Belcoo 2-09 Newtownbutler 0-06

Belcoo booked their place in the Intermediate Championship final, overcoming a robust Newtownbutler challenge last Sunday.

It is a second consecutive championship final for Belcoo who triumphed in last year's Junior decider to move up to Intermediate grade.

At times throughout the 60 minutes, scores were at a premium with Belcoo relying on a late flourish of scores to put a gloss on the scoreline.

Four minutes in and Belcoo were first on the scoreboard in what was to be a stop-start first-half.

Sinead Barrett ran at the Newtown defence and fired over a point just as she shipped a heavy knock.

Aisling Quinn levelled matters for Newtown just under 10 minutes later but Belcoo responded with their first goal of the game.

Midfielder Aoife McPartland got on the end of a neat Belcoo move and her shot found the top corner.

Seana Feeley and Eimear Higgins hit two points to move Belcoo into a 1-03 to 0-01 lead but two Cliodhna Martin points either side of a Molly McGloin point had two between the sides coming to half-time.

However, Sinead Barrett had the last say of the half as she struck another excellent score to leave the goal separating the sides at the break, 1-04 to 0-04.

Defences were top as the second-half continued in similar vein to the first.

Only two points were scored in 20 minutes of second-half football.

Laoise O'Keefe found the target for Newtown while Higgins was accurate for Belcoo as only a score continued to separate the sides.

Belcoo's Ella McGovern put Belcoo into a strong position with two points on the trot. One of these was a brilliant long-range free followed by a fine solo effort from play which left it 1-07 to 0-05 with two minutes of normal time remaining.

With five minutes of added-on time signalled Belcoo added to their tally through Sinead Barrett and Sam Martin while substitute, Eve Barrett thumped in a goal from close range following an impressive passing move.

Cliodhna Martin did grab a consolation point for Newtown but Belcoo were not to be stopped in reaching another championship final.

Speaking after the victory, Belcoo manager, Paul McGrath was delighted his side came through this tough encounter: "We’ve a lot of battered bodies in there as we took a lot of heavy hits, but the Girls stood up to it and while it was a tough watch at times at the top end of the field squandering opportunities, we eventually found the scores to see us through to the final.

"Tempo are a different outfit altogether. We’ve had three really good games of football with them this year, they play the game the right way, Stephen Jackson has put a lot of work into that group and you can the improvements certain players are making. It should be a good spectacle and I’d expect it to go down to the final few minutes like this one did today.”