Kinawley outclassed neighbours Derrylin to claim their place in the Intermediate Championship final, last Saturday evening. It was a dogged affair with both sides struggling to get any consistency to their play for much of this derby encounter. A series of wides by both teams and some misplaced passes will surely be something that Kinawley will look to rectify as they ready themselves for the final against either Coa or St Joseph's.

Derrylin were stretched to the limits even further, early in the second half, when Gary McBrien was sent off for a second bookable offence. That along with a poor all around team performance added to the O'Connell's woes as they failed to get to grips with Kinawley.

In the first half there was little to separate the teams though. Kinawley got off the mark in the first minute with a free from Tomas Corrigan before Cathair Shannon pulled one back for Derrylin. Sean Hussey got Kinawley's second point after some good work by Sean Leonard (rua) but it was Shannon again who registered the equalising point for Derrylin.

Kinawley continued to push forward and were rewarded after 20 minutes when Tomás Corrigan hit the target with a point from play. The Borus built on this lead with another point five minutes later, from the boot of Sean Hussey. That was to be Kinawley's final score of the first half, a number of wides and balls dropped short into the keeper's hands meant there was only a point separating the teams at half time. Derrylin's final score coming from midfielder Mark Leavey to leave them trailing by 0-03 to 0-04 at the break.

In the second half Kinawley totally outscored their neighbours, notching nine points in comparison to Derrylin's two points. The sending off by referee Seamus Breen gave Kinawley a boost as they drove forward and pulled away from a 14 man Derrylin, thereafter. Two frees from Shaun Doherty gave Kinawley a double score lead of 0-06 to 0-03 with 45 minutes on the clock.

Donal McAvinue reduced the deficit with a free but the 2007 Intermediate Champions then outclassed Derrylin and racked up a convincing lead. A point from half back Mark Monaghan followed by two points from substitute Sean Crudden (one free) gave Kinawley a five point lead.

Derrylin could one manage a solitary score as Kinawley took control and indeed Derrylin may rue the fact that Cathair Shannon chose to shoot high and over the bar when he was one on one with the Kinawley keeper, Darren Boyle. The final ten minutes was all about the Borus as they surged ahead hitting four consecutive points. Two points from their half backs Mark Monaghan and Benny McHugh was followed by scores from Sean Leonard (dubh) and Shaun Doherty to seal a comprehensive victory for the Kinawley men.

For Derrylin manager Tommy Fee it was simply a case of too many players not doing what was required of them. "It was disappointing, the second half display just didn't live up to the first half performance. We just underperformed on the day. Our midfield was weak in the second half and Kinawley deserved to win," admitted Tommy.

Kinawley manger Cathal Murphy says the main thing was to get the win, while he will look for a great deal of improvement come the final.

"To be honest, we only really pulled away from Derrylin in the last ten minutes. It wasn't the greatest performance but a win is a win. We'll certainly need to up the performance for the final but with local derby games it's often difficult to get a good game," said Cathal.

Kinawley will be pleased with the performances of wing half backs Benny McHugh and Mark Monaghan who both got their names on the score sheet. Barry McManus was solid at corner back and Sean Crudden's introduction in the second half had a positive impact for Kinawley. Best for Derrylin were Michael Shannon and Kevin McCusker who tried hard in defence.