Ardara edge towards safety with 20-point drubbing of Cloughaneely 

Ardara took a significant step towards securing their Division 2 safety for next season with a 20-point drubbing of Cloughaneely on Saturday evening in Pearse Memorial Park. 

Both sides went into the weekend’s tangle with real relegation worries, with Ardara anchored in tenth spot and Cloughaneely a little deeper sunk in twelfth position. 

However, Denis Doohan’s visitors put up the white flags from very early on with this one as good as over by the midpoint. By that juncture Ardara, with the breeze, had opened up a nine-point lead. 

But the concern for Cloughaneely at the changeover was that the elements just didn’t justify such an advantage. And as it transpired, Ardara didn’t have the same difficulties on the turnaround. 

Early on, with that breeze blowing in from the west, the hosts benefited from the extra momentum as they nailed the first eight points of the contest inside a very productive opening quarter.

Cloughaneely didn’t get off the mark until the 20th minute as Cormac Coyle lamped over. In between, Gareth Concarr produced a fine save to deny Michael Fitzgerald who had made a great break from defence. 

Still - at the mindpoint - Damien Devaney’s men held a commanding 0-10 to 0-1 advantage.

Niall McCrossan had opened the scoring inside the first minute for Ardara with a close range free while there were quick follow ups from CJ Molloy, one from play and one from a free. 

McCrossan and a fine Conor Classon effort off his left peg made it 0-5 to no score on 11 minutes while Oisin O’Donnell also got on the scoresheet for Ardara. 

McCrossan added his third while John Ross Molloy kept things ticking over for the dominant hosts as Ardara grabbed that eight over uninterrupted. 

The visitors did break their duck through Coyle but Ardara, with Callum Malley grabbing a late brace, held a nine-point cushion at half-time. 

With the wind in their backs Cloughaneely did improve. But Ardara were more than able to hang with them on the scoreboard and that was the difference between the two sides..

John Ross Molloy made sure Ardara were first off the mark in the second stanza while  

Coyle doubled his and his side’s quota soon after. 

Molloy was at it again on 36 minutes before Cloughaneely replacement Sean McGarvey made a quick impression having been sprung at the midpoint. 

Big work around the middle from Classon then forged the chance for McCrossan to make it 0-13 to 0-3. 

Ciaran Coll moved the away side onto 0-4 on 39 minutes, their last score of the game.  But with Josh Malley and McCrossan clearing the crossbar, Ardara drifted onto 0-15 for the evening going into the last ten minutes. 

Malley then made sure of things soon after for Ardara as he blasted to the back of the net - a maximum that opened up a huge 14-point deficit. 

Before the end Cloughaneely lost Ethan Friel to a black card while McCrossan tagged on two more overs while Kevin White also raised a flag. 

And with CJ Molloy flicking home a cheeky second three-pointer for Ardara, 20 points split the teams at the full-time whistle. 

Ardara scorers: Niall McCrossan 0-7,3f;  CJ Molloy 1-2,1f; Josh Malley 1-1; John Ross Molloy 0-3; Callum Malley 0-2; Oisin O’Donnell 0-1; Conor Classon 0-1; Kevin Whyte 0-1. 

Cloughaneely scorers: Cormac Coyle 0-2, Sean McGarvey 0-1; Ciaran Coll 0-1. 

Ardara: Gareth Concarr; Charlie Bennett, Shane Whyte, Shane Mooney; Danny Walsh, Oisin O’Donnell, Josh Malley; Conor Classon, John Ross Molloy; Jamie Elliott, Kevin Whyte, Callum Malley; Niall McCrossan, CJ Molloy, Paul Walsh. 

Subs: Kyle McHugh for Elliott (40), Paul Watters for Bennett (50)

Cloughaneely: Shaun McClafferty; Remy Moran, Ciaran Scanlon, Michael Fitzgerald; Ciaran McGeady, Cian McFadden, Cormac Coyle; Ethan Friel, Darren McGeever; Cathal McGeever, Sean Geeney, Ciaran Coll; Patrick Doohan, Sean Maguire, John Fitzgerlad. 

Subs: Sean McGarvey and Michael McHugh for C McGeady and J Fitzgerald (both ht), 

Referee: Greg McGrory (Four Masters).