Bective were at home to Drumbaragh in this 2nd round Corn na Boinne cup match on a damp Sunday morning. Heavy overnight rain made the sand-based pitch slippery but it stood up well and facilitated a fast moving game. Both teams were missing 3 or 4 regulars, and Bective were first to open the scoring with a Marty Mulhall converted free kick on 2 minutes. But it was Drumbaragh that made most of the early running with fast support play stretched the Bective backs and they fired over 2 points. Paul McCabe came in to the forward line for Bective and provided useful linkages with the back line to get the ball forward. Bective were being closed down and struggled to play their combination football but good individual point taking from Mark O’Brien, Paul McCabe and Ciaran McConnell kept them level with 3 points from Drumbaragh, including 1 from a converted 45m. Bective lost a man to a black card but the hard-working Con Smith cancelled out a Drumbaragh point to leave the sides at 5 points each at half time.
Bective dominated the early exchanges in the 2nd half and constantly threatened the Drumbaragh goal. Bective brought Ciaran Reilly into midfield. Sean Keating notched up a fine point after 3 mins and he quickly followed up with a well taken shot to the back of the net after a quick ball in from Paul Lyness. Bective backs were closing down shooting space with Jack Grant, Chris McGurn, Con Smith and Colin O’Rourke most effective and Mc Connell working the ball forward efficiently from midfield. Mulhall pointed from a free kick followed by an O’Brien point and a fine point from Mathew Cully put Bective 7 points clear before Drumbaragh registered their first 2nd half point from a free kick on 15 minutes. David Fitzpatrick came into the Bective backs. Drumbaragh did not travel to let Bective have it all their own way and continued their comeback with a further point and a great point from play from youngster Hughie Corcoran and left only 4 points between the sides. Declan McGuiness was brought back into the Bective forwards. Bective felt they could manage the ball best by playing laterally but this proved risky in slippery conditions and Drumbaragh pressed hard and intercepted a number of passes and delivered a further 2 points to leave Bective ahead by 2 points with minutes left in the match. Gallant defending from the Bective backs minimized Drumbaragh’s scoring opportunities but the game finally hung on a Drumbarragh free kick from 20m that was to be the last kick of the game. Their big midfielder blasted towards the net but a Bective hand deflected the ball over for a point.
Bective 1 – 10, Drumbaragh 0 – 12.
Bective team: Scott Sullivan, Jack Grant, Jack Clarke, Chris McGurn, Colin O’Rourke, Jarlath Brennan, Con Smith, Ciaran Mc Connell, Paul Lyness, Declan McGuinness, Marth Mulhall, Mathew Cully, Eanna Reilly, Sean Keating and Mark O’Brien.
