12 man Beragh battle back to defeat Drumragh

Beragh 4-9 Drumragh 1-13

BERAGH made their move in the second half with a devastating purple patch that proved the winning of the game against Drumragh in an incident-packed Intermediate Championship first-round clash at Carrickmore on Sunday.

The Red Knights were reduced to 13 men early in the second period with referee Niall Conlan doling out his second red card of the afternoon, and not only that but they trailed by four points against a Drumragh side that will return to the Junior ranks in 2025.

But there was still plenty of time to work their way back into the contest, and it didn’t take them long to reel in the Sarsfields, striking for three goals in the space of five minutes midway through the second-half – bish bosh and the game was virtually sealed though Drumragh to their credit kept on battling away to the final whistle.

Drumragh endured a difficult league campaign but they powered out of the traps with the opening three points of the game.

And, yes, they had the benefit of a strong breeze at their backs, but their shot-taking wasn’t far off exemplary in the first-half, nailing their long-range efforts time and time again.

Malachy McManus got the show on the road with a superb effort from the flank, and seconds later they had another after Daniel O’Neill pounced from the resulting restart.

>body2text<McManus landed another magnificent score from near the sideline as they compounded their bright start to the game, but Beragh started to work their way into proceedings with Conor Owens shrugging off the close attention of Oran Devlin for their first score of the game.

Beragh’s Oisin Donnelly, nominally a half-forward, made two superb tackles at the back in quick succession, but it was the Sarsfields who got the next score of the game, Sean McGale splitting the posts from distance.

A Martin Rodgers free cut the deficit to two points while some of Drumragh’s route one passes were gobbled up by the Beragh defence, but the Sarsfields composed themselves and got the scoreboard ticking over again.

Ronan Maguire popped over after some clever interplay, Eoin Montgomery nailed a ’45’ while Niall McCarney made it 0-7 to 0-3 in their favour.

Beragh half-back Ben McSorley and Conor Owens got the next two scores of the game, but they were dealt a blow when Johnny Woods, who had been going well, was dismissed for a second yellow in the 28th minute.

It was no doubt a boost for Drumragh but they too found themselves down to 14 men – temporarily though – when marauding goalkeeper Sean O’Doherty found himself black carded for a challenge on Conor Owens.

The Sarsfields came desperately close to finding the net when Ronan Maguire found himself one-on-one with the Beragh goalkeeper, who he half-rounded before his shot blazed wide of the target.

It was proving a frenetic end to an entertaining half, and it was Beragh who had the final say of the opening period when Owens knocked over his third point of the afternoon, leaving them with a four-point deficit to claw back in the second-half.

Beragh now had the advantage of the wind but they were reduced to 13 men early in the second-half when Ben McSorley was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident.

Two men in arrears, it looked an uphill battle for the Red Knights, but they soon assumed control of the contest, beginning with two frees converted by the hard-working Conor Owens.

The scoreboard read 0-10 to 0-7 in Drumragh’s favour with nearly 20 minutes remaining, but then came the defining period of the game, a devastating five-minute spell where Beragh rattled in three goals.

In the first instance, Sean McCann played across a defence-splitting pass pounced upon by Oran Treacy, who picked his spot superbly.

In the second, Treacey was fouled in the square and Conor Owens made no mistake from the penalty spot, confidently striking the ball down the middle.

Then in the third, Treacy was again involved, floating across an laser-guided diagonal ball towards Callum Corrigan who was lurking on the edge of the square, and he made no mistake.

Drumragh managed a single point during Beragh’s scoring blitz, that being a smart score from Kian Murphy, but all of a sudden they trailed by 3-7 to 0-11 and the game looked as good as over heading into the final ten minutes.

Beragh goalie Jonathan Owens converted a ’45’ and there were further Beragh scores from Man of the Match Oran Treacy and a fourth goal of the game late on from sub Jack Campbell.

Drumragh, to their credit, never gave up and scored a consolation goal in stoppage time when Niall McCarney scrambled the ball home. That was more or less that, though there was a late fracas that saw Benny Drumm and Jack Campbell sent to the line.

The Scorers

Beragh

Conor Owens (1-5, 0-3f), Oran Treacy (1-1), Jack Campbell and Callum Corrigan (1-0 each), Ben McSorley (0-1).

Drumragh

Niall McCarney (1-2, 1f), Ronan Maguire, Malachy McManus and Sean McGale (0-2 each), Eoin Montgomery (0-2, 1f), Kian Murphy and Daniel O’Neill (0-1 each).