Drumlane 1-15
Redhills 0-10

Ryan Connolly struck for 0-9 as Drumlane got their intermediate championship campaign off to a winning start at Redhills' expense last night at Emmet Park, Butlersbridge.

The Milltown men dominated large portions of the second-half for their victory, outscoring their opponents by 1-7 to 0-3 during the 30-minute period, with Conor Connolly coming off the bench to tuck away their goal on the hour mark.

Redhills had made the better start in this championship opener thanks to a pair of frees from former county senior Turloc Mooney - earned by Joe Callan and Cormac Brides, respectively, but Drumlane would have the lead before the quarter hour mark.

A menacing drive forward from Dane O'Dowd, who was superb throughout at centre-field, reaped the trailers' first point and the ex-Cavan defender would have their second before Ryan Connolly landed his first for the 0-3 to 0-2 advantage.

The victors kicked on with Connolly lashing over two more (one a free) before Sean Smith set him loose through the centre for his fourth point inside two minutes and Redhills were fortunate at that stage that it didn't ripple Paul Martin's net.

Having conceded an unanswered 0-6 in the space of 13 minutes, the border men made a healthy recovery with a free from Mooney, won by Killian McSherry, being backed up by Mark Kelly lofting one over from 40 metres and sub Darragh Duggan capitalising on a mix up in the Drumlane defence.

McSherry earned another free for Mooney to tap over, levelling the sides, and they looked to be heading in all square at the break after Connolly and Mooney (free) erased each other's efforts.

Right on the eve of half-time though, Fergal Brady launched a high effort with some 'hang time' which eventually dropped back down over Martin's crossbar, giving Drumlane the 0-8 to 0-7 advantage for the interval.

Redhills introduced Cavan defender Rory Dunne early in the restart and by that stage Drumlane were three to the good thanks to Brady's second and Connolly's fifth (from a free).

Dunne set-up Mooney for his sole point from play and Redhills would have had another had Darragh Brady's perfectly timed block not denied Andrew Dunne what would have surely been a white flag. They'd have to settle for a Mooney free instead, narrowing the deficit to two, ahead of scores from O'Dowd and Connolly (free) which had the gap at three.

Packie Leddy's point would be the last of the night for the men from Max McGrath Park, as they'd find no way through a Drumlane defence, back-boned by John O'Dowd and Donal Monahan, in the closing 10 minutes of this contest.

Two more free from Cavan forward Connolly made it a five-point game heading for the added minutes, when his brother Conor was quickest to fire in the rebound of Fergal Brady's goal effort which had stung the hands of Paul Martin.

The late stages saw Redhills veteran Colin Reilly flash a late goal chance wide at the other end, which would have been only consolation at that stage as Drumlane took home both points.

Drumlane: Gareth Corrigan; Sean Smith, John O'Dowd, Conor Lunney; Shane Dolan, Donal Monahan (0-1), Darragh Brady; Kian Monahan, Dane O'Dowd (0-3); Ciaran Crowe, Ciaran O'Reilly, Fergal Brady (0-2); Gary Tubman, Ryan Connolly (0-9, 5f), Francis Lunney. Sub: Conor Connolly (1-0) for Tubman.

Redhills: Paul Martin; Martin Brady, Conor McMahon, Eoin McDonald; Dessie Gumley, Alan Brady, Andrew Dunne; Derek Fay, Packie Leddy (0-1); Turloc Mooney (0-7, 6f), Joe Callan, Killian McSherry; Colin Reilly, Cormac Brides, Mark Kelly (0-1). Subs: Darragh Duggan (0-1) for Callan (inj), Rory Dunne for M Brady, Greg Duffy for D Fay.

Tweet

Most Read Stories