Belturbet 1-11
Shercock 1-11

Belturbet rescued a late draw from a soaking wet Kingspan Breffni Park tonight to deny Shercock an upset in this intermediate football championship quarter-final.

In the end, the Rories had player/manager Jason O'Reilly to thank for the result, having come on with 20 minutes to go to inspire his side after they'd let their early lead slip down to being three points adrift, with the former Cavan star grabbing what proved the levelling score five minutes from time.

Brendan Fitzpatrick (0-5) and Damien O'Reilly were also instrumental towards the end and it was Niall Lawlor's 11th minute penalty that looked to have them cruising until Shercock came to life through the scores of Niall Clerkin and Declan McIntyre to gain the lead just before half-time.

Killian Clarke helped to cushion last year's beaten finalists' advantage to three before they landed a hammer blow in the early stages of the final quarter which saw Ryan Clerkin raise the green flag that looked to be Belturbet's curtain call.

However, in the last 10 minutes the former senior outfit dominated around the centre and outscored their opponents by 0-4 to nothing, with Fitzpatrick and substitute O'Reilly to the fore, to earn another shot at a semi-final berth.

Belturbet were off the mark inside two minutes through a Brendan Fitzpatrick free and Shane Fitzpatrick doubled the advantage before the Rories lost Enda Henry to a black card in the eighth minute. The centre-forward would be replaced by Conal McGinley and the resultant free was stroked over by Niall Clerkin for Shercock's first score.

O'Reilly's charges hit back in the best possible fashion when Stuart Dunne cut inside from his corner-forward station and got himself axed down for a penalty which Lawlor tucked away expertly past Colin Courtney to regain the lead for his side.

Two Clerkin frees brought Barry O'Reilly's men right back into contention by the quarter hour mark and when Declan McIntyre cracked off the underside of the bar the maroons were fortunate to scramble the ball to safety. McIntyre would eventually get himself a score after he was threaded through by John McEnroe and when Clerkin sent over his first point from play in the 23rd minute the teams would be all square.

Belturbet grabbed a sorely needed score through Cavan senior Damien O'Reilly but they couldn't halt their opponents' momentum from continuing to flow, as Declan and Damien McIntyre raised two more white flags to outweigh a fine effort from Brendan Fitzpatrick which Clerkin (free) cancelled out just before the break to leave it at 0-8 to 1-4.

Clarke opened up a two-point gap within three minutes of the resumption before Damien O'Reilly, who was moved to centre-field to great effect, looped over a superb free but scores from Dean O'Reilly and Clarke (free) kept Shercock in command heading towards the final quarter.

It was around that stage that the trailers introduced O'Reilly to the fray and their veteran talisman would have a vital say for the Rories towards the end.

Brendan Fitzpatrick (free) and Cian Vaughan kept them within touching distance but the game looked to have got away from them in the 46th minute when Danny Anscombe's kick-out fell short and saw Ryan Clerkin one-two with McEnroe to pave a way through on goal and the wing forward made no mistake in burying the ball low to the net.

Shercock should have kicked on from there but they shot two bad wides via Clarke and Niall Clerkin that surely would have sealed them the win had they went over.

It gave Belturbet a fighting chance which they grabbed with both hands as frees from Fitzpatrick and O'Reilly narrowed the difference to two with 10 minutes to go and when the former composed himself for a fine score in the 53rd minute they began to look the likely side.

Shercock laboured to battle back but they lost their shape up front, with a long range effort tallying their 13th wide of the game before Eoin McGuigan sent through O'Reilly for the levelling score - a terrific effort of his left boot - which will see the teams meet again, presumably next weekend, to decide which one advances through to the last four.

Belturbet: Danny Anscombe; Shane Fitzpatrick (0-1), Peter Shannon, Mark Lawlor; Mark Teevan, Kevin McConnell, Damien O'Reilly (0-2, 1f); Cian Vaughan (0-1), Eoin McGuigan; Donal McDonald, Enda Henry, Brendan Fitzpatrick (0-5, 3f); Barry O'Reilly, Niall Lawlor (1-0, pen), Stuart Dunne. Subs: Conor McGinnity for E Henry (8mins, b/c), John Cahill for M Teevan (32, inj), Jason O'Reilly (0-2, 1f) for D McDonald (38), Cillian O'Reilly for B O'Reilly (48), Niall O'Reilly for C Vaughan (60, b/c).

Shercock: Colin Courtney; James McMahon, Colin Clerkin, Liam Og O'Reilly; Damien McIntyre (0-1), Shane Clarke, Michael McEneaney; Brian Sankey, Sean Magee; Dean O'Reilly (0-1), Declan McIntyre (0-2), Ryan Clerkin (1-0); Niall Clerkin (0-5, 4f), Killian Clarke (0-2, 1f), John McEnroe. Sub: Daniel Clarke for J McEnroe (50).

Ref: Conor Dourneen (Ballinagh)

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