalkeeper Stuart Reynolds with his penalty kick.
To their credit, Ardee hauled themselves back into contention almost immediately.
‘Well keeper Ronan Brown came rushing out of his goal and was beaten to the ball by Bryan O’Connor whose effort was blocked, but Darryn Gaynor collected the rebound and the second rebound to the net.
Tully looked to have tapped in number four near the end but had the goal ruled out for offside. BOYNE HARPS: Jason Lowney, Kevin Walsh (Colin Rafferty), Manny Smith, Luke McDonnell (Dylan Rice), James Traynor, Danny Coyle (Mickey Leech), Darren McCann, Nathan Seery (Conor Tully), Graham Reynolds, Martin Kelly (Stephen Carter), Guy Bates. Sub not used: Jack Boylan.
DULEEK: Alan Sweeney, Robbie Daly (John Horan), Caelan Duff, Bryan Murphy, Jamie Flaherty, Gareth Toal, Shane Crosby, Matthew Noone, James Burke (Dylan Carney), Cormac McGroggan (Morgan Browne), Jordan Duffy (James Guilfoyle). slotted home to halve the deficit after 20 minutes.
But just when Ardee seemed to be settling into the game, they conceded a third goal coming up to the half-hour mark. Adam Brady managed to escape an attempted tackle by Lorcan Malone and played a lovely onetwo with Sullivan before slotting past Reynolds.
Shawni Dowdall and O’Connor did well to fashion a chance for Myles whose shot was deflected just wide, a well-executed free kick from Ross Gaynor was brilliantly saved by Brown and recent signing Ryan Burns - the Louth football star - was unlucky to see his effort fly just wide.
With time beginning to run out, Ross Gaynor’s right-footed shot was deflected past the upright and fellow substitute Tristan Knowles fired narrowly wide.
With five minutes left, plus more to be added on, there was still time for Ardee to set up a grandstand finish, but a ‘Well defender made a vital clearance when Gareth Kane’s shot was spilled by Brown, and the keeper then tipped a superb Burns shot over the bar.
ARDEE CELTIC: Stuart Reynolds, Robbie Reynolds, Ryan Ward, Niall Sharkey, Lorcan Myles, Shawni Dowdall, Stuart Osborne, Lorcan Malone, Ryan Burns, Darryn Gaynor, Bryan O’Connor. Subs: Ken Thornton, Hugh Murphy, Tristan Knowles, Ross Gaynor, Gareth Kane.
NEWFOUNDWELL: Ronan Brown, Gaz Smith, Stephen Murphy, Paddy O’Boyle, Daryl McDonagh, Dean Carolan, Emmanuel Santos (Shaun Bannon), Adam Brady (Eoin Mulroy), Craig O’Connor, Ian Devine, Brandon Sullivan.