Being beaten in one IFC final would be considered unfortunate but losing out in a second successive one would be sheer careless. In 2006 Drumalee's finest were more than careful. What football manager coined the phrase bouncebackability? Either way, he could well have been referring to that which propelled Drumalee's Class of 2006 all the way to the IFC title. In burying the ghost of defeat in the corresponding 2005 decider against Cuchulainns, the white and black brigade fairly showed last Autumn what they're about. In last year's championship the Drumalee players showed their mettle, right and proper; demonstrated an iron will and a steely resolve to boot. An odyssey which began with a hard-earned 1-6 to 0-7 win over Lavey in the opening game of the group would eventually finish with the mother and father of dogged duels with Ballinagh in a final which threatened to go to a third meeting. The champions-elect were up for the challenge of going one step further than in 2005 right from the outset of the '06 championship season. They took a sizeable step towards qualification for the quarter-finals of the competition when they accounted for erstwhile table toppers Lavey in an intriguing tie at Killygarry. The opening quarter of the game set the pattern for the hour with the eventual losers playing catch-up and Drumalee in rolled-up-sleeves mode as they kept their noses just in front. Three points from Darragh Gaffney in the opening quarter - the third coming after a glorious pass from Gary Ferncombe - helped give Drumalee the lead by the odd point in five by the end of the first quarter. It wasn't until the second half that both teams freed themselves of their tentative, profligate selves. Drumalee trailed for the first time in the match in the 19th minute (0-5 to 0-6) but to their credit, victors-elect refused to reach for the panic button though and two minutes after going behind succeeded in conjuring up the game's most crucial score. A superb pass from Gary Ferncombe in the 21st minute was collected by Brendan Smith on the overlap and with all the finesse of a top attacker, the flying half-back crashed the ball to the Lavey net to restore Drumalee's long-held lead. The Mickey Graham-managed side had one last sting in their tail with Garry Malone firing over arguably his team's best point of the game to put the seal on a deserved but hard-fought win. The would-be title winners proceeded to make good their advance into the quarter-finals with a facile 1-12 to 0-5 win over an Ollie Leddy-managed Redhills side at the Ballyhaise venue. In truth, not quite everything went smoothly for Drumalee as the team's forwards shot nine first-half wides and their half-time lead of five points, 0-7 to 0-2, left the door slightly ajar for Redhills. However, the door was firmly shut when with five points separating the teams and twelve minutes remaining, Drumalee threatened to do what they had failed to do in the earlier exchanges, and put the game firmly beyond the border club's reach. The breakthrough for Drumalee arrived when Trevor Molloy finished a move to the net in the 48th minute for a 1-9 to 0-4 lead which ended the game as a contest in the process. Nothing ever goes completely to plan though and while the lights had been fixed on green during the club's group matches, Drumalee's passage through to the semi-final was halted temporarily as a last minute point secured a dramatic draw for Laragh United first time out. It was to be a whole different story in the replay though with United made to look a disjointed and broken side as Drumalee careered to an impressive 2-7 to 0-6 win in the replay at Kingspan/Breffni Park. Drumalee had thrown away a six point lead built up early in the second-half in the teams' initial meeting game and allowed Laragh back into contention but there was to be no such sloppiness second time around. The game opened with Drumalee's David Smith scoring a brace inside the first nine minutes to give his side the lead by the odd point in three. It was to be a lead they were never subsequently to relinquish. Daragh Gaffney, from a free, made the score 0-3 to 0-1 two minutes later and from there to the half-time break, Drumalee experienced little difficulty in chiselling out a 0-5 to 0-3 interval lead. Suddenly Drumaleeís 0-5 to 0-3 lead turned into a 1-6 to 0-3 advantage six minutes into the half when Daragh Gaffney scored 1-1 in little over a minute, the point coming from a free and the goal ending a good move which also involved Shane Donohoe and Gerard Reilly. Six minutes later, it was all over bar the shouting as Drumalee got their second goal when a high ball landed on the edge of the square, Daragh Gaffney flicked it on and Kevin Donohoe found the net. Drumalee's subsequent sem-final win (0-9 to 0-6) over Drumlane at Kingspan/Breffni Park was all about the result rather than serving up something palatable for purists in the attendance. The winners were far from their efficient best and their tally of 18 wides said much about the rough edges that still needed to be ironed out ahead of a meeting in the final with Ballinagh, conquerors of Ballyhaise in the other semi-final. The teams were level twice in the opening eight minutes. Drumalee settled down to take a 0-4 to 0-2 lead through Gerard Reilly and Gaffney, and the latter was inches wide from an effort for a point. Kevin Donohoe and Finbar Donoghue made it 0-6 to 0-2 after fifteen minutes. Drumalee's lead was reduced to two points, 0-6 to 0-4, by half-time but the teething problems continued and five wides in a row near the three-quarter mark seemed to give Drumlane heart. Drumlane hoped to capitalise on