2011 was a year when safety was top priority for the senior footballers of Drung, after being drawn into a tough group in the intermediate championship, and under the guidance of Colin Courtney they managed to maintain their status for next season, which was an achievement in itself for a team in transition as club PRO Thomas Jackson explained.

Since their junior championship success of 2008, Drung's mission has been to avoid a return to the basement of Cavan club football.
However, this past season saw the Bunnoe men go a step further by defeating some of the best teams the ACFL Division Two had to offer and getting themselves out of the group in the intermediate championship that was by no means straightforward at first glance.

When Fermanagh native Colin Courtney came in as manager at the start of the year, he set about priming his new team for what all involved knew would be a tough campaign. Ably assisted by Brendan Brendan, the duo put the players through rigorous training sessions early on in the year so as they would hit the ground running come the end of March when the league got underway.

"At the start of the year the aim would have been to consolidate our Division Two status and try and do the same in the intermediate championship," explained Thomas Cassidy, who has been involved with the club at all levels and currently shares his PRO duties with Patsy Fitzpatrick.
"The club brought in Colin Courtney from Newtownbutler at the start of the year to manage the team and he had a good track record in Fermanagh, so I suppose the players would have been optimistic when he came in. He had Brendan Brady, a former Drung footballer, in with him as team selector as well."

Courtney and Brady would have the players well prepared for their trip to Crosskey on March 27, when they would take on a Denn side which had lined out in the Cavan SFC final just two years previous. In an evenly matched contest, it was the visitors that dug deep to snatch a 1-8 to 1-7 victory in what was the shock result of the weekend across the county. The following weekend intermediate champions Drumalee were visitors to Bunnoe and the hosts stunned the Cavan town side at their fortress with a 1-9 to 1-8 victory.

Suddenly, a team which many had tipped as relegation candidates had put two of the second tier's finest to the sword and were sitting amongst the top of the pile in Division Two after as many games.
"They started off the year very well," said Jackson. "We got a great result in Crosskeys by beating Denn in the first round and then had another good win over Drumalee at home. That was a great start to our season but we kind of had mixed form after that. We lost a good few games and got wins against Shercock and Cornafean just before and during the championship which kept us safe and made sure that we'd be in Division Two again for next year."

Indeed a 0-13 to 0-8 defeat to Drumgoon would spell Drung's first defeat of the season in mid-April and further defeats to Swanlinbar (2-10 to 0-12), Killinkere (2-12 to 1-7) and Knockbride (2-6 to 0-11) would all but end any hopes of a semi-final place for Courtney's charges, but wins over Shercock (1-12 to 2-6) and hard earned draws with Shannon Gaels (0-10 to 0-10) and Cavan Gaels (0-12 to 1-9) would have their safety in the league practically guaranteed before the championship's start.
In what was one of three opening games in the intermediate championship, Drung would travel to Cootehill on a Friday evening in July to take on Bailieborough Shamrocks in a crucial opener at Hugh O'Reilly Park. The early signs were ominous for Courtney's team, who were ranked as underdogs after Bailieborough's claiming a scalp over them earlier on in the league, as the town side soared into a 0-3 to nothing lead after the first quarter. Drung only managed two scores in response for the remainder of the half through Declan McEntee and Ciaran Galligan as they trailed by three at the break.

Bailieborough looked to be in a comfortable position at the halfway stage, but failed to account for a sizzling second-half performance from their opponents which saw Barry Watters, who had been a big loss for Drung for much of 2010, boot over a superb point early on and by the 42nd minute they were level via further points from Michael and Paddy McEntee. Stunned, Bailieborough had little in response and when Paddy McEntee pounced for an opportunist goal nine minutes later they were in the driving-seat. Paddy Bird pulled back two scores for the Shamrocks, but the wind was firmly in the Bunnoe side's sails at this stage and when McEntee crept in to raise another green flag towards the end a 2-8 to 0-7 victory was secured.
"We opened (in the intermediate championship) with a very important win over Bailieborough. It was a very close game and what got us through in the end was two goals from livewire corner-forward Paddy McEntee," said Jackson

"In our next game we were beaten by Knockbride. Brendan Carolan and John Tierney were the chief tormentors that day for us and it left us having to win our last game against Cootehill to go through to the quarter-finals."
After the defeat to Knockbride, it was a case of 'do or die' for Courtney's charges when they met Cootehill at Kingspan Breffni Park for a derby battle that would decide which team would be joining Knockbride in the last eight of the IFC. Again it was a game in which Drung started slowly and trailed by three points at the break despite bagging a goal halfway through the first-half via the in-form Michael McEntee.

