League Division 3 (Sunday 2-November-97)

Lahardane keep Parke lower down

Lahardane.....................1-10
Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin.......0-10

Composed application was the key to Lahardane's crucial success as James Gillespie and Shane Blake co-ordinated a midfield display which keeps the North Mayo club in the running for promotion, and which consigns Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin to Division 3 football for another year. Where Lahardane were composed, their opponents were uptight and tense, allowing indiscipline to infiltrate their performance at crucial moments. Never more so than when Parke manager, Frank McHale, was forced to substitute key midfielder, Padraig Lynch, whose on-field fury tested the referee's patience.

Lynch's exit confirmed success for Gillespie and Blake who accounted for six points between them and generally directed affairs from the engine room. After Harry Flynn and John Rowland had swapped first minute points, Kenny Hyland and Flynn, again from a free, opened up a 10th minute two point lead for the homeside before Lahardane's dynamic duo came into their own.

Blake and Gillespie combined intuitively as the latter fed the former for two excellent points, and floated over two quality frees himself, as Lahardane opened up a 0-7 to 0-3 lead by the 21st minute when Tom Cawley struck a 21 yard free.

Just as Parke began to haul themselves back into the game with points by Harry Flynn and Pat McHale, Cawley struck for the game's crucial score beating Darren Flynn in the Parke goal at the second time of asking to make it 1-7 to 0-5 at the break.

That Lahardane only scored three points after half time and still claimed the two that counted is testament to the composed defensive display by Damien Kelly, Anthony McDermott and Trevor Marley in particular as they never allowed Parke and equalising score after they came tantalisingly close. A series of frees from Harry Flynn, plus a point from Pat McHale closed the gap to the minimum after forty minutes before Lahardane got back into scoring vein with Blake and Vincent Cawley, from a narrow angle, sandwiching another Flynn free, before Padraig Lynch rattled the crossbar with a screamer which left Enda Coyne flapping. Despite the best efforts of Kieran Moran, Tom Walsh and Anthony Dunne in defence there was still time for Blake to side-step Martin Keavney and score superbly the point which keeps Lahardane in the hunt for Intermediate football next year.

Lahardane: E. Coyne, A. Marley, D, Kelly, F. Bryan, M. Marley, A. McDermott, A. Irwin, J. Gillespie (0-2); S. Blake (0-4); N. Garrett, J. Rowland (0-1); V. Cawley (0-2); D. Leonard, G. Burke, T. Cawley (1-1). Sub.: B. Rowland (for Garrett).