Castletown 0-12 Drumconrath 2-3 First half dominance for Castletown saw them save their Intermediate status for 2010 but Drumconrath never gave up and had the men in Green anxiously waiting for the full time whistle. Castletown opened best with a James Finnerty free and a good point from play by Shane Farrelly. A very young Drumconrath team found the opening 10 minutes tough going but two Alan Byrne points had the game level and while Castletown led 0-5 to 0-2 at the end of the 1st quarter, Drumconrath seemed to have played themselves somewhat into the game. A couple of missed chances seemed to put pressure on Drumconrath and a Kevin Dardis disallowed goal for a square infringement was another major turning point. Castletown with Shane Farrelly and James Finnerty prominent pushed on and 4 points from the 20th to the 29th minute gave them a 7 point interval lead. Castletown opened well at the start of the 2nd half and by the 38th minute had increased their lead to 10 points, the best score of these was a Barry Smith pointed free. The last 20 minutes belonged to Drumconrath and while they dominated possession and allowed Castletown no more scores they just did not have enough fire power to claw back such a big lead. Terry Skelly, Jamie Myles and Stephan Crosby drove Drumconrath forward and when Larry Fay was set up by substitute Sean Reilly to rifle home on 48 minutes and Byrne pointed directly after Castletown where under pressure. Try as they might Drumconrath just could not get the scores required through a mix of good defending by Noel Farrelly and Joey Carry in particular and poor finishing by the Drums attack. Derek Duff was unchermonisly upended in the large square on 56 minutes and with Alan Byrne expertly netting the spot kick and for those last 4 minutes plus 3 of injury time Drumconrath peppered the Castletown full back line but got no scores for their efforts. The closest they came was when a cleverly fisted Sean Reilly effort was diverted out for a 45 and there were late pleas for a second penalty. Castletown on their first 40 mnutes display where deserving winners but Drumconrath did not go down easily and fought until the end in an effort preserve their proud 13 year Intermediate status. Liam Clarke worked hard at midfield and stifled Terry Skelly and he broke an amount of ball and in general Castletown where sharper to the breaks while Noel Farrelly, Joey Carry and Matthew Carroll did well in the face of that last 20 minute onslaught. Up front Castletown had aces in Finnerty, Shane Farrely and Barry Smith who where better able to pick off their scores. Drumconrath backs who where under prolonged first half pressure tried hard and Keith McConnon, Peter McEvoy and Stephan Crosby did well, Skelly had his moments at mid field as Alan Byrne and Christopher Tighe along with second half sub Sean Reilly at times troubled the Castletown rearguard. Catletown; Jonathon Ginnety, Stephan Duffy, Noel Farrelly, Joey Carry; Matthew Carroll, Kenny Smith (0-1), Wayne McConnell; Liam Clarke, Gerard Farrelly (0-1); Robert Cribben (0-1), James Finnerty (0-3), Shane Farrelly (0-3); Tommy Smith (0-1), Francis Hoey, Barry Smith (0-2). Subs Kevin Ross for T. Smith, Damien Ginnity for Hoey. Drumconrath; Sean Kane; Alan McEvoy, Peter McEvoy, Keith McConnon; Oran Finnegan, Stephan Crosby, Damien Glass; Terry Skelly, Jamie Myles; Alan Byrne (1-3), Christopher Tighe, Brendan Lyons; Derek Duff, Larry Fay (1-0), Kevin Dardis. Subs; Peter Tighe for Glass, Ollie McMahon for Dardis, Sean Reilly for Lyons and Padraig McMahon for Fay. Ref Eammon Barry [St Ultans] Tweet

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