Ardee St Marys saw off Newtown Blues to chase down a third Joe Ward Cup on the bounce

Ardee St Marys 2-14

Newtown Blues 0-10

Ardee St Marys turned on the style in the second half as they chase down a third Joe Ward Cup on the bounce, as they saw off Newtown Blues, to reverse their group stage defeat against the same opponents a few weeks earlier.

This first semi final saw those in attendance treated to more brilliance from county forward Ciaran ‘Kike’ Keenan as he danced his way to 1-3 in that second half, as well as having a hand in several other scores in a game where he was almost unplayable, finishing with 22 possessions over the hour.

Prior to this, foul on Keenan led to Liam Jackson firing home an early second half penalty, which gave the Deesiders a crucial 1-7 to 0-7 6 minutes into the second half, before the Marys outscored the Blues by 1-7 to 0-3 in a devastating second half showing.

However, the scoreline does not quite reflect the margin of victory for Ardee St Marys, who are also indebted to Liam Jackson at both ends, with Jackson’s second half marshalling of Andy McDonnell also integral to this win.

Moments before the Marys were awarded their penalty, the Blues found Andy McDonnell on the edge of the square, and seemingly with a strong possibility of a goal.

However, a superb challenge from Jackson denied McDonnell, and the Marys went on to punish the Blues at the other end, in ruthless fashion, scoring 2-8 from 14 second half shots at the posts playing against a considerable breeze.

The impact of subs Tadgh McDonnell, Sean Callaghan, and Conor Gillespie cannot be understated, with Ardee once again boasting an incredibly strong bench.

Playing with the wind advantage in that first half, Ardee St Marys would probably be disappointed to head for the half time break only leading by a point, with the Newtown Blues giving Cathal Murray’s side plenty to think about.

A fine early strike from Liam Jackson was cancelled out by a Jamie Kelly free, before the first major incident of this semi final occurred.

This came after 8 minutes when a quick free out of the Blues’ defence, found Conor Branigan in space. Branigan then cleverly found Fergal Donohoe whose shot was saved Ardee keeper Tiernan Markey, before Conor Moore picked up the loose ball to fire to the net. However, the major was ruled out for a square ball against Moore.

By the end of the first quarter, the Marys led by 0-3 to 0-1 thanks to a tremendous strike from Jonathan Commins, and a Ryan Rooney mark.

Newtown Blues’ use of the long kickout has been a key feature of their play, with Brian Kermode winning several kickouts for his side, with Emmet Carolan and first half sub Conor MacCriosta offering an impressive support cast, as the Blues won 17 out of 22 of their own restarts.

One such kickout, saw Kermode and Carolan combine to set up Conor Branigan to close the gap to the minimum.

Ardee St Marys had to be content with striking from distance, with the Blues getting back in numbers behind the ball. Fine strikes from Shane Matthews and Tom Jackson following several phases of play and sideways passing did give them a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes.

Thanks to some stylish striking from Conor Branigan, the Blues were always there and there abouts as they outscored the Marys by 0-3 to 0-1 in the closing stages of the first half, with the long kickout from keeper Ronan Browne, and strong defensive turnovers from players like Iollan Farrell, Jamie Kelly and Ian Connor, playing a key role.

Two stunning Branigan strikes into the breeze, coupled with a Daire Nally free meant that the Blues were in strong contention, trailing the Marys by 0-6 to 0-5 at the break, with a Carl Gillespie free offering Ardee’s sole response.

Second Half:

A sweetly struck free from Ardee keeper Tiernan Markey from range, was instantly cancelled out by a Ciaran Downey effort from play for the Blues, leaving the game neatly poised at 0-7 to 0-6 in the Marys’ favour 4 minutes after the restart.

However, after heroically denying Andy McDonnell when he looked set to pull the trigger at one end, Ardee’s Liam Jackson fired to the net from the penalty spot in what was a crucial few moments in the outcome of this semi final.

This came out about following a neat turnover from Kian Moran who teed up Ciaran Keenan who was fouled for the spot kick. Moran was impressive, finishing with 25 possessions over the hour.

Despite this set back, the Blues responded to their credit, continuing to take the long kickout, despite that breeze. Andy McDonnell who caused problems in attack fired over the bar, before a well-taken Daire Nally score, closed the gap to two points with 38 minutes gone.

However, the Marys turned on the style with some marvellous passages of play, as they rattled off five points without reply to lead by seven with 10 minutes remaining, thanks to Carl Gillespie (3) (2 frees), and Ciaran Keenan (2).

The Marys ultimately made sealed the win, when a wonderful Tom Jackson cross-field kick pass found sub Conor Gillespie who set up Keenan to fire to the net to make it 2-12 to 0-8, moments before Shane Matthews came close to a major after firing wide.

Ciaran Downey whose battle with Donal McKenny was an intriguing watch throughout, did fire over some lovely points which made the Marys stay honest, but the holders tagged on further scores though All Star nominee McKenny and Ciaran Keenan again to leave ten between the sides in a ruthless second half from Ardee, as they once again power their way to another final.

Ardee St Marys: Tiernan Markey (0-1) (1f); Jay Crawley, Karl Faulkner, Tiernan Corrigan; Kian Moran, Donal McKenny (0-1), Carl Gillespie (0-4) (3f); RJ Callaghan, Liam Jackson (1-1) (1 pen); Shane Matthews (0-1), Tom Jackson (0-1), Jonathan Commins (0-1); Ryan Rooney (0-1) (1 mark), Daire McConnon, Ciaran Keenan (1-3).

Subs: Tadgh McDonnell for Crawley (HT), Sean Callaghan for Callaghan (HT), Conor Gillespie for Rooney (41), Andy Murphy for Matthews (56), Robert Leavy for Tom Jackson (58).

Newtown Blues: Ronan Browne; Iollan Farrell, Ciaran Cluskey Kelly, Ian Connor; Fergal Donohoe, Emmet Carolan, Jamie Kelly (0-1) (1f); Alan Connor, Brian Kermode; Conor Branigan (0-3), Ciaran Downey 0-3) (1f), Daire Nally (0-2) (1f); Conor Moore, Andy McDonnell (0-1), Colm Judge.

Subs: Liam Branigan for Farrell (52), Ross Nally for Moore (55), Aiden O’Brien for Ian Connor (58).

Referee: Damian Connor (St Patricks).