Drumkeerin book their spot in intermediate semi-final with second half demolition of St Mary's Kiltoghert

St Mary's looked the stronger of the two teams at the end of the first half, but an emphatic second half performance that saw Drumkeerin outscoring St Mary's 2:06 to 0:2 points won it for the north Leitrim men.

The first half was an open, free scoring affair. Josh Maye opened the scoring for the Carrick-on-Shannon men on four minutes after Tommy Rogan committed a foul about 20 metres out from goal.

Ethan Bohan added another for St Mary's two minutes later with a nice strike from thirty metres out before Seamus McNama hit back for Drumkeerin a minute later when some loose defending from St Mary's gave him space in front of goal. 

Both teams set up defensively with 13 men behind the ball, but with St Mary's having a strong wind at their back, Drumkeerin were forced to step out past their 45 to guard against long shots, leaving gaps for St Mary's forwards to get inside and work scores. 

Seamus McNama gets his shot away under pressure Picture: Willie Donnellan

Fast breaking, hard running, and quick interplay in the final third from this young St Mary's team caused Drumkeerin serious issues in the first half. Brian McKenna and Mark Lowe both kicked points off quick breaks to put St Mary's three ahead ten minutes in.  

Some good passing down the left side line found Drumkeerin with two shots on goal in a row about 30 yards out, brilliantly dispatched by one James Gallagher after another to keep their team within touching distance of St Mary's.

St Mary’s Kicked on from there and points from Brian King, Emmet Regan, Ethan Bohan, and a Josh Maye free put them four ahead coming to the end of the half.

But Drumkeerin showed a glimpse of what they could do before the break when a lightning James Gallagher, carrying the ball from wingback, found himself in on goal after some give and go with David Feeney cut open the St Mary’s defence.

Gallagher’s shot rocketed for the roof of the net but was impressively pushed over the bar by Mary’s keeper Sean Reynolds, keeping his team three ahead at half time. 

St Mary’s received a blow before half time when Mark Lowe was shown a black card and by the time he returned to the pitch the tenor game had changed drastically.

The opening of the half looked much the same as the first with Drumkeerin’s Cathal McCauley and St Mary’s Cian Reynolds both kicking scores from free in the first five minutes, but after that it was all Drumkeerin.

St Mary's Alan Beirne tries to break through the Drumkeerin defence Picture: Willie Donnellan

It is not a stretch to say the second was a blowout for Drumkeerin as they massively outscored St Mary's. At the heart of this was their crude defensive play. With the wind at their back they sat back inside their own 45 and locked the door on the St Mary's attack that looked so strong in the first half.

Cathal McCauley added another Drumkeerin point from a free, before Drumkeerin’s wing forward, James Gallagher, ran at the left side of the St Mary's defence, with a quick look over his shoulder for support he found himself alone, visibly frustrated he decided to go alone and found the posts off his left from 40 yards out to draw the sides level on the 39th minute. 

A minute later, they took the lead when Declan Daly plucked a St Mary’s kickout out of the sky and fed a quick kick to David Feeney who slotted the ball over from 45 yards. 

Mary's had their share of possession but couldn’t convert it into scores as they met huge pressure each time they entered the scoring zone, ending in multiple block downs and turn overs for the swarm of purple shirts.

Meanwhile, Drumkeerin broke fast and found chances aplenty as a free from Daryl Flynn and a long range point from substitute Colm Clarke put them three ahead. 

With six minutes to go Marys pressed forward desperately trying to close the gap that had opened but were caught on the break when a long ball from Cathel mcCauley found, wingback, James Gallagher in space behind Mary's defence. 

Gallagher proved too fast and too far gone for the retreating Mary's defenders to catch. One on one with Sean Reynolds for the second time in the game, Gallagher made no mistake, cutting across the Mary goal and slipped the ball past the diving keeper's outstretched hand.

Two minutes later, Josh Maye scored Mary's second point of the half from a free before missing another a minute later. 

Seamus McNama added to Drumkeerins' lead from a free before a long pass from midfield again found James Gallagher in behind the scrambling Mary's defence. He cut inside quickly and bearing down on goal, passed across the goal for Luke Fee to palm in for Drumkeerins second goal.

Speaking after the game, goal scorer, James Gallagher praised his team's defensive performance: “We had everyone working together, if one man in that defensive shape is not doing their job then it crumbles fairly quickly. Thankfully every man was on it today and we saw it through,” he said.

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He says there was extra pressure on his side coming into the clash with St Mary’s second team: “I know obviously they are playing for an intermediate championship too but I don’t think they have as much to lose as we do because this is our first team, it’s our competition,” he said.

He is looking forward to the next round, as his team advances to meet Allen Geals in the first of the Smith Monumental's IFC semi-finals: “Allen Gaels are just hitting form now at the right time so it's gonna be a tough game. But we are as good as anyone in (the championship), everyone is as good as everyone in it, it's a very tight intermediate championship, so whoever turns up on the day is going to be the team that’ll win, so we are looking forward to that.”

DRUMKEERIN

Scorers: James Gallagher 1-3; James Gallagher 0-2; Seamus McNama 0-1; Canthal McCauley 0-3, 3f; Daryl Flynn 0-2, 1f; Colm Clarke 0-1; David Feeney 0-1; Luke Fee 1-0

Team: Kevie Forde; Ross Harrrison; Callum McTeigue; Tommy Rogan; James Gallagher; Jason Byrne; Colm Clarke; Declan Daly; Francie Davitt; Daryl Flynn; David Feeney; James Gallagher; Seamus Mc Nama; Cathal McCauley; Danial McGuire. Subs: Luke Fee for R Harrison (43); Darragh Fallon for D Flynn (58); Jack Harrison for D McGuire

ST MARY'S KILTOGHERT

Scorers: Josh Maye 0-3, 3f; Ethan Bohan 0-2; Mark Lowe 0-1; Brian King 0-1; Emmet Rogan 0-1; Cian Reynolds 0-1,1f; Brian McKenna 0-1

Team: Sean Reynolds; Aaron Gardiner; Eóin Gibney; Fiach MacConera; Fintan Barly; Daire Gardiner; Alan Beirne; Brian King; Ashley Maziya; Ethan Bohan; Mark Lowe; Emmet Rogan; Cian Reynolds; Brian McKenna; Josh Maye. Subs: Niall Crow for D Gardiner (56); Daniel Martin for M Lowe (56); Robbie O’Donnell for B McKenna (41)

Referee: Kevin Mallon