Cavan advanced to the semi- finals of the ulster Champion- ship, after a four point victory over local rivals Monaghan at Breffni Park last night.
Mickey Graham’s side were very impressive on the day and were fully deserved victors, looking organised in defence and clinical when presented with chances.
Over 13,000 people attended the game at Kingspan and they were treated to an entertaining game of football, with the quality of play very good throughout the evening.
Cavan’s Conor Brady opened the scoring in the first minute before Niall Murray doubled his side’s advantage.
The hosts were awarded a penalty for a foul on Conor Mad- den after he received a perfect pass from Martin Reilly.
Reilly sent Rory Beggan the wrong way from the spot to give his side a five point lead which was increased to six after Madden’s seventh minute score.
Monaghan were in danger of slipping away from both the game and the Ulster Championship without a
whimper at this stage, but a long range free from Rory Beggan settled the visitors.
Conor McManus responded with a place ball effort to leave the score-board reading 1-3 to 0-2 in favour of Cavan with 10 minutes on the clock.
Cavan added another score courtesy of midfielder Gearoid McKiernan before Niall Murphy restored his side’s six point advantage. It was tit-for-tat right until the interval, but Madden’s effort on stroke of half-time gave his side a 1-8 to 0-4 lead at the break.
Gearoid McKiernan opened the second-half scoring to increase his side’s lead to eight but three successive Monaghan scores ensured the visitors were still in contention.
Dara McVeety responded with a score for Cavan, but three further Monaghan points left three between the teams with 15 minutes on the clock.
Padraig Faulkner replied for the hosts with an excellent score to give his side some breathing space, which was quickly cancelled out by Conor Boyle’s close range point.
A magnificent score from Gearoid McKiernan gave Cavan a four point lead heading into the final stages of the game, be- fore the referee signalled five minutes additional time.
The Breffni men defended magnificently in additional time as Monaghan failed to create the goalscoring chance they badly craved and Conor Lane blew for full time shortly after, much to the delight of the home contingent.
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
