Irvinestown made their exit from the Ulster Intermediate Club Championship with a narrow one point defeat to Antrim champions Glenavy at Corrigan Park Belfast on Sunday.

Shane Goan’s side had came through a tough Fermanagh championship, beating Teemore Shamrocks in the final, but a goal in the latter stages of Sunday’s encounter was to prove their undoing as Glenavy edged into the last four of the competition.

And this came after the St. Molaise outfit had clawed their way back into the contest after a disastrous start to the game that saw them concede the opening six points of the contest.

However, a converted penalty from the excellent Gary Maguire helped to settle Irvinestown into the game and by the interval they were level.

Indeed, a James Duffy goal gave the Fermanagh champions a three point advantage in the second half but they were unable to push on from this and Glenavy responded to level matters before they swooped for their decisive goal.

The game could not have got off to a worse start for Irvinestown as Glenavy bossed matters from the outset as they forged an early advantage.

The Antrim side made a very confident start to the contest as they rattled over three points in the opening minutes through Paddy Gallagher, Charles Gallagher and Niall McCann and by the tenth minute they had doubled that gap to claim a 0-06 to 0-00 lead.

McCann added another fine point from play and this was followed by a converted free from goalkeeper Fergal Green and a point from Fergus Cunningham.

Irvinestown finally began to find their feet after this initialblitz from Glenavy and with Ronan Campbell and Kevin Duffy lobbing over quickfire points they reduced the gap to four.

And they were right back in the game soon after when Kevin McDonnell was upended resulting in the awarding of a penalty by referee Kieran Trainor.

Gary Maguire stepped up to hit the penalty and although his shot was saved by Green, Maguire was quick to react to gather the rebound and slot it to the net to bring Irvinestown back to within a point, 0-06 to 1-02.

A Malachy McCourt point edged Glenavy back into a two point lead but Irvinestown replied straight away with a point from Campbell before Rory Cassidy fired over to tie up proceedings, 0-07 to 1-04.

The game remained tight as half time approached with Irvinestown nudging ahead for the first time in the game as Maguire slotted over only for Glenavy to respond with a point from Paddy Gallagher to leave it level at the interval.

It was nip and tuck at the start of the second half as Glenavy notched the opening two points of the period through Owen Gallagher and Paddy Gallagher while Irvinestown hit back with two of their own from McDonnell and Maguire to leave it 0-10 to 1-07.

And Irvinestown looked to have produced a major strike when James Duffy burst through on goal and crashed a shot into the top corner of the net to put the St. Molaise into a three point advantage.

At this stage Irvinestown looked to be well positioned to push on but a couple of chances to add to the lead came to nothing and instead Glenavy hit back.

Ciaran Loney, Niall McCann, James Gallagher and Owen Gallagher were all among the points for the Saffrons side while Gary Maguire knocked over a point for Irvinestown and with six minutes to go the sides were level at 0-14 to 2-08.

However, the hammer blow arrived with five minutes to go. Irvinestown were on the attack but they turned over possession and a swift break forward resulted in the ball being moved to Owen Gallagher who blasted home.

To their credit, Irvinestown dug deep again and Stephen Sheridan and Ronan Ormsby tagged on points as the Fermanagh champions closed back to within one point but a Niall McCann point for Glenavy was to give them breathing space late in the contest.

Irvinestown though forged forward again and James Duffy once more left the minimum between the sides with a point from play. And from the kick out Irvinestown won possession and drove forward but Tiarnan Daly’s attempt was blocked by a Glenavy defender as the Antrim side held on to win by one.