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Tailteann Cup: Cavan register victory

Cavan senior football manager Mickey Graham. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Cavan senior football manager Mickey Graham. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Tailteann Cup One

Cavan 2-25 Offaly 2-9

By Paul Fitzpatrick at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park

Cavan cruised through emphatically to the quarter-final of the Tailteann Cup with this 16-point win over Offaly at a sun-drenched Pearse Park, Longford.

When the sides met on February 26 in the league, Cavan ran out comfortable winners, kicking 0-21. In the interim, the Blues’ form has been up and down, with losses to Antrim and Fermanagh in rounds six and seven of the league and to Armagh in the Ulster Championship along with a league final win over the Erne men and Tailteann Cup victories over Laois and London.

While both teams were guaranteed to progress from the group stage, the prize at stake here was automatic qualification for the last eight of this competition, with home advantage in that tie, and Cavan convincingly grabbed it.

They were helped by Offaly indiscipline which saw two players dismissed on straight red cards with 20 minutes remaining.

By half-time, Cavan had racked up 1-11, with nine different scorers, and held a seven-point lead.

For the fifth time this season, Mickey Graham’s men conceded a goal in the first 10 minutes and Offaly could have had two more in the first half, with Jack McEvoy hitting the butt of the post and Anton Sullivan, who buried the first goal, later blasting over a point when he really should have hit the target.

Cavan started brightly with a 46-metre Ray Galligan free and an Oisin Kiernan point at the end of a well-worked move.

A Nigel Dunne free got Offaly off the mark but Cavan’s weakness under the high ball manifested itself in the seventh minute when Dunne, spotting an aerial mismatch, fired a mark Crossfield, Cian Reilly misread it and veteran Anton Sullivan fielded and smashed home from close range.

Cavan endured a jittery spell thereafter, registering several poor wides, but Offaly were creating very little at the other end. Two frees from the excellent Gearoid McKiernan, one from play for Ciaran Brady and a Paddy Lynch mark saw Cavan ease into a two-point lead and a well-taken goal from Brandon Boylan after a sweeping counter-attack put five between them.

Oisin Brady and Nigel Dunne (free) traded scores, as did Padraig Faulkner and Nigel Bracken. Sullivan scored from play from that goal chance but a flurry of points from Jonny McCabe, Ray Galligan (45-metre free) and Oisin Kiernan left seven between them at the break.

Cavan stretched their lead on the resumption through Conor Moynagh but Offaly enjoyed a decent spell thereafter, with Cian Donohoe, Dunne (45), Ruairi McNamee and Cian Farrell all registering to cut the gap to five.

But Cavan upped the ante, despite losing Conor Moynagh to a black card. Boylan, who was brilliant, pointed, Lynch (two, one free) and Oisin Brady added further white flags before a melee which saw Dylan Hyland and Jack McEvoy red-carded.

Offaly’s faint hopes of a comeback went with them and the closing stages were one-way traffic as Cavan fired over a succession of well-taken points – Conor Brady and Galligan with a couple of spectacular efforts - and ran in another goal, Boylan left all alone on the penalty spot and tucking away coolly.

Offaly scrambled one home at the other end through Joe Maher after a defensive blunder from Cavan, but a late flurry of points from the likes of McKiernan, Boylan and Caoimhan McGovern saw Cavan run out commanding winners.

This was an exceptional performance from Cavan, who clearly learned the lessons of their laborious win over London and drove forward with pace and intent throughout, and sets them up well for the knock-out stages. Offaly, meanwhile, will go on to the preliminary quarter-finals.

Scorers for Cavan: Brandon Boylan 2-2, Paddy Lynch (2fs, 1m) and Gearoid McKiernan (2fs) 0-4 each, Raymond Galligan 0-3 (3fs), Conor Brady, Oisin Kiernan, and Oisin Kieran 0-2 each, Padraig Faulkner, Ciaran Brady, Jonathan McCabe, Conor Moynagh, and Caoimhan McGovern 0-1 each.

Scorers for Offaly: Anton Sullivan 1-1, Joe Maher 1-0, Nigel Dunne 0-3 (2fs, 145) Cian Farrell 0-2 (1f), Cian Donohoe, Nigel Bracken, and Ruairi McNamee 0-1 each.

Cavan: Raymond Galligan, Cian Reilly, Padraig Faulkner, Niall Carolan, Ciaran Brady, Oisin Kiernan, Cian Madden, Killian Clarke, Conor Brady, Jonathan McCabe, Gearoid McKiernan, Tiarnan Madden, Brandon Boylan, Paddy Lynch, Oisin Brady.

Subs: Conor Moynagh for N Carolan (23 mins, inj.), Dara McVeety for J McCabe (43), Conor Rehill for Ciaran Brady (47), Ryan O’Neill for O Brady (57, inj.), Caoimhan McGovern for P Lynch (59), Tristan Noach Hoffman for T Madden (64).

Offaly: Ian Duffy, Lee Pearson, Declan Hogan, David Dempsey, Cian Donohoe, Peter Cunningham, Ciaran Donnelly, Jack McEvoy, Conor McNamee, Dylan Hyland, Ruairi McNamee, Anton Sullivan, Aaron Leavy, Nigel Dunne, Nigel Bracken.

Subs: Jordan Hayes for C Donnelly, Cian Farrell for N Bracken (both HT), Bernard Allen for N Dunne, Joe Maher for R McNamee (both 59), Morgan Tynan for A Leavy (64), Cormac Delaney for C McNamee (temp, 68).

Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo).