Drumbaragh Best In Goal Fest
Drumbaragh and Inny Gaels served up a goal fest in front of a large crowd at Pairc Emmet in Round 2 of the U19 Football Championship on Saturday evening.
Conditions were far from ideal with autumn showers and tricky conditions underfoot, however that didn’t seem to trouble the host too much as they raced into a 2-04 to 0-01 lead within 10 minutes. Jake Madden and Cameron Feehan both raising the green flag after excellent build up play by Shea McManus and captain Hughie Corcoran.
Drumbaragh seemed to have all bases covered with Inny Gaels struggling to make any inroads into a growing Drumbaragh lead thanks to ‘keeper Jake Balfe who pulled off an excellent save to deny the excellent Dylan Briody with the rebound going harmlessly wide.
Midfielders Tomás Doogan and Shea McManus had control of the aerial battle, aided by centre back Lewis O’Donnell and Jack Galligan. Feehan, Madden and a Mikie Mongey goal stretched the Drums advantage with 25 minutes on the clock.
However, Inny Gaels found some daylight in the Drums’ defence to net a goal and keep them in the mix. Both sides traded points late on with the dangerous combination of Corcoran and Madden leaving their side nine points to the good at the break.
Half-time Drumbaragh 3-08 Inny Gaels 1-05.
Whatever was said at half-time had the desired effect on Inny Gaels, they had the ball in the net within seconds of the restart. Two further points from the visitors followed, and the lead was down to four. Drumbaragh needed to reset and regain their foothold in the game.
Talisman Hughie Corcoran was central to everything Drumbaragh done in the attacking sense, linking up well with McManus, Madden and Evan Demange to add two more points to his tally. The six-point lead was soon split in half, as Inny Gaels netted their third goal of the day and it was game on.
Drumbaragh were dealt a further blow, when the experienced Carl McGovern was carried off the field after a serious looking ankle injury. The setback however, seemed to galvanise Drumbaragh with McManus and O’Donnell playing further upfield to squeeze their opponents of space. That man Corcoran added back-to-back 45s to his tally, either side of an Inny Gaels point, to keep their opponents at bay. Adam O’Brien and Luke Quinn put in trojan work in McGovern’s absence, the pair hassled and harried their strong running opponents, forcing successive turnovers at pivotal stages of the game.
The goal fest was soon be complete as Mongey doubled his tally with Scott Lynch raising a green and a white flag late on to finish his day with 1-02 to complete a 5-15 to 4-10 victory.
A lot done, a lot to do before our Round 3 visit to Donore to take on St.Marys. Thanks to Inny Gaels for a tough but sporting game, and we wish them the best for the remainder of the campaign.
Drumbaragh: Jake Balfe, Luke Quinn, Carl McGovern, Jack Galligan, Adam O’Brien, Lewis O’Donnell, Evan Demange, Shea McManus Tomás Doogan, Scott Lynch (1-02), Conor Kirwan, Cameron Feehan (1-01), Jake Madden (1-03), Hughie Corcoran (0-09), Mikey Mongey (2-00).
