Denn 2-10
Drumalee 0-10

Denn earned a badly needed win over Drumalee this evening at Kingspan Breffni Park to lift themselves off the foot of the Group Two and keep their Cavan senior football championship hopes alive.

In a scrappy contest, goals from old reliables Hubert Smith and Colin Kiernan proved the telling difference for Denn, who had trailed for the majority of the first-half after a spirited start by their opponents.

Smith's goal two minutes from the break was the salient moment in the game and in the second-half the men in maroon put in a workmanlike performance to establish a three-point lead before Kiernan's late strike wrapped up the win.

Kieran got Denn off the mark with a close range free inside the opening two minutes, but it was their opponents that would go on to dominate the next ten minutes as a Mickey Brennan free and well-struck point by Trevor Molloy moved them into the lead by the fourth minute.

Further frees from Daragh Gaffney and Brennan doubled the advantage for the Cavan town side and when Finbar Donoghue struck over off his sweet left boot they were threatening to run away with it.

Hubert Smith rolled a goal chance inches wide in the next attack, as the Crosskeys men would have to settle for a Shane Rehill point from the resultant kick-out instead.

A trademark '45' from Brennan kept Drumalee in the driving-seat, before their opponents trimmed the deficit to two via points from Kieran (free) and Martin Cahill, with the latter score coming off the back of some slick inter-change play.

Another expertly struck '45' from Brennan was the Drumalee response, but they would be struck by a huge blow on the eve of half-time when brilliant work by Aidan McCabe out of the Denn defence allowed the corner-back to pick out Hubert Smith on the edge of the square from where the experienced attacker made no mistake in blasting the ball past James Heffernan for three points.

There was still enough time for Gaffney (free) and Tomas Corr to trade points in the added minutes, as the sides went in at the interval level at 1-5 to 0-8.

Finbar Donoghue out Drumalee back in front early on in the restart, but Jim Gilsenan's charges would fire over the next three scores to move into a two-point lead for the first time.

A Kiernan free was backed up by a brilliant Corr point from all of 50 metres and when Kiernan landed another accurate placed ball on 36 minutes Denn were looking the more likely side.

Rehill extended the lead to three after good endeavour from the corner-forward, but a Brennan free - which ended a 20-minute scoring drought for Drumalee - still kept Ger Shaughnessy's men in the hunt coming towards the closing stages.

However, they couldn't find their goal-touch on this occasion and when Kiernan buried in his side's second in injury-time a first championship victory of 2011 was secured for Denn. Tweet

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