Drung 0-15
Redhills 3-2

Drung recorded back-to-back wins in the intermediate championship this evening after seeing off a lacklustre Redhills outfit at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Adrian Delaney's side could even afford to ship three goals and still win this game comfortably as Redhills could only muster five scores in total over the hour.

Drung's full-forward line combined for 0-11 alone, which matched their opponents' total, as Declan McEntee and sibling Paddy kept them rich in scores throughout.

On the other hand, Redhills had few chances in the first-half, making the absolute most of their two scores, and the second-half saw them tally 10 wides which was always leaving them a mountain to climb to try and deny their neighbours a quarter-final berth.

Brian Reilly's charges couldn't have asked for a better start to the game after Andrew Dunne smashed in a second minute goal off a quick release from Paddy Gumley, who slipped the centre-forward through off his left shoulder.

Drung hit back with two quick points (one a free) from Paddy McEntee and they'd eventually draw level by the 12th minute via Philip Monaghan.

Full-forward Declan McEntee curled over a gem to put the Bunnoe men into their first lead in the 16th minute but all their good work was wiped out in a flash when Dunne ghosted in for his second major a minute later. Some excellent build up, orchestrated by Turloc Mooney, released the number 11 and he cracked in off the upright to beat James Reilly at the near post.

Barry Watters responded with a fine score at the other end and Drung would go on to own the closing 10 minutes of the half, with Redhills having lost veteran midfielder Derek Fay to a black card in the meantime.

Declan McEntee, Monaghan and Dan Fay sent over the scores that saw them into a 0-8 to 2-0 lead at the interval, but it could have been a lot worse for the border men had Paul Martin not pulled off a splendid save to deny the aforementioned McEntee the net.

Drung's full-forward wouldn't take long to extend the lead to three after half-time, with his first free of the evening. Redhills could have been level within five minutes of the restart but sent three consecutive chances the wrong side of the posts, which played perfectly into their neighbours' hands.

A fisted point by Paddy McEntee was backed up by Dan Fay blasting over his second, as Drung pushed it to five, before their opponents kicked their fourth and fifth wides of the second-half. Cormac Brides finally ended their drought after latching on to a pass from Colin Reilly, on for the black carded Fay, and swinging over from 35 metres.

A Michael McEntee free soon erased Brides' effort but Reilly's men continued to aim for the lanky full-forward and eventually got the break they needed to make a game of it in the last 10 minutes. Mooney's high ball into Brides wasn't dealt with by Drung's rear guard and substitute Darragh Duggan snuck in make the umpire reach for his green flag.

A minute later, Drung very nearly registered a goal of their own but Andrew Rossiter's rocket shot came back off the crossbar and the danger was cleared. The winners would have to settle for points from Paddy McEntee and Declan McEntee (free) instead, as they saw out their second win in the competition, having defeated Laragh United last Thursday week.

Drung: James Reilly; John Cassidy, Alan Curran, Paul Hueston; Kieran Fay, Michael McEntee (0-1, 1f), Kevin McCaul; Aidan McCaul, Aaron Watson; Dan Fay (0-2), Barry Watters (0-1), Mark Cassidy; Paddy McEntee (0-4, 1f), Declan McEntee (0-4, 2f), Philip Monaghan (0-3). Subs: Andy Rossiter for M Cassidy (40mins), Niall Cassidy for D Fay (60), Stephen Monaghan for K Fay (60).

Redhills: Paul Martin; Alan Dunne, Conor McMahon, Martin Brady; Fergal McDermott, Alan Brady, Conor Sheridan; Pierce West, Derek Fay; Luke McEntee, Andrew Dunne (2-1), Turloc Mooney; Paddy Gumley, Cormac Brides (0-1), Tom McCormack. Subs: Colin Reilly for D Fay (21mins, BC), Darragh Duggan (1-0) for T McCormack (46), Harry Murphy for F McDermott (59), Peter Smith for L McEntee (59).

Ref: Oliver Og O'Reilly (Mullahoran)

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