Ardara dish out heavy defeat to St Mary’s, Convoy in lopsided Division 2 encounter

Ardara had things completely their own way in this one-sided defeat of bottom-of-the-table St Mary’s, Convoy on Sunday. 

The visitors found themselves 15 points up at the changeover and that one-way traffic showed no let-up in what was again a difficult second 30 minutes for the home outfit. 

Ardara hinted that it was going to be a long afternoon for a St Mary's side yet to pick up a single Division 2 point as they broke straight from throw-in with John Ross Molloy opening the scoring just 20 seconds in. 

A 3v3 breach from the hosts then gifted Ardara possession along the halfway and with Molloy instantly sending the freekick direct and long into CJ Molloy, the full-forward gathered impressively before turning to find the net. 

The hosts were off the mark on five minutes thanks to Ciaran Dolan but Eoghan Ban McNelis stroked that headway out with a lovely strike from out the park. 

Gavin Sweeney was then desperately unlucky to see a sweetly struck lob over the advanced Emmet Doherty bounce back off the foot of the post. 

Still, John Ross Molloy would soon add a second Ardara goal as 2-2 led 0-1 at the end of a lopsided opening quarter. 

Callum Malley, Kyle McHugh and Sweeney would all land efforts while a close-range free from Niall McCrossan left 11 in it by the 20-minute mark. 

Malley, McCrossan and Darragh Hennigan continued to pepper the home posts as Ardara moved out to 2-9.

The hosts almost snatched a goal back when Dolan and Bryan McNamee combined to tee up Conor Donnellan in front of goal. 

And while the latter did well to drop a shoulder and get his shot away, an otherwise idle Paddy Gallagher in the visiting goal did so well to get down and turn the ball behind. 

From the resulting ‘45, Anthony Browne hammered over just his side’s second point and with Conal McDermott quickly following that up, St Mary’s seemed to have finally found some traction going into added time. 

Cruelly though, and just seconds before the short whistle, another route one delivery, this time from McNelis, was flicked home by Sweeney as Ardara raised a third green flag and, at the break, left with a 3-9 to 0-3 upper hand.  

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Josh Malley got Ardara off to a flier following the resumption as he netted a fourth Ardara goal before CJ Molloy instantly added another over from a free. 

Pauric Gordon got St Mary’s moving again in the second-half while a two-pointer from Paterson pushed Laurence McMullan’s men out to 0-6. 

Still, the avalance of Ardara goals kept coming as John Ross Molloy nailed his second. Dolan then found the net for the hosts but the fourth and final quarter was a winddown for Damian Devaney’s outfit. 

They’d find the net twice more as substitute Kevin Whyte and Josh Malley, with a second maximum of his own, helped Ardara to what was, in the end, a facile 26-point victory. 

St Mary’s, Convoy scorers: Ciaran Dolan 1-1; Oran Patterson 0-2, 1tp; Anthony Browne 0-2, 1f, 1’45; Pauric Gordon, Corrie Lee Bogan, Conor Bonner and Conal McDermott 0-1 each.

Ardara scorers: John Ross Molloy 2-2; Josh Malley 2-0; Kyle McHugh 1-3; Gavin Sweeney 1-1; CJ Molloy 1-2 1f; Kevin Whyte 1-0; Niall McCrossan 0-2,1f; Eoghan McNelis 0-2; Callum Malley and Darragh Heiigan 0-1 each.

St Mary’s, Convoy: Emmet Doherty; Sean Doherty, Enda Bonner, Michael Mulrain; Conal McDermott, Conor McDaid, Conor Donnellan; Bryan McNamee, Pauric Gordon; Conor Gordon, Laurence McMullan, Anthony Browne; Brendan Bonner, Oran Paterson, Ciaran Dolan. 

Subs: Corie Lee Bogan for C McDermott (49). 

Ardara: Paddy Gallagher; Charlie Bennett, Shane Mooney, Johnnie McGonagle; Danny Walsh, Shane Whyte, Darragh Hennigan; Josh Malley, John Ross Molloy; Callum Malley, Eoghan McNelis, Kyle McHugh; Gavin Sweeney, CJ Molloy, Niall McCrossan.

Subs: Paddy McGrath for Walsh (35), Kevin Whyte for C Malley (39), Conor Classon for Hannigan (40).

Referee: Greg McGrory (Four Masters)