MC GUIGAN BUILDERS INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.
Truagh 2-19, Drumhowan 0-7.
Truagh experienced little difficulty in booking their place in the next round of the intermediate football championship at the expense of Drumhowan in this quite one-sided contest that was played in Emyvale on Saturday evening last. This game as a contest was effectively over by the half way mark, by which stage they were ahead by 10 points, 1-11 to 0-4 and were pretty much on top in every sector. In the second half Truagh continued to dominate and pulled further and further in front with Drumhowan chasing a hopeless cause but to their credit they continued to defend as best they could and strive for openings but always against superior odds. Truagh led at the three quarter stage by 12 points with the final stages played out in something of a surreal atmosphere as daylight faded quickly and the eventual winners hit an unanswered 1-4 in the final 10 minutes to win by 18 at the finish.
Truagh were never headed in the entire contest but they will look to be more clinical in future games. They led by three points after six minutes, Christopher McKenna on target after 20 seconds, adding a second in the third minute and then Padraig McKenna from a free in the sixth minute before Drumhowan opened their account in the seventh minute with a point by Darren Duffy. Two minutes later Truagh had extended their lead to five points when Niall Coyle went on a great run down the left wing before crashing to the Drumhowan net and they went on to add two further points in quick succession, both from frees, by Mark Counihan and Christopher McKenna to lead by seven after just 13 minutes. An exchange of points between Drumhowan substitute Paul McGuirk and Truagh corner forward Mark Counihan still left seven between them after 16 minutes, but two minutes later Drumhowan had the margin down to six with a good point by Anthony Mulligan who worked tirelessly throughout. Truagh again reasserted their superiority with points by Barry Cuddy in the 22nd minute and Rory Treanor in the 24th minute, Christopher McKenna having a hand in both with Drumhowan then converting a free by Darren Duffy to leave the margin at seven yet again. By the half time whistle though Truagh had extended that lead to 10 points with three unanswered strikes in the run in to half time, Niall Coyle in the 28th minute, Mark Counihan a minute into stoppage time and Christopher McKenna from a long-range free two minutes later to leave the half-time score Truagh 1-11, Drumhowan 0-4.
The sides exchanged points in the early minutes of the second half through Darren Duffy and Padraig McKenna, but Truagh were now somewhat wasteful from a number of good chances and another exchange of points in the seventh and eighth minutes between David Millar for Drumhowan from a free and Truagh substitute Sean McKenna left 10 points between the sides after nine minutes. Truagh now tried to engineer a goal from a couple of moves and then extended their lead to 12 points with points by Barry Cuddy and Padraig McKenna from a free. Drumhowan hit their final score of the game in the 18th minute of the second-half with a point by Anthony Mulligan after good work by David Millar who was one of the Drumhowan’s best on the night with Truagh then finishing the game off completely with an unanswered 1-4 between the 21st and 30th minutes, substitute Sean McKenna with 1-2 and points by Padraig McKenna from a free and Rory Treanor to wrap up a comprehensive victory.
Teams and Scorers: Truagh: Ian Treanor, John McCarron, Niall Feeley, Niall McQuillan, Niall Coyle 1-1, Rory Treanor 0-2, Aidan Coyle, Pauric Treanor, Neil McRory, Barry Cuddy 0-2, Padraig McKenna 0-4 (3f), Eoin Kelly, Gary Todd 0-1, Christopher Mckenna 0-4 (2f), mark Counihan 0-2 (1f). Subs: Sean McKenna 1-3 for C McKenna, Alan McKenna for P Treanor, Darren Todd for A Coyle, John Treanor for E Kelly.
Drumhowan: Enda Duffy, Conor Duffy, Ciaran Duffy, Niall Mooney, Dermot Mooney, Liam McGuirk, Aiden Quinn, Ciaran Deery, Anthony Mulligan 0-2, Michael Atkinson, Damien Mooney, Darren Duffy 0-3 (1f), Patrick Mulligan, David Millar 0-1 (f), Mark McCabe. Subs: Paul McGuirk 0-1 for P Mulligan, Kieran McElroy for D Mooney, Josh Sherry for M McCabe, Ronan Duffy for N Mooney. Referee: Kieran Rudden (Killeevan).
