Drung 0-13 Laragh United 1-9

Drung held off a spirited fourth quarter comeback from Laragh United yesterday evening to advance into the first round proper of the intermediate football championship.

Declan McEntee's 0-6 tally proved crucial in the end for the victors, having saw a six-point lead reduced to just one after Paddy Rudden's 43rd minute goal breathed some life into Laragh, whom only registered 0-2 during the first-half at Kingspan Breffni Park's town end.

Gary Smith's side's cause wasn't helped by the dismissal of midfielder Colm McKenna two minutes shy of the interval, but they'd certainly made a vast improvement for the second period, which was inspired by Rudden's major and two points off the bench from Liam McKenna to make a fight of it late on.

Drung held on though with Barry Watters, Aaron Watson and veteran full-back Alan Curran all to the fore, in a game where neither team were in full flight, registering 24 wides between them (12 apiece) over the hour.

Drung's account was opened inside four minutes through Watters, as their opponents racked up some early wides at the other end before Ruairi Power finally found the target for them in the 10th minute.

The Stradone men couldn't get their rhythm going at any stage in the first-half though and it allowed the red and whites to grab a foothold, sailing over the next three points via Declan McEntee (one a free) and Watters.

Laragh saw two half goal chances go by the wayside in the meantime, as the wides count increased to eight, and Rudden's free cancelled out a Paddy McEntee single to keep it at three approaching the short whistle.

Declan McEntee seized an opportunity that invited him into plenty of space for a tap over, making it 0-6 to 0-2 for the Bunnoe outfit, and Laragh were really left with an uphill battle when their number nine McKenna was issued a straight red card from referee Noel Mooney after lashing out at top scorer McEntee.

Conor O'Rourke put the trailers back on the right track early on in the restart but Adrian Delaney's team weren't keen to lose any ground as Declan McEntee rifled over another ahead of Watters racing through Laragh's centre to slip Philip Monaghan through for a five-point advantage.

Constantly roaming, McEntee continued to be a thorn in the would-be losers' side, landing his fifth point in the 40th minute, and when Dan Fay made it 0-10 to 0-4 Laragh looked doomed.

However, some patient build up play from the PJ Duke Park men eventually paid dividends as their talisman Rudden found the corner of James Reilly's net from close range to halve the deficit with a little over a quarter of an hour to go.

Rudden and substitute McKenna erased scores from Declan McEntee (free) and Kieran Fay, and when McKenna landed the score of the evening Laragh headed into the closing stages within a score and their tails firmly up.

Unfortunately for the junior champions of 2012, two Rudden frees and a blocked effort from sub Gerry Murray, who had John Cassidy hot on his heels, left them one short and Drung with a hard earned preliminary round triumph, while they now have to slip through the backdoor to keep their Tommy Gilroy Cup hopes alive.

Drung: James Reilly; John Cassidy, Alan Curran, Paul Hueston; Kieran Fay (0-1), Michael McEntee, Kevin McCaul; Aidan McCaul, Aaron Watson; Dan Fay (0-2), Barry Watters (0-2), Mark Cassidy; Paddy McEntee (0-1), Declan McEntee (0-6, 2f), Philip Monaghan (0-1). Subs: Andy Rossiter for P Monaghan (37mins), Stephen Fay for B Watters (60, BC).

Laragh United: Joseph Donoghue; Paddy King, Kieran Donoghue, Jason Rahill; Eoin Donoghue, Seamus Cooney, Declan King (0-1); Declan Brady (0-1), Colm McKenna; Ruairi Power (0-1), Oisin Carolan, Jason Walsh; Conor O'Rourke (0-1), Paddy Rudden (1-3, 3f), Conal Donohoe. Subs: Paddy Carolan for S Cooney (40mins), Gerry Murray for C Donohoe (42), Liam McKenna (0-2) for R Power (42), Ciaran Cooney for J Walsh (52), Eoghan Cooney for C O'Rourke (56), Fergal McKenna for D King (56).

Ref: Noel Mooney (Cavan Gaels)

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