Denn 0-15
Drumalee 0-10 aet

Denn dug deepest in extra time to fend off a plucky Drumalee outfit this evening at Kingspan Breffni Park in Round 2B of the senior football championship.

The signs were more than ominous for the Crosskeys men at half-time (during normal time) as they'd failed to register a single score, having kicked 10 first-half wides and squandered two chances at goal.

However, the winners had erased their three-point deficit early on in the second-half through young stars Ben Conaty and Thomas Edward Donohoe and opened up a two-point lead which they only lost late on thanks to the heroics of Cian Byrne.

Desperate for a score to force extra time, Byrne stepped up to the plate big time for Drumalee with a last gasp long range free but, as sweet as it was, it ended up having no value to the Cavan town men as they fell apart in the closing stages of extra-time. 

Solid for his team throughout the opening half, Daragh Gaffney struck Drumalee into their first lead in this contest after four minutes and the captain found Byrne inside for his side's second minutes later, with Tomas Corr having flashed a goal chance just wide of James Heffernan's post at the other end.

From there, the wides began to mount for both teams but the town side were that bit more accurate in their shooting and moved three clear from a Gaffney free in the 21st minute.

Colin Kiernan crashed a goal chance off Heffernan's crossbar three minutes later, as Denn threatened to get max value from their first score, but they'd have to wait for the second-half to land their opener as Drumalee's backs worked like Trojans in the closing minutes of the half to deny them an umpire's flag.

As it turned out, Francis Clarke's team would surrender their 0-3 to 0-0 interval lead within four minutes of the restart as two Conaty frees and a fine over from Corr had Denn level. They moved into their first lead in the 36th minute from an accurate Donohoe free after county man Corr had been impeded on route to goal.

Enda McCormick and Andrew Fallon had the St Felim's Park outfit back in front with 20 minutes to go, but their opponents' tails were firmly up by this stage as a fine score from Corr, bossing it at midfield for large portions, and more frees from Donohoe and Conaty had them two to the good. Drumalee would lose both McCormick and goalkeeper Heffernan to black cards in the process, with the former's dismissal turning out to be a major blow for them down the long stretch.

A quick brace from the deadly accurate Byrne got his side right back on track and when Fallon cancelled out an individual effort from Damien Callaghan the momentum looked to be with the men in white.

Denn had other ideas however, as seasoned campaigner Colin Kiernan cut through to sail over what looked to be the winner before Byrne's remarkable late intervention from all of 55 metres forced 20 extra minutes.

The Crosskeys contingent had lost key defender Martin Cahill to a black card on the eve of full-time and would also have to so without Colin Kiernan, after he suffered an ankle sprain in the early stages of the first-half. They still made the better start though with their youthful forwards inside earning frees they could stick over themselves, and this time it was Conaty backing up Donohoe's placed ball with a well-executed 45.

Drumalee sent a couple of chances the wrong side of the post, as they began to mirror Denn's first half-performance a bit, before some splendid inter-change inside was finished over by Leigh Dunne, leaving it at 0-11 to 0-10 for the short break.

The second-half was all Denn though, as they made the most of missed chances from their counterparts to seal the victory with a late barrage of scores from Conaty (2), Dean Hyland (free) and sub Michael Keogan to book their berth in the next round, whilst consigning Drumalee to a relegation battle.

Denn: Brian Boylan; Bernard Galligan, Adrian Cahill, Andrew Cusack-Smith; Martin Cahill, Damien Callaghan (0-1), Michael Gaffney; Tomas Corr (0-2), Stephen McPartland; Bernard Gaffney, Colin Kiernan (0-1), Dean Hyland (0-1, 1f); Thomas Edward Donohoe (0-3, 3f), Ben Conaty (0-6, 3f , 1 45), Aidan McKiernan. Subs: Cormac Cusack-Smith for A Kiernan (58), Conor O'Reilly for D Hyland (58), Michael Keogan (0-1) for M Cahill (60, BC), Hyland for J Kiernan (70).

Drumalee: James Heffernan; Peter McGinnity, Tommy Walsh, Kevin Gavigan; Tomas O'Keeffe, Enda McCormick (0-1), Fionnan Lee; Andrew Fallon (0-2), Jimmy Fallon; Leigh Dunne (0-1), Daragh Gaffney (0-2, 1f), Michael Higgins; David Goldrick, Cian Byrne (0-4, 1f), Ciaran Brady. Subs: Michael Goldrick for M Higgins (35mins), Dara Donohoe for D Goldrick (45), Kevin Downey for E McCormick (45, BC), Sean O'Kane for J Heffernan (46, BC), Eamon Quinn for C Brady (59), Ryan Loftus for T Walsh (70), Higgins for M Goldrick (73), Sammy Brady for K Gavigan (74).

Ref: John Emo (Butlersbridge)

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