Roscommon end Cavan’s All-Ireland dream

Cavan 1-16 Roscommon 3-17

Roscommon end Cavan’s All-Ireland dream

Cavan 1-16 Roscommon 3-17

For the second season in a row, Roscommon have ended Cavan’s All-Ireland dream with a Qualifier win.

This one owed much to indiscipline, with Breffni midfielder shown a straight red card prior to the beginning of the second half by referee David Gough, who bided his time to mete out the punishment for an incident which occurred as the teams headed for the Kingspan Breffni Park dressing rooms.

The Ulster men trailed by just a point at that stage, but the handicap of having to play with just 14 men was to prove too much for them.

The Rossies banged in two second half goals to go some way towards regaining their shattered confidence following the Connacht SFC defeat to Sligo.

But if they are to enjoy a long and fruitful summer, they will have to work on a defensive system that was un-picked too often by a limited Cavan attack.

Both sides went into this game with designs on keeping it tight at the back, but a remarkable opening to the game saw both concede goals inside the opening four minutes.

Cavan were first to strike, and it took Martin Reilly just 25 second to plant the ball in the net past Darren O’Malley, though most of the credit must go to Cian Mackey, who provided the perfect pass.

Roscommon responded with points from Ciarain Murtagh and Donie Shine, and they too struck for a goal when Cathal Cregg smashed home a shot past Raymond Galligan.

After an opening three and a half minutes which produced 2-3, defensive systems began to take shape, with Cavan packing their own half with bodies.

They did break down a series of attacks, but were too slow on the counter-attack to offer any threat at the other end, and managed just two points in the opening 20 minutes.

Roscommon were able to spot gaps in which to target Ultan Harney with accurate ball, and he accepted the invitation to slot over a couple of points, with Shine converting a free as the Rossies eased into a 1-6 to 1-3 lead after 25 minutes.

But Gearoid McKiernan began to get his hands on some ball at midfield and use his power to get moving into opposition land.

He fired over a point from Michael Argue’s assist to thump over a score, and he was also involved in the move that gave Reilly the opportunity to bring the side level on 31 minutes.

Roscommon went in at the break with a 1-7 to 1-6 advantage, and a dramatic start to the second half saw Cavan reduced to 14 men before the ball was thrown in.

Midfielder Tomas Corr appeared to have been substituted during the interval, but was called onto the field by referee David Gough to be shown a straight red card.

Roscommon quickly began to exploit the numerical handicap that was to prove the undoing of their opponents.

Shine drive over a free and Conor Daly jinked through for a couple of neat scores as they went three clear.

And in the 43rd minute, Enda Smith darted into a gap to gather cleanly and slot home his side’s second three-pointer.

Now six points behind, Cavan could easily have collapsed, but to their credit, they displayed pride and mental strength, and resolved to go down fighting.

Mackey and Argue pulled back points, and the introduction of Barry Reilly and Ciaran Brady added a spark to their attacking effort.

Both subs registered scores as the home side got back to within three points of the beaten Connacht semi-finalists.

Wider gaps were now appearing at the back, however, and the gifted Diarmuid Murtagh exploited the space to nail a couple of tidy scores.

Substitute Donie Smith drove a ’45 between the posts, and it was all over for the Cavan project of 2015 when Smith drifted in at the far post to palm home his second goal in stoppage time.

Cavan: R Galligan, J McLoughlin, J McEnroe, K Brady, N Murray (0-2), F Flanagan, D O’Reilly, C McKiernan (0-1), T Corr, C Mackey (0-3, 2f), D McVeety, M Reilly (1-3), R Flanagan, M Argue (0-1), N McDermott (0-1, f).

Subs: T Hayes for McDermott (18), C Moynagh for Flanagan (h-t), B Reilly (0-3, 2f) for Brady (47), C Brady (0-1) for O’Reilly (50), M Dunne (0-01) for Flanagan (58), P Smith for Argue (68)

Roscommon: D O’Malley, S McDermott, N Collins, D Murray, N Daly, D Keenan, C Cafferky, I Kilbride, K Higgins, C Daly (0-2), C Cregg (1-1), E Smith (2-1), U Harney (0-3), D Shine (0-3, 2f), C Murtagh (0-3, 1f).

Subs: D Murtagh (0-3) for Higgins (44), R Stack for Kilbride (51), D Smith for C Murtagh (55), B Murtagh for Shine (60), T Featherstone for Murray (64), C Connolly (0-1) for Cregg (66)

Referee: D Gough (Meath).

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