GAA | McArdle and McSorley shoot the Gaels to deserved derby win over the Irelanders
Dundalk Gaels 0–15 Dundalk Young Irelands 2–6
Louth Division Two League round eight
After a sluggish start to the campaign, Dundalk Gaels are right back in the Division Two promotion hunt after a well-deserved derby win over the Young Irelands on Tuesday evening.
The scoreboard flashed a three-point margin of victory but, in truth, Paul Morgan’s side were much better on the night with two late Irelander goals somewhat skewing the final outcome.
It moves the Gaels into third place in the standings, ahead of their neighbours on score difference, and after failing to win any of their opening three games, the Ramparts outfit seem to be hitting their stride at just the right time.
The Irelanders can have no complaints about the outcome. Last year’s Division Three champions have taken to life in the second tier with confidence but they didn’t show enough to suggest that they would make the short hop back to the Upper Merches with the two points on offer.
Three points was all they could show at the end of a first-half which saw them content to sit back and frustrate the Gaels. It worked for long periods with the hosts struggling to punch a way through the banks of green and black in front of them.
After a stop start opening, Eanna McArdle and Peter McStravick exchanged frees before the wandering Niall Hearty put the Gaels in front. The game struggled to get going but James Prendergast, who was a handful for the Gaels backline, equalised with a fine effort off the right-flank.
The Gaels probed and probed, moving the ball back and forth to try and prize their opponents open and Ger McSorley looked like he had found the key with a quickfire brace. His first score was the result of tenacity, making something out of a difficult pass from Hearty, the second a sublime effort from an awkward angle way out on the right.
With Prendergast isolated on too many occasions, Adrian O’Donoghue’s team were heavily reliant on players breaking the lines in support and it paid off in the 23rd minute when Aidan Sheekey offloaded to Derek Maguire who made no mistake. The Gaels, however, added a couple more to their tally with McArdle converting two more frees to make it 0–7 to 0–3 at the interval.
The Irelanders reacted by moving Jordan O’Donoghue into a more advanced position and they enjoyed a good start to the second-half with Caolan McCabe forcing Joe O’Donoghue into a good save before Sean McLoughlin fired over the bar.
With room to breathe, the Gaels made the most of the space that was appearing and they took firm control of the game by hitting six of the next seven scores; McArdle starting the run with a powerful left-footed point from a Padraig Fallon knockdown.
His fifth of the night arrived shortly after, the result of nice move on the left involving Adrian Rafferty and David McComish, and he extended the lead to five points in the 46th minute, winning a free from an Irelanders kick out before dropping the ball over Fergal Sheekey’s bar.
The visitors responded with a Jordan O’Donoghue free but they lacked the invention shown by McSorley who cut in from the right to bag the score of the game in the 51st minute as the Gaels opened up an eight-point lead that looked insurmountable.
McLoughlin did collect a Cian O’Donoghue pass to slide the ball into the Gaels net with 59 minutes on the clock but it looked like a mere consolation at that stage and play tumbled down the other end where substitute Sean Murray added an insurance score for the natives.
There were some anxious faces in blue when Prendergast took hold of a Ciaran Murray pass to beat O’Donoghue with a well-taken finish in stoppage time.
That left just a goal in it but there was no late drama as Sean Murray’s second point left the Irelanders with too much ground to make up and Derek Maguire’s free was the last action of a derby which, at times, was dogged but ended with a fair outcome.
DUNDALK GAELS: Joe O’Donoghue; James Lynch, Errol Boyle, Eamonn Kenny; Cian Kelly, Gary Shevlin (0–1), Adrian Rafferty; Derek Crilly, Jordan Keating; Paul McCrave, David McComish, Niall Hearty (0–1); Eanna McArdle (0–7, 4f), Padraig Fallon, Ger McSorley (0–4). Subs: Oisin Murray for C Kelly, 38 mins; Mark Hanna for P McCrave, 49 mins; Sean Murray (0–2) for G Shevlin, 55 mins.
DUNDALK YOUNG IRELANDS: Fergal Sheekey; Peter McCourt, Ciaran Murray, Stephen Bellew; Jason Mulligan, Cian O’Naraigh, Jordan O’Donoghue (0–1, 1f); Aidan Sheekey, Sean McLoughlin (1–1); Caolan McCabe, Peter McStravick (0–1, 1f), Derek Maguire (0–2, 1f); Cian O’Donoghue, James Prendergast (1–1), Jamie Browne. Subs: Andrew Nixon for C McCabe, 49 mins; Shadam Azeez for P McCourt, 53 mins; Alan Hanks for J O’Donoghue, 60 mins.
REFEREE: Kevin Carroll.
