TERMON SHOWED THE greater hunger and desire at the Burn Road this afternoon to squeeze out visitors Ardara by two points.
Termon 2-14 Ardara 3-9
By Frank Craig, PRO
Approaching the third quarter, Adrian Brennan’s men looked like they were going to collect two good points on their travels when a Gareth Concarr penalty opened up a six-point lead on a scoreline of 3-7 to 1-7.
However, some super marksmanship from the superb Daire McDaid – who boomed over a number of serious frees from distance – dragged the hosts back into contention. And with Ardara held scoreless from the 49th minute until the final whistle, a Christy Connaghan three-pointer 60 seconds out from the end of normal time swung the pendulum and, in the process, proved the decisive moment in this one.
Back at the very beginning, Termon shot the first four points of the game to comfortably seize the initial upper hand. McDaid, Anthony McGrenra and Caolan McDaid were the men on song early on for the home charges but with Ardara then pinging 1-6 uninterrupted, they found themselves five points to the good with the interval fast approaching.
Lorcan O’Donnell (2), Concarr (0-2,1f) and CJ Molloy (2) all raised white flags for the Pearse Park outfit while Concarr swept home a goal from close range after Molloy had made a right nuisance of himself under a direct ball in on top on Michael Boyle.
Caolan McDaid and Concarr (free) swapped points but with the former also ramming home a late goal, just two points separated the sides in what was an absorbing and entertaining clash.
Half-time: Ardara 1-7: 1-5 Termon.
A quick fire brace from McDaid immediately after the restart, including a contentious effort that neither umpire could agree on but was finally ruled over by the referee, squared matters up once again.
But with Termon carelessly coughing up possession on the way out from the back, Molloy pounced to muscle through. He rightly offloaded to the inrushing McHugh who completed the simplest of tasks as Ardara again jumped three clear.
Molloy, a real handful all afternoon, then forced Kevin McDaid to drag him down inside the square and with Concarr blasting home from the spot, Ardara looked like they’d one foot out the gate.
Termon, and McDaid in particular, had other ideas. He nailed a series of beautiful efforts from the ground as 3-7 tackled 1-10 as matters entered the final 12 minutes. Concarr, from a free, and Termon replacement Declan O’Donnell both hit the mark as three remained the gap.
Brendan Boyle also got in on the scoring action as Ardara increased their lead to four. Three more massive McDaid punts reeled his side back to within the minimum two minutes out from the end.
And with Shane McElwaine sending one last long and desperate delivery into the area, the deftest of touches from Connaghan left Ardara custodian Cathal Gallagher flat-footed and redirected the ball to the back of the net.
Moments later, full time signalled and it was Termon that celebrated a hard earned but deserving two league points.
Termon: Michael Boyle; Barry Gallagher, Kevin McDaid, Fintan O’Flynn; Stevie McElwaine, Nathan McElwaine, Kevin McElwaine; Jimmy Gallagher, James McSharry; Daniel Connaghan, Christy Connaghan (1-0); Johnny McCafferty (0-1), Daire McDaid (0-6,5f), Anthony McGrenra (0-1), Caolan McDaid (1-5). Subs: Declan O’Donnell (0-1) for J McCafferty, Shane Doherty for B Gallagher (both ht), Johnny McCafferty for D Connaghan (50).
Ardara: Cathal Gallagher; Conor Gallagher, Brian Whyte, John Ross Molloy; Nicolas Maguire, Danny Walsh, Oisin O’Donnell; Conal Boomer, Brendan Boyle (0-1); Paul Watters, Jimmy O’Connell, Gareth Concarr (2-3,2f); Peter McHugh (1-1), CJ Molloy (0-2,1f), Lorcan O’Donnell (0-2). Subs: Kieran Breslin for C Gallagher (15, black card), Brendan McNelis for J O’Connell (ht), Tomás Boyle for P McHugh (56), Johnny Herron for C Boomer (57).
Referee: Liam McConigley.
Tags: