MC GUIGAN BUILDERS INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.
Cremartin 2-11, Drumhowan 2-8.
Cremartin held out in a storming finish to consign Drumhowan to keeping their championship hopes alive through the backdoor in this full-blooded contest that built to a dramatic climax in Pearse Park, Ballybay on Saturday evening last. In a game where the standard of play was affected at times by the prevailing wet conditions this was also a match that threw up a number of incidents that at certain stages threatened to boil over and quite a few talking points as well. At one stage in the first half it looked as if Cremartin would cruise to victory as the Darren Bishop/ Kevin Brennan axis up front took control with some sublime scores and the imperious Niall Flanagan mopping up everything from his centre back berth. That all changed dramatically just before half-time when Drumhowan crashed in a goal in the 36th minute, the length of the added time due to an injury to Macarten Carroll that saw him stretchered off with a suspected broken ankle and later removed by ambulance to hospital. That goal though breathed new life into Drumhowan and they were a transformed team in the second-half as they chased and harried with purpose and had Cremartin back pedaling for a long periods. Ultimately though Drumhowan could not make the big breakthrough they needed and Cremartin rallied at vital times to register scores, particularly a goal from a penalty, as the game entered into the final 10 minutes to hold out for victory. For Cremartin the game marked the return to first team action of Gary Boyd and he contributed substantially to their victory by this was a victory at a cost as Macarten Carroll’s injury looks like ruling him out for the rest of the season.
Drumhowan got off to a very promising start with a point from a free by Colm Lambe inside the first minute following a foul on Steven McGinnity. Drumhowan might well have extended their lead two minutes later and Cremartin were also off target from a free before Drumhowan registered their second point in the seventh minute through Pauric Atkinson following good work by Darren Duffy who had an excellent game throughout. Four minutes later Cremartin were level when Darren Bishop took a hand in proceedings and a brace from him in the ninth and 11th minutes, both skillfully executed scores, had Cremartin level. Kevin Brennan put Cremartin in front for the first time in the 14th minute for a lead they never subsequently relinquished and as the Brennan /Bishop axis began to influence matters increasingly Cremartin had extended their lead to four points by the 21st minute. Darren Bishop hit two and the other came from a free by Barry Carragher after Bishop had been fouled. Drumhowan lifted the siege briefly in the 23rd minute when a move involving Christopher McGinnity, Paul McGuirk and full-back Paddy Duffy saw Colm Lambe register their third point. From there to the half hour mark though it was again all Cremartin as they registered a goal and three points without reply in a blistering five minutes spell. Kevin Brennan started the rush when he got on the end of a long ball in from Gary Boyd to wrong foot a couple of defenders and give Enda Duffy in the Drumhowan goals no chance from close range. Barry Carragher pointed a free in the 26th minute, Gary Boyd fired over a magnificent effort from distance in the 27th and Boyd was then provider for Kevin Brennan for a sublime score in the 29th to leave nine points between the sides and Drumhowan looking in deep trouble. A promising Drumhowan attack as the game went into stoppage time was broken up by Cremartin but in the ensuing exchanges Macartan Carroll picked up an injury that was later reported as a suspected broken ankle and following lengthy treatment on the pitch he was removed by stretcher. Referee Kieran Mulligan restarted play by throwing up the ball, Drumhowan won possession with Enda McElroy working the ball through to Colm Lambe who crashed to the roof of the Cremartin net to throw his side a real life line and leave six points between the sides at the break, Cremartin 1-9, Drumhowan 1-3.
That goal injected a whole new enthusiasm and new life into Drumhowan and they got off to a blistering start to the second half with a goal and two points in the opening four minutes bringing the margin down to the minimum and throwing the issue wide-open.. Colm Lambe converted a free in the second minute to bring the margin down to five, a minute later the margin was down to two when Lambe was on hand to pull on a loose ball following a handling error in the Cremartin area and their previous, almost total dominance of the first half seemed to have evaporated. Dermot McDermott pointed for Drumhowan in the fourth minute to leave the minimum between the sides and by the time Cremartin rallied for a point from a free by Barry Carragher in the ninth minute Drumhowan might well have wiped out the deficit completely but were wide of the mark from two scoreable frees. Approaching the end of the third quarter Drumhowan had the margin down to the minimum again with a point by Christopher McGinnity at the end of a move involving Darren Duffy, Kevin Mooney, Stephen McGinnity and Colm Lambe. That however was as good as it was to get for Drumhowan as Cremartin rallied with Darren Bishop and Kevin Brennan conspiring to create an opening that saw Brennan placed for a run on goal only to be fouled for a penalty that was summarily dispatched by Bishop to put his side back into a five points lead. Prior to that Barry Carragher had pointed a free for a foul on Kevin Brennan and even though that goal was to be their final score of the game Drumhowan were unable to wipe out the deficit as moves broke down or erratic finishing saw a series of chances go amiss. To their credit they did not let their heads go down and fought to the bitter end to register a points by Colm Lambe and Stephen McGinnity, both from frees, to leave the game finely balanced on a three points margin entering the final minutes. In the final two minutes of normal time and the one-minute plus of stoppage time that was added on Drumhowan had two further chances but one fell short and was cleared while the other was again wide of target to leave Cremartin advancing through the winners section and Drumhowan facing a battle for survival through the back door system. However on their second half display in particular there is ample evidence that they can still have a major influence on the destination of the intermediate championship.
Teams and Scorers: Cremartin: Christopher Farrell, Declan Mulligan, Michael Malone, Macartan Carroll, Declan Farrell, Niall Flanagan, Liam Atkinson, Gerard Malone, Ciaran Carragher, Gary Boyd 0-1, Barry Carragher 0-4, Kevin Brennan 1-2, Darren Bishop 1-4, Gregory Flanagan, Philip Markey. Subs: Ronan Burke for M Carroll.
Drumhowan: Enda Duffy, Gavin Sheridan, Paddy Duffy, Damien Mooney, Darren Duffy, Niall Mooney, Kevin Mooney, Christopher McGinnity 0-2, Dermot McDermott 0-1, Paul McGuirk, Pauric Atkinson 0-1, Enda McElroy, Stephen McGinnity, Damien Duffy, Colm Lambe 2-4. Subs: Dermot Mooney for Damien Duffy, Ciaran McElroy for P McGuirk, Mark O’Neill for Damien Mooney, Kieran Deery for P Atkinson.
Referee: Kieran Mulligan (Aghabog).
