Five-star Ardee win battle of the Celtics

CHORD CELTIC 2NDS 0

Ardee Celtic put a depleted Chord Celtic 2nds to the sword on Friday night as they eased to a thumping victory at Townparks.

It’s been a fantastic start to Division 1 for the Deesiders who have made it back-to-back wins from their opening two games, without conceding a goal.

In their five opening games Chord Celtic 2nds have had to play on the same night as their first team three times and that has really hampered their chances of making a meaningful impact in the second tier of the league.

One solitary draw has been the only success to date for Jamie King’s team who lost no fewer than seven players to emigration in pre-season and they were only able to name three subs on the night.

Ardee, though, weren’t showing the Drogheda team any mercy and they hit the front on 13 minutes thanks to Shane O’Donoghue’s sublime solo goal.

There was a relentless element to Ardee’s play and they went on to lead 4-0 by at half-time.

With 20 minutes on the clock Aaron Dunne played through the experienced Trevor Farrell and he finished with aplomb past goalkeeper Robert Murray.

Kenneth Hurley, making his first start of the season, had a few half-chances for Chord, but his side were living off scraps and just before the half-hour mark Ardee’s Bryan O’Connor picked out O’Donoghue with a well-angled pass and the striker scored the second of his two goals on the night.

O’Connor himself completed the first-half scoring on 45 minutes after Jayden Clarke put him through.

Both sides made changes early in the second half and the game became much more fragmented.

Niall Gates gave Chord some fresh impetus up front after being introduced, but they just couldn’t break down a tenacious Ardee defence and with six minutes remaining Clarke scored to complete another resounding victory for a very young Ardee side. For Clarke that makes it one goal and one assist in both league games this season.

Things don’t get easier for Chord Celtic as they are down to travel to Duleek on Sunday, and on the same day their first team are on the road also, meaning it will be another bare squad for King.

Ardee CELTIC: Declan Butler, Desmond Jibona, Aaron Dunne, Karlos Kayode, Evan Doheny, Robbie Reynolds (Aaron Roche), Jayden Clarke, Shauni Dowdall, Bryan O’Connor, Trevor Farrell, Shane O’Donoghue (Brendan Matthews).

Chord CELTIC: Robert Murray, Brian Butler, Dean Fitzpatrick (Niall Gates), Gary Smith (Kevin Carroll), Cian O’Brien, Johnny Carroll, Alan Beattie, Jamie King, Emmanuel Johnson (Aaron McCormack), Jordan Brannigan, Kenneth Hurley.