Trocaire Intermediate Football Championship.
Round One – At Burren on Thursday 6 August 2015.
Drumaness GAC   0 – 13  Newry Shamrocks  0 – 7
Report by Jim Masson.
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Paul Gilchrist makes a catch for Drumaness.[/caption]
The Intermediate Championships kicked off in Down with the confrontation between Drumaness and Newry Shamrocks. The first half was a relatively unexciting affair with only two points separating them.
Drumaness took the first point from a free by forward Neil Straney and the game was nip and tuck as Shamrocks bounced back with Neil Hegarty taking a point. Shamrocks were showing some metal with good breaks from Hegarty and McGuinness with one good opportunity going wide.
But Drumaness was having none of this and claimed the next point as Michael Rainey surged in from the right and put the ball  over the bar.
The match struggled on and at twenty minutes centre full forward for Drumaness Gary Murdock passed to Rainey who make a gear sharp turn and volleyed but was the wrong side of the Shamrock posts. But Rainey followed up minutes later with a point nudging his side ahead.
The next bit of drama was a fast attack by Shamrocks Damien McKeown down the right but he hit the ball just wide. Both sides were in attacking mode but the defenders were equally vigilant on both sides. Play was often close and hard in a fast game.
Drumaness were winning much of the free outs and on one occasion Paul Gilchrist made a great catch and ran on the score a another point for Drumaness in play.
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Shamrocks defender Jack Sloan makes a break from Drumaness midfielder Conor Murdock.[/caption]
Then as the Shamrocks put their foot down on the pedal John McAteer was taken down earning a free but defender Conor Donnelly sent it wide.
As the first half interval approached, Drumaness’ Paul Gilchrist put his side another point ahead followed by another from McAteer giving them a 0-3 to 0-5 lead.
The last opportunity in the first half came from a 30 yard free from Shamrock’s Niall Rafferty who went wide.
The second half started with pressure from a rejuvenated Drumaness side and early points from Gilchrist and Murdock. Drumaness seemed to have a new lease of life and were overpowering Shamrocks and with another fast break from Gilchrist to McIlmurray to Murdock saw another point in the bag.
Shamrocks new they had a fight on their hands but came back minutes later with an attack starting from defender Donnelly passing to sub Conor Melville who took the point at a narrow angle over the bar. Was this a fight back by the Newry squad? Joe Boardman on the left added another point to this, but Drumaness replied with a good play between McAleenan and Gilchrist, with the latter following with another point soon after.
The gap was widening and Drumaness was surging at Newry Shamrocks who still fought back when they could. But their fate was sealed as Murdock passed to McIlmurray who rounded Shamrock’s defender Mark Harte and took his point putting Drumaness nine points clear.
But Shamrocks retaliated and a long ball to the Drumaness goalmouth saw sub Ian Curran fist one over the bar. Then the Shamrocks front line reared up and attacked earning a point. They rallied again with James Dickson (sub) who took a point.
There was no doubt that Drumaness were tiring at the end of the match but had done enough to secure a sound victory over Newry Shamrocks.
Drumaness GAC: Gary O’Hare, Â Mark Rainey, Sean Carvill, Philip Cassidy, Ryan Walsh, Ryan Connelly, Neill McAleenan, Conor Murdock, Brian McIlmurray, Neill Straney, Paul Gilchrist, Ryan Murdock, Michael Rainey, Gary Murdock, Brian McGivern.
Newry Shamrocks:Â Colm Heaney,, Johnny Brown, Mark Digney, Conor Donnelly, John Bogues, Ciaran Coffey, James Dickson, Mark Harte, Neil Courtney, John McAteer, Niall Rafferty, Joe Boardman, Kevin Hegarty, Eoin McGuinness, Damien McKeown.
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