In the opening stages of the resumption, the red and whites gave themselves the perfect lift when Barry Watters and Christy Moore combined to thread Paddy McEntee through on goal and the diminutive corner-forward made no mistake in rifling past Ryan Carroll in the Cooethill goal to square the sides. The strike provided the Bunnoe side with a major lift and they were into the lead thanks superb points from Michael McEntee and substitute Gary Watters.

The loss of Cavan star goalkeeper James Reilly on 53 minutes through injury didn't aid Drung's cause as they aimed to cling on to victory, but two late frees from Michael McEntee eased the pressure and secured a 2-10 to 1-12 win which sent them into the quarter-finals.
Drung (IFC v Cootehill): James Reilly; Greg Rossiter, Alan Curran, Finbar O'Reilly; Aaron Watson, Ray Fay, Dan Fay; Christy Moore, Ciaran Galligan (0-1); Andy Rossiter, Barry Watters (0-1), Michael McEntee (1-5, 5f); Philip Monaghan (0-1), Declan McEntee, Patrick McEntee. Subs: Gary Watters (0-1), John Cassidy, Conor O'Reilly.

"We played Cootehill in Breffni Park and again Paddy McEntee and Michael McEntee were tremendous for us," said the club's PRO. "Ciaran Galligan and Barry Watters also had brilliant games for us that day and we ended up earning what many would have viewed as a surprise victory on the day."

After sealing their place in the last eight of the IFC, Drung went back into league action during the third weekend of August and overcame Cornafean's challenge to guarantee themselves Division Two football for 2012.
While the result very much kept the team's fire alight, they still couldn't overcome a strong challenge from Crosserlough two weeks later and the Kilnaleck men advanced through to the semi-finals of the intermediate championship in a 0-10 to 0-6 score-line.
"We played Crosserlough in Breffni Park on a real miserable night. The conditions were terrible and honestly it was a game that we never looked like winning," Jackson admitted.

"We've been missing a few players this year and Barry (Watters) is really only getting back to form with us now and it's a real bonus to have him back, because the team is very much in transition at the moment with a lot of younger players coming in."

U14s pipped in
championship final
This past September saw the Under 14 footballers of Drung and Kill do their respective clubs proud as St Finbarr's reached the Roinn E Championship final against Maghera at Kingspan Breffni Park, where a late goal would condemn them to the narrowest of defeats.

Having boasted a fine record at underage level down the years, St Finbarr's were in splendid form to book themselves into this final as Shercock (7-2 to 0-8) and Drumgoon (5-14 to 1-7) would both be out to the sword to set-up a showdown with Maghera on September 19.

Ben McIntyre's early points kept the Kill/Drung amalgamation right in the game during the first-half, after having conceded an early goal, and in the first minute of the second-half the same player had his side's deficit down to just one point. Sean Donohoe would see red for St Finbarr's soon afterwards, but it didn't dishearten the Saints as McIntyre and Callan Crudden shot them into the lead in the 53rd minute. Four minutes later, St Finbarr's looked to have the title wrapped up when Sam Foy's perfect pass found McIntyre on the edge of the square and the deadly attacker blasted to the net. However, a late rally from Maghera would break their hearts as they shot in two late goals to steal a 3-4 to 1-9 victory and take the title back towards the Meath border.

St Finbarr's (U14 Roinn E final v Maghera): Conor O'Reilly; Niall Fitzpatrick, Conor McMahon, Lorcan McEntee, Mark Moffitt; Callan Crudden (0-2), Emmett McGee (0-1); Tiernan Reilly (0-1), Sam Foy; Ben McIntyre (1-5, 4f), Sean Donohoe. Sub: Kevin Traynor. Tweet

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