Redhills and Drung to just about scrape through

And then there were two - Drumgoon, Lavey and Bailieborough were all fancied to go close, but local rivals Ballyhaise and Redhills are the teams left standing for what will be bitterly-contested Intermediate Championship final. While Ballyhaise are more experienced, having been perennial contenders at this level, a youthful Redhills have come from being unable to make a Junior Championship Final in 2003 to entering an Intermediate decider as the bookmakers" favourites five years later. Ballyhaise"s foundation is their defence. While their forward line have yet to catch fire, the Ballyhaise backs have been airtight. Sean McCormack is a traditional full-back, strong and excellent in the air, and he is flanked by tidy newcomer Mark Brennan and Brendan Lyons (pictured), a classy defender who rarely puts a foot wrong. In front of them, Micheal Rooney holds the centre well and Colm Reilly, who has been converted from a bustling wing-forward to a gritty wing-back, and Barry Kelly have been excellent all summer. Rooney will pick up Redhills centre-forward Colin Reilly, who he must match for power. Pearse West, who has played most of his football at midfield, is in good form for Redhills at wing-forward and will take watching, but whichever of the wing-backs picks up the precocious Packie Leddy will have his hands full. In Leddy, Redhills possess one of the best young footballers this column has seen in a while. His ability has been known within his own club for years, but the rest of the county became aware of it when he was introduced as a substitute for the Cavan minors against Tyrone and almost won the match single-handedly against a side who went on to win the All Ireland. Alongside the younger Leddy, Redhills have two more 18-year-olds, Ciaran Smith at corner-back and Joe Callan at corner-forward, who have made their mark on this championship The loss of the swashbuckling Oisin Minagh, the county minor captain who was ironically dismissed by the county minor coach two weeks ago, is a blow, but it is softened somewhat by the availability of team captain Adrian Fitzpatrick, who didn"t start the semi-final. Ballyhaise, too, have made enormous strides at underage level. They won the Under 16 Division One county final in 2007 and the shining light from that match, Kevin Tierney, has made a huge impact in his rookie season at adult level. Still not 18, Tierney turned the match when he moved out to hoover up breaks at midfield in the semi-final against Lavey. His mesmerising speed on the ball can cause problems for any defence. Alongside Tierney, Ali Pickett has yet to hit top form but, at his best, he is a super player, athletic, pacy and with an eye for the posts. Former Cavan minor Eamon Costello leads the line at centre-forward, and his strength and ball-playing ability are crucial to this side. While he was held scoreless against Lavey, Costello is a creative player who is adept at providing chances for others, such as wing-forward Stephen Smith who stepped up with two timely late points to seal the victory last time out. The midfield battle will be an engrossing one, with two young players who are sure to feature in Tommy Carr"s plans, Ray Cullivan and Rory Dunne, facing off alongside Barry McCrudden and Brendan Leddy respectively. Cullivan showed glimpses of his best form against Lavey and his performance could be the key to this game. Should he deliver the sort of towering, power-packed match that he can, Redhills will struggle. Keep him contained and Mickey Cadden"s side will be halfway home. This game will come down to who takes their chances. The stats suggest that in the likes of Paddy Gumley, the Wests and Packie Leddy, Redhills have the greater quality in attack, but they have yet to meet a side as strong and assured at the back as the one they will face this Sunday. Ballyhaise must contain those Redhills forwards, improve the scoring rate from their own attack and repeat that of their their midfield, who accounted for 1-2 last time out. Interestingly, Barry McCrudden"s second half goal against Lavey was Ballyhaise"s first in 229 minutes of championship football this summer. This game won"t be a goalfest but the side who can raise a green flag will probably win it, and that team looks like Redhills. While there is a feeling that there is a big game in Ballyhaise, the momentum is on the side of Redhills. The border men by the minimum. In the curtain-raiser, pre-championship favourites Drung face a Mountnugent side who have recovered from two defeats to resurrect their season in high summer and deservedly take their place in the final. On paper, Drung look stronger. The spine of the team - James Reilly, Karl O"Rourke, Alan Curran, Ciaran Galligan, Barry Watters, Shane O"Rourke - wouldn"t look out of place in the Intermediate decider, offering as it does a combination of solid experience and flair. With a new manager, Joe Fitzpatrick, at the helm, this season looked laid out for Drung, and they rightly enter this decider as 1/3 favourites. And yet. Mounugent produced a devastating performance in annihilating Templeport in the semi-final. Centre-forward David Givney took most of the plaudits for his two goals, but to a man the team were magnificent. Wing-forward Eoin Smith got in for seven points and David Sheridan at wing-back was a revelation. Very few players, in any grade, perform with the vigour and commitment of Sheridan; if he were a couple of inches taller he would be a cert for the Cavan senior panel in the opinion of this column. Nothing beats tough, competitive matches and Mountnugent have had six to hone their side this summer. While they were beaten in two, they have been running up huge scores ever since their opening round defeat to Shercock. Drung have yet to be properly tested, having beaten a poor Butlersbridge and then Munterconnacht before scraping past Shercock in a dour semi-final. Their opponents, on the other hand, have racked up 2-15 and 2-11 in their last two matches and have hit the net ten times in their six games to date.They will find James Reilly hard to beat, but could well sneak in for one. Whether thay can plunder enouugh points is another matter. While Drung should have too much, this will be no blow-out. The favourites to make it back to Intermediate with a point or two to spare.