All square in tense opener

IFC round 1

Killinkere 2-5

Drumlane 0-11

Eddie Halligan at Kingspan Breffni

Killinkere and Drumlane could not be separated in Kingspan Breffni on Thursday night last when both teams played out a cagey and tense contest in the opening round of the McEvoy’s Supervalu Virginia Intermediate championship.

Against the backdrop of the wind and rain, this game was very poor and belied the potential and talent that both teams clearly possess as spectators in attendance witnessed an error strewn contest with some dreadful shooting in front of goal, with Drumlane racking up a total of 15 wides across the hour.

Both teams appeared nervous and edgy throughout, but both will also have strongly felt that the game was there for taking, particularly in the closing stages as the game sparked into life.

Killinkere they took control in the 55th minute when Jason McMahon palmed a Cian McGovern pass into the net to push his side ahead at 2-5 to 0-9 and looked likely to see the game home. However, Drumlane remained resilient as they battled gamely to eke out two scores to level, but Daryl McGurren missed a great chance in injury time to clinch the win when the score looked certain.

Both teams were without key players too which may have conteibuted towards the poor attacking performances. Killinkere missed the services of top marksman, Emmett Fitzsimons and Drumlane had to deal with the absence of Darryl Dolan while Cian McGovern (Killinkere) and Cormac Flynn (Drumlane), two promising forwards, didn’t start but were introduced into the fray in the second half.

Drumline started well when Josh Mardsen and Liam Belton combined to set up Ryan Connolly for a score. Midfielder Michael Owens raced through the Killinkere defence two minutes later to bomb over a good score to leave Drumlane 0-2 to 0-0 by the fourth minute.

Killinkere were slow to settle and despite a succession of wides from both teams, the men in their away black and gold strip were eventually up and running when Gary Denning popped over a point in 12th minute. Full-forward Peter McCabe, who was well marshalled by Mark Maguire throughout, scored a mark after good play from Jason McMahon, but Drumlane continued to increase their wide count despite heavy pressure from the Killinkere defence.

Connolly added a free in the 21st minute, however, regardless of the defensive tactics both teams deployed, Killinkere were beginning to shade the 50/50 battles with their high press at times causing uncomfortable moments on Harry Clarke’s kick-out. Drumlane ran into trouble in their own back-line and were subsequently overturned by a tenacious Killinkere attack and when Mark Farrelly gathered the loose ball, he immediately popped a good pass into the path of Ciaran Cusack who turned and fired an unstoppable shot to the net from 20 yards.

The nature of Cusack’s goal seemed to perplex Drumlane and soon afterwards, they were overturned again in defence when Kevin McCabe was on hand to fire over to leave Killinkere three to the good at 1-3 to 0-3 by the 25th minute. Killinkere’s tails were up at this stage, but Drumlane are a resilient outfit and responded well as two Connolly frees and a good score from McGurren levelled matters at 0-6 to 1-3 at the interval.

For the opening 10 minutes of the second half, the spectators in attendance witnessed more poor shooting in front of goal as both sides continued to increase their wide tally, but in the 40th minute, Alex Sweeney glided through the Drumlane defence and after swapping passes with Peter McCabe, crashed over a point when a goal appeared on.

Killinkere introduced Cian McGovern and his free put two between them in the 42nd minute at 1-5 to 0-6, but at a time when Killinkere appeared to be on top, they couldn’t make their possession count on the scoreboard.

Another Connolly free, their first in over 18 minutes of play, and a Dane O Dowd point within a minute of each other reignited Drumlane as the teams were level again with ten minutes remaining, and when Michael Owens grabbed his second score of the evening to nudge his side in front, it looked like Drumlane were on course for the win.

However, the tide turned when McMahon palmed to the net after good work from McGovern and Kevin McCabe in the 57th minute and Killinkere were looking odds on for the win when Drumlane’s James McCahill was red carded for an off the ball incident.

However, despite their profligacy in front of goal, Drumlane dug deep and McGurren curled a brilliant score as the game entered injury time with the scores at 2-5 to 0-10.

Soon after, Drumlane were awarded a very soft free when Cormac Flynn appeared to be encroached by the Killinkere defence with McGurren duly obliging in curling over a free from an acute angle to level the contest.

Both sides had chances to win it at the death with McGurren in particular missing a glorious opportunity, but perhaps a draw was a fair result on this occasion.

Killinkere: Jake Norris, Enda Traynor, Luke Crossan, Liam McCabe, Nathan McQuade, Alex Sweeney (0-1), Jason McMahon (1-0), James Farrelly, Mark Farrelly, Gary Denning (0-1), Neil McCabe, Kevin McCabe (0-1), Conal Mooney, Peter McCabe (0-1, 1m), Ciaran Cusack (1-0).

Subs: Paul Brady for James Farrelly; Cian McGovern for Neil McCabe (0-1, 1f); Michael Smith for Gary Denning; Ciaran Flynn for Alex Sweeney; Ryan Cooney for Ciaran Cusack

Drumlane: Harry Clarke, Shane Dolan, Ciaran O Brien, Killian Tubman, Josh Marsden, James McCahill, Mark Maguire, Michael Owens (0-2), Dane O Dowd (0-1), Liam Belton, Gary Tubman, Ryan Connolly (0-5, 4f), Fergal Brady, Daryl McGurren (0-3, 1f), John O Dowd.

Subs: Cormac Flynn for Fergal Brady

Ref: Jim Giblin