Charlestown Sarsfields lost out to Ardnaree in the battle of the Sarsfields in round 8 of the Division 1B of the County Senior League played at Sean Duffy Park, Ardnaree recently.

             The Charlestown version of the Sarsfields lost out on a scoreline of 0-13 to 1-6 and truth to tell they could have few complaints as they played second fiddle to a well drilled and organised Ardnaree side for most of the exchanges apart from  a brief period in the second half when they looked like seizing the initiative.

               The green and white`s performance lacked any real intensity and authority as they sleep walked their way through most of first half despite having the aid of a stiff breeze at their backs.

                They never really got to the pitch of the battle so to speak and were far too passive in their approach as they stood off their opponents and allowed them  to weave pretty patterns in terms of possession

                    Jack Reilly opened Charlestown`s account with a belter of a point from long range to put them in front but the home side responded well with two good points of their own as they adopted a very smart game plan feeding the ball through the hands as much possible thus depriving Charlestown of possession and territory.

                       Charlestown responded with two cracking points of their own as both Paul Towey and Niall Murphy hit two beauties from long range to edge the visitors in front with fifteen gone on the clock.

                  The home side didn`t panic however  as they continued  to play very  methodically and while their shooting was wayward and errant at times they tagged on their third point to leave the game tied at 3 points apiece with ten minutes remaining in the first half.

                    The green and white men did look dangerous on their forays into the Ardnaree half  but their shooting lacked composure as balls drifted left and  right of the posts which only added to their sense of frustration.The green and white also coughed up a great goal chance as Jack Reilly`s effort was well saved with Paul Towey also thwarted from the rebound as his shot was superbly blocked on the line by some terrific last gasp Ardnaree defending.

                          One had the nagging feeling that the green and white lads might have cause to regret these misses later in the game as all they could tag on were two points from frees from the trustee boot of Colm Maye with the home side also scoring from a free with the very last kick of the first half to leave Charlestown holding a very tenuous looking 0-5 to 0-4 lead. 

                  The home side came out all guns blazing for the second half as they set about the task of dismantling the Charlestown challenge. They had the added plus of a freshening wind at their backs and it did not take them long to put down a marker as they hit two quick points to take the lead for the first time  in the match.

                   The green and white were struggling to get anything going in the attacking third as balls were lost or fumbled which only gave further impetus to the home side as they landed two further points to push their lead out to four which was pretty considerable given how the game was unfolding.

                    The green and white challenge looked pretty lifeless to say the least but they were handed a massive boost eighteen minutes in when they managed to string together their only real move of quality  with Patrick Goldrick capitlising on a loose Ardnaree handpass as he played in Niall Murphy who was galloping down the left flank in acres of space. He placed Matt Lenehan with an inch perfect pass  who duly found Paul Towey loitering just  outside the small square with a peach of a ball and Towey did what he does best as he finished  calmly to the net to haul the Charlestown right back into the game.

                One would have expected the goal to have refloated the Charlestown challenge as they were beginning to gain a foothold in the middle of the park. The expected glut of scores never arrived however as Ardnaree, far from despondent at conceding the goal,  stayed true to their style of play and hit four points in the closing ten minutes with the green and white managing to just one solitary white flag in contrast as chances came and went with their finishing tally of 1-6 just about summing up their inertia in front of goal.

                The home side`s victory was fully merited as they were much more cohesive and economical in possesson and took the bulk of the chances that came their way.

                For the green and white this was one of those evening`s you get every now and again where they never really got started with honourable mention to the likes of Gerard McLoughlin, Gareth O`Donnell, Paul Towey and Matt Lenehan who were the pick from what was a very mediocre overall  performance.