Ardagh edge Killala in thrilling Mayo club championship opener

GAA - MAYO JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Killala 0-14

Ardagh 1-12

In Killala

The Mayo club Championship is back with a bang.

With the game entering its final quarter and Ardagh seven to the good following Sean Moore’s point, the points seemed destined to be heading the way of the visitors.

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However, a red card to Tom Verkonda, coupled with the totemic Ben Stowe landing the first two-pointer in Mayo championship history, had their old rivals on the ropes.

The sizeable crowd were on tenterhooks, and both sides were crying out for a saviour. Thankfully, for Ardagh, Brendan Carr’s marauding run through a phalanx of Killala jerseys saw him receive the ball and fire over the bar, and the roar told you all you needed to know.

Killala got the first point of the game, and indeed the competition, when Ray Murphy found the sticks within 40 seconds.

Unfortunately for the hosts, such fortune didn’t favour them in the fourth minute. James Carr’s free from outside the '45 cannoned off the left post and into the path of Stephen Rochford.

The captain duly found the net to the delight of his side.

A Carr single followed, but Ray Murphy nipped inside to double his account, and Ben Stowe’s brace had the scales balanced.

A placed Carr free from distance edged the visitors ahead again, before a simpler placed ball doubled the advantage.

Stowe’s free brought it back to one, but Carr slipped through tackles like an eel to cancel that one out.

Kevin Moran punished a Killala breach, and Brendan Carr opted for a white flag sensibly when a half-goal chance emerged.

Both sides had shown well, and a four-point deficit would have been harsh on the men in blue. Thankfully for them, the first half ended with a fine buzzer-beating effort from Stowe to leave just a point between the teams.

Ardagh put the foot on the throttle after half time and moved up the gears early on, with a Kevin Moran free, Brendan Carr’s second, and an Enda O’Hora single opening up daylight.

Sean Gildea responded for Killala, and they had a chance to bring it back to two with a goal. Gildea was winding up the missile, but misfired, and the O’Neill’s came straight back and went up the field.

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Sadly for the men in black, their shooting boots evaded them once again with the posts at their mercy, a running theme in this one.

While midfielders Sean Moore and Paddy Walsh both kept the scoreboard ticking, there were murmurings in the terraces that wastefulness could be Ardagh's downfall.

That very nearly was the case. Killala found renewed vigour and put their all into reeling in their neighbours, and were spearheaded by the irrepressible Stowe.

The clock was in the red when the full–forward’s placed ball resumed parity and heightened tensions even further.

Either side could have won it, but Brendan Carr’s salvo proved all-important and could be crucial by the end of the group stage.

A full report, plus reaction, will be carried in Tuesday’s edition of The Mayo News