Ballyhaise 2-9
Drumlane 1-11

Ballyhaise had little to spare over a stubborn Drumlane outfit this evening at Kingspan Breffni Park to book their place into the last four of the intermediate football championship.

First-half goals from Kevin Tierney and Padraig Moore were salient for the winners after conceding an early goal themselves and then being made to survive a late comeback from Drumlane, after Ollie Fay's side had gone scoreless for 20 minutes of the second-half.

JP Kelly's goal two minutes in looked to have handed the west Cavan men the perfect start before Tierney quickly cancelled out with a green flag of his own and they'd push on towards a three-point lead, but their opponents battled back to level on the eve of half-time when Moore registered Ballyhaise's second major.

Phelim Plunkett's team would push the lead to four and miss a penalty early in the second-half, as Drumlane struggled to string together profitable attacks, but there was one final push in the trailers which saw Gary Tubman land a late brace, leaving his side in need of a goal that never came, as the green and golds advanced.

It only took Ballyhaise under a minute to open their account with a Moore free before Drumlane responded in the best possible fashion when Donal O'Reilly turned his man inside and sent Kelly though for a brilliantly taken goal.

It didn't take long for Ballyhaise to respond in kind after Tierney spotted a gap in the Milltown men's defence and raced through to bury his shot low beyond Gareth Corrigan.

A sweetly struck free from Ryan Connolly levelled the sides but the next two scores would come from the boot of Tierney, who looked menacing when he was on the ball, and when Colm Reilly lashed over a gem Ballyhaise looked to be on their way towards a comfortable lead.

After some great work from Kelly, Gary Tubman notched a badly required score for Drumlane in the 13th minute and they were fortunate not to concede a second goal on the quarter hour mark when Corrigan raced off his line to ensure Shane McKiernan's pass wouldn't find Moore in space.

Instead Kelly (free) and Ciaran Crowe tied up the game by the 20th minute and the Sons of O'Connell would move back into the lead two minutes later when John O'Dowd and Kelly combined to set-up Ciaran O'Reilly, who turned and fired over from 40 metres.

Connolly tacked on another free from the right flank to edge his side two in front but the closing stages of the half would see the leaders' haemorrhage cheap scores, as Barry McRudden and Tierney shot over in plenty of space ahead of a Moore tapping home a simple goal after Drumlane's backs were caught napping by a cutely taken Tierney free, leaving it at 2-6 to 1-6 for the interval.

A Moore free was quickly cancelled out by Fergal Brady in the early stages of the resumption and Ballyhaise would have the chance to double their lead seven minutes in when Corrigan brought down Tierney in the square. The Drumlane 'keeper would deny the Cavan forward with a fine save and clearance but they'd be fortunate not to conceded minutes later when Tierney tore through and the ball eventually found Moore, who rounded Corrigan but smashed his effort off the top of the crossbar and over.

It meant Drumlane would be trying to overturn a four-point deficit for the last quarter but it would be a struggle as they'd lost whatever shape they had up front in the first-half and turned the ball over too much in transition. Kelly ended a 20-minute scoring drought for them with a 30-metre free, as the wides, 12 in total, piled up for Ballyhaise and when Tubman shot over a quick brace of points the former Cavan minor put his side within one.

Moore pushed it back to two, leaving Drumlane in need of a late goal but could only manage a point when Connolly's high ball into the square was fisted over the bar, instead of under, leaving them one short and Ballyhaise with a semi-final berth to savour.

Ballyhaise: Rory Donnellan; Francis Moore, Mark Brennan, Fiachra McGoldrick; Barry Kelly, Sean McCormack, Adam Boyle; Conor Lyons, Barry McRudden (0-1); Kevin Tierney (1-3), Colm Reilly (0-1), Niall Costello; Martin Conaty, Padraig Moore (1-4, 2f), Shane McKiernan. Subs: Shane Briody for A Boyle (HT), Marcus Duffy for N Costello (55mins), Ciaran McGowan for C Reilly (60).

Drumlane: Gareth Corrigan; Donal Monahan, John O'Dowd, Sean Smith; JP Kelly (1-2, 2f), Dane O'Dowd, Darragh Brady; Kian Monahan, Ciaran Crowe (0-1); Francis Lunney, Ryan Connolly (0-2, 2f), Gary Tubman (0-3); Ciaran O'Reilly (0-1), Fergal Brady (0-2), Donal O'Reilly. Subs: Cormac Fitzpatrick for C O'Reilly (HT), James Greene for C Fitzpatrick (54).

Ref: Oliver Og O'Reilly (Mullahoran)

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