ARDARA ARE THROUGH to the last four of the county Comortas after they just about managed to hold off a storming Glenswilly fightback in Pearse Park tonight.
Ardara 3-6 Glenswilly 3-4
By Frank Craig, PRO
At the break, it looked like the hosts were home and dry as they led by 11 points. However, with the Glen men adopting an aerial blitz in the second-half, Ardara just couldn’t cope. Three goals in stanza two dragged the visitors right back into it.
And with Ardara barely troubling the posts up the other side, they stumbled over the line in the end.
Back at the beginning, Ryan Malley opened the scoring after good approach play from CJ Molloy and Jack Brennan. Ardara should have been two up a minute later when a good off load by Kieran Breslin wasn’t punished by Gareth Concarr.
Malley was on target again on six minutes to move Seamus Gallagher’s men two clear. With Malley on fire, the same player palmed home the first of six goals on the night to the back of the net as Ardara began to pull clear of what – at that stage – seemed a very disinterested Glenswilly team.
The visitors were finally off the mark on the quarter hour mark through a Caoimhin Marley free. That was as much as they could muster between then and the midpoint as CJ Molloy banged in two goals and Gareth Concarr clipped over a third point. That sent last year’s county and national hosts in at half-time 3-3 to 0-1 in front.
After the restart, Marley helped himself to his and his side’s second over of the contest. Straight up the other end, Brendan Boyle hammered over a reply as the gap returned to eleven. However, two quickfire goals from the Glen, after route one deliveries weren’t dealt with, allowed both Brian Farrelly and Keelan Kelly to nail back-to-back three-pointers and sever the difference to five.
With the contest finally turning into just that – a contest, a little bit of niggle began to creep in as middleman Michael McShane had to earn his crust. With Ardara’s rearguard susceptible to the direct ball, another long delivery was easily swatted home by the inrushing Christopher McMonagle.
On 49 minutes, Gelnswilly were in again when the hop beat Nicolas Maguire allowing Ryan Diver the run on goal. On this occasion, Gavigan got a good deflective hand on the shot to beat it away. With Ardara on the ropes, a super shimmy and dummy inside by Darren McGinley further reduced matters to one.
A hard won free by CJ Molloy and dispatched by Concarr finally offered a rattled Ardara some respite as their thin cushion of one was plumped ever so slightly.
Ardara’s insurance point was then handed to them on a plate when a poorly cued kickout by James Gallagher was intercepted by Jack Brennan.
His slip inside to Concarr left the experienced attacker with a descent sight of goal. But with Gallagher pushing the ball up and over, Ardara had to settle for a point. Darren McGinley hit back for the Glen as the game entered its last moments.
But between then and the end, Ardara held tight to advance to the semi-finals.
Ardara: Patrick Gavigan; Nicolas Maguire, Nicolas Breslin, Kevin Breslin; Kevin Herron, Johnny Herron, Michael Maloney; Brendan McNelis, Conor Classon; Ryan Malley (1-2), CJ Molloy (2-0), Tomás Boyle; Kieran Breslin, Gareth Concarr (0-4,2f), Jack Brennan. Subs: Brendan Boyle for T Boyle (8), Kelvin Slowey for M Maloney (39).
Glenswilly: James Gallagher; Mark McAteer, James Pat McDaid, Conor Boyce; Kieran Gibbons, Aidan McDevitt, Ryan Diver; Christopher McMonagle (1-0), Phillip O’Donnell; Darren McGinley (0-2), Caoimhin Marley (0-1), Brian Farrelly (1-0); Caolan Kelly (1-0), Keelan McFadden, Cathal Gallagher. Subs: Gary McFadden for K McFadden (ht).
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