Drumalee's squanandermania and while a point in the 44th minute by the west Cavan side left just one point between the teams, it proved to be Drumlane's last score of the game. Drumalee did just as much as they needed to do to keep the green and whites at bay and their second only score of the half came in the 53rd minute from a Daragh Gaffney free after he was fouled. An air of inevitability wafted its way over proceedings from there to the close of the tie and Daragh Gaffney had the final score in the 56th minute. In an ironic twist, an air of inevitability also hung over the final between Drumalee and Ballinagh with the end-result (draw) signalled from a long way out. A Ballinagh point two minutes into added-on time snatched a 0-7 to 0-7 draw for the Saffrons at Kingspan/Breffni Park. Drumalee had looked home and hosed when countyman Michael Brennan split the posts with a 44 metre free on the hour mark to leave his side ahead by the odd point in thirteen. However in timely fashion Ballinagh drove a stake through the heart of the Drumalee men with their dramatic equaliser. It was claustrophobic, rugged and stop-start type football but a fine point by Bernard Young - after good work by Trevor Molloy - did suggest that perhaps more quality was on the way. Sadly for the leaders, they failed to add to their lead and instead had to be satisfied with going in at the interval on level terms at 0-4 apiece. Facing into the wind on the restart, Drumalee were one point in front after a point from Darragh Gaffney just before the interval but they immediately came under the cosh. Drumalee worked overtime against the elements to chisel a way through Ballinagh's defensive armour but Ballinagh defended in numbers. In one instance Damien McInerney effected a great block on Finbar Donoghoe but in the follow-up, Gary Ferncombe pointed to leave Drumalee ahead by 0-6 to 0-5 with eight minutes left to play. But less than a minute later, matters were level once again. As the spoils dangled invitingly before the combatants, both sides went for broke as, first Brennan, and then Gumley (Ballinagh) hit the target each to ensure a draw. Drumalee proved to be the much more determined, ambitious and aggressive side in the replay and deservedly lifted their first intermediate crown in 37 years on the back of a 1-5 to 0-4 triumph. Drumalee didn't always hit the high notes but they did, however, grab the only and all-important solitary goal of the game. Drumalee were hesitant with their early efforts but once Finbar Donoghue opened their account with a finely angled effort in the 11th minute, an air of inevitability slowly began to waft its way over proceedings. Good persistence from Michael Brennan resulted in Trevor Molloy getting the necessary opening to level matters with a point with 17 minutes on the clock. One minute later Drumalee leaped into the lead for the first time, 0-3 to 0-2, thanks to a Gary Malone point. It was a lead the Cavan parish side never looked like losing thereafter. And the intent of the Drumalee side to push on and consolidate their burgeoning dominance surfaced in an even more significant way shortly afterwards. With 21 minutes on the clock, Drumalee half-forward Trevor Molloy nipped in before a Ballinagh defender some 20 yards from goal and as the ball hung in the air, he cleverly fisted it into the path of the loitering Darragh Gaffney. Gaffney wasted no time in gathering the ball into his chest five metres out from the Ballinagh goal before firmly slotting it to the net for the game's pivotal score. Gaffney's major catapulted Drumalee into a 1-3 to 0-2 cushioned lead and laid down the gauntlet in a big way to the chasing Saffrons. Drumalee held most of the aces and a tremendous diving block by Bernard Young to deflect Alan Durkan's goalbound effort in the 27th minute epitomised the will-to-win of the Drumalee side. In an opening which mirrored the early minutes of the first half, Ballinagh were first to draw blood to leave just the goal between the sides after 36 minutes. There was still just Gaffney's goal between the sides midway through the half when Ballinagh appeared to have grabbed a lifeline. A piece of quick-thinking saw David Finnegan latch onto a short free and power through before slotting the ball to the Drumalee net. However referee McEnroe deemed he had not blown the whistle to restart the match and the 'goal' was ruled out. The game was a frenetic affair but a lot of niggle interspersed the exchanges and after one incident, Drumalee half-back Brendan Smith was treated for a neck wound and had to be stretchered off which resulted in a seven minute hold-up. There was only one more score notched and that came six minutes into the 11 minutes of added-on time when goalscorer Gaffney was alive to pick up a breaking ball and run through before fisting the ball over the bar. In one last gasp effort at retrieving the situation, Ballinagh surged forward but an interchange of passes was thwarted at the death by the alert Gary Ferncombe and the danger passed leaving Drumalee deserved and relatively comfortable winners. For the record, the Drumalee team, and subs, that triumphed in the replayed final of the 2006 IFC was as follows; James Heffernan; Sean Lee, Michael Brennan, Daire Donohoe; Brendan Smith, Enda McCormick, Gary Ferncombe; Gary Malone (0-1), Shane Donoghoe; Kevin Donohoe (0-1), Daragh Gaffney (1-1), Trevor Molloy (0-1); Finbar Donoghoe (0-1), Bernard Young, Kevin Gavigan. Subs; Michael Lee for Finbar Donoghoe; Gerard Reilly for Trevor Molloy; Shane Downey for Michael Lee; Timmy Looney for Brendan Smith. Tweet

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