Flying Fintona dispose of Drumquin

FINTONA 4-11  DRUMQUIN 0-12

FOR the second weekend running at Ballinamullan, Fintona flexed their attacking muscles to deliver a clinical knockout in the Junior Championship, on this occasion sending Drumquin tumbling to the canvas.

The Wolfe Tones played most of the second half with just 13 men, with full-back Daniel Patterson (two bookings) and Paul Sheridan (straight red) dismissed around the 40-minute mark. Indeed, for a spell they just had a dozen men on the pitch, after also sustaining a black card for good measure, but even at that juncture the writing was already on the wall for them.

Two goals in either half demonstrated the Pearses power-packed artillery up front and, on this evidence, they will take some stopping as the battle for the Pat Darcy Cup comes down the home straight.

Fintona got off to a flying start, twice blasting the ball past Drumquin keeper Enda Gormley inside the opening three minutes. Corner back Jared Brogan was the first to raise a green flag, firing low into the far corner of the net after a swift exchange involving Conor McGoldrick and Conor McGillion.

Drumquin had barely regrouped when McGillion repeated the dose, after being fed by Oran Hughes.

With midfielder Peter McGlinn also floating over quality effort the Pearses had jumped out in front 2-1 to 0-1, with Finnan Patterson providing the sole riposte for the Wolfe Tones with a pointed free at the other end.

The signs looked ominous for Drumquin but the mercurial Sean McDonagh had brought his shooting boots with him, and he was soon wreaking havoc to bring his side back into contention.

He slotted over two sublime efforts from out on the left wing, while Gary McConomy and Eoin Skelton also underlined the growing confidence in the Tones ranks with assured strikes over the bar.

There was an enterprising nature to the early exchanges, with the emphasis of both teams on polished attacking play, and either set of defenders forced to work overtime to stymie the threat.

The raiding bursts of Caolan Donnelly and Conor McGoldrick provided a promising outlet for Fintona and they began to ease clear with three points on the spin. Aaron McCarney (free), Peter McGlinn again with a pearler, and Oran Hughes each registered to help the Pearses into a 2-4 to 0-5 lead by the 17th minute.

A brace of eye-catching conversions from McDonagh, who must have had three different man-markers in the first half alone, indicated that Drumquin were not going to disappear quietly into the night.

However, Fintona had a much greater variety in terms of their attacking arsenal and they hit the last three points of the first half to establish a commanding cushion. McGillion, Caolan Donnelly with the fist, and Aaron McCarney (free) propelled them into a 2-8 to 0-8 half-time lead.

Any hopes of a Drumquin revival faded rapidly with that double quick dismissal and Fintona turned the screw as both McCarney and Donnelly exposed gaping holes in the opposition rearguard with composed finishes to the net.

The match drifted towards its inevitable conclusion with Patterson and McAlynn knocking over a few late Drumquin consolation scores. They were very much second-best on the day, however.

The Scorers
Drumquin
Sean McDonagh (0-5,1 free), Finnan Patterson (0-3,2f), Frankie McAlynn, Eoin Skelton, Oisin McMenamin, Gary McConomy (0-1 each).
Fintona
Aaron McCarney (1-2,2f), Conor McGillion (0-2), Caolan Donnelly (1-1), Jared Brogan (1-0), Peter McGlinn (0-3), Oran Hughes, Thomas McGrath, Cathal Gillespie (0-1 each).