MC GUIGAN BUILDERS INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.
Drumhowan 1-10, Donaghmoyne 0-10.
Drumhowan had to withstand a spirited fight back by 14 man Donaghmoyne before securing victory in their opening McGuigan Builders intermediate championship game in Castleblayney on Saturday evening last. In the early stages Drumhowan looked to have matters under control, leading by eight points at the end of a scintillating first half and victory looking assured but thereafter they contrived to make life difficult for themselves as Donaghmoyne raised their game following the dismissal of Rory Woods on a second yellow card some 14 minutes into the second half. Thereafter it was a backs to the wall effort for Drumhowan as Donaghmoyne fashioned a strong final quarter and with a little more luck in the finishing stakes might well have turned around. They created quite a number of chances and had Drumhowan on the rack entering the final minutes with the woodwork in particular coming to the rescue of the Geraldines in those frenetic final minutes as Donaghmoyne came in search of a goal that would have at least given them a replay. Even then Donaghmoyne were not finished with Mattie Reilly coming on a great run out of defence to put further pressure on the Drumhowan defence although at the other end James McElroy was unfortunate when he saw an injury time free come back off the upright. It was just one of those games but Drumhowan will look back on a match that they should have had wrapped up but then made hard work of holding out for victory as they lost their formation and fluency. Donaghmoyne for their part will look back on a first half when they simply failed to establish any foothold in the game with the usually reliable Rory Woods even somewhat out of sorts from free kicks. It was another disappointing day for the county man and he suffered the ultimate sanction with a second yellow card dismissal for a late challenge on Enda McElroy approaching the half way stage of the second-half. Drumhowan made all the early running in this match with James McElroy opening the scoring with a point in the first minute and he might well have had the ball in the Donaghmoyne net two minutes later but his effort was turned out for an abortive ‘45. Rory Woods brought Donaghmoyne level in the first minute but Drumhowan again picked up the pace to register points by David Millar in the sixth minute and James McElroy from a free in the ninth minute after Millar had been fouled. Ruairi Woods pulled one back for Donaghmoyne in the 14th minute when he got on the end of a good centre by Niall Kelly but Drumhowan responded with another period of scintillating play that saw James McElroy lashing over the bar in the 15th minute after good work by Niall Mooney and Kieran Mooney. Staying on the offensive Drumhowan struck a major blow two minutes later with Colm Lambe finding the net in the 17th minute when he was well placed by Dermot McDermott. Ruairi Woods pulled one back for Donaghmoyne in the 19th minute to leave four between the sides but by the 24th minute Drumhowan had extended their lead to seven with points by James McElroy in the 20th, Kieran Mooney in the 22nd, at the end of a move started by Damien Duffy in defence, and Colm Lambe with an excellent strike from a free out along the wing in the 24th minute. Play became a little scrappy at this stage with four yellow cards handed out, two to each side before Rory Woods pulled back a point for Donaghmoyne in the 27th minute to reduce the deficit to six. By the halfway stage though Drumhowan had extended their advantage to eight points with a brace from James McElroy and Darren Duffy in the space of a minute to leave the half-time score Drumhowan 1-9, Donaghmoyne 0-4.
Donaghmoyne started the second half with renewed purpose and two points in the opening minute, the first by Ruairi Woods after 15 seconds, and the second by Colm Connolly brought the margin down to six and indicated that this game was far from over. Nine minutes had elapsed before Drumhowan got their first score of the second half when Kieran Mooney finished well following good work by Kevin Mooney and James McElroy but Donaghmoyne were growing in stature and struck back for three on the trot between the 13th and 17th minutes, two from frees by Pauric Donaghy and the other, also from a free, by Ruairi Woods. In that period Donaghmoyne suffered a bad blow when they were reduced to 14 players with the dismissal of Rory Woods on a second yellow card. From there to the finish though they exerted increasing pressure on Drumhowan who did not score for the remainder of the game but Donaghmoyne could only pull back one point for all their work and that from John Kingham when he got a hand to a centre from a ‘45 by Pauric Donaghy five minutes from the end of normal time to leave three points between the sides at the finish.
Teams and Scorers: Drumhowan: Enda Duffy, Gavan Sheridan, Liam McGuirk, Damien Mooney, Damien Duffy, Darren Duffy 0-1, Kevin Mooney, Enda McElroy, Dermot McDermott, Michael Mooney, Niall Mooney, Kieran Mooney 0-2, David Millar 0-1, James McElroy 0-5, Colm Lambe 1-1. Subs: Stephen McGinnity for D Millar, Christopher McGinnity for M Mooney, Kieran McElroy for E McElroy.
Donaghmoyne: Kevin Clarke, Stephen Martin, John Cumiskey, Bernard Kelly, Mattie Reilly, Kieran Lynch, Francis McBride, John Kingham 0-1, Christopher Deery, Niall Kelly, Pauric Donaghy 0-2 (2f), Paul Kingham, Ruairi Woods 0-3 (1f), Colm Connolly 0-1, Rory Woods 0-2 (1f). Subs: John Farrell for N Kelly, Seamus Meehan for K Lynch, Maurice Cumiskey for F McBride, Shane McElroy for P Kingham.
Referee: Hugh Leonard (Oram).
