Breffni boys on the up after Portlaoise victory

Cavan 3-10
Laois 1-6

Paul Fitzpatrick
at O’Moore Park

Cavan picked up their second successive victory with a deserved 10-point success over Laois in a bitterly cold Portlaoise this afternoon.
After a slow start, Mickey Graham’s men found their groove and came from two down after half an hour to run out 10-point victors. Laois, unbeaten in their first two matches, were warm favourites but the Blues were on a different level in the second half.
At half-time, Cavan were leading by five, 1-8 to 1-3. The match began in biblical conditions, with driving rain and a gale blowing into the town end, favouring Cavan.
Cavan lost the throw-in but Evan Doughty immediately forced a turnover ansd Oisin Pierson curled in the opening point with just 10 seconds on the clock. The young Gowna man was following a shoot-on-sight policy in the opening stanza and it would pay off; by the interval, he had registered three from play.
Cavan should have extended their lead but three successive wides put paid to that before John O’Loughlin pointed at the other end following a short 45.
Gearoid McKiernan caught the resulting kick-out and found Pierson who slotted over his second before Bryan Magee, who turned in a great shift, nailed a free to make it 0-3 to 0-1 after 10 minutes.
Evan O’Carroll, who was well marshalled by Padraig Faulkner, knocked over a free before Gerry Smith sent over the first of his three points, a monster effort from the right wing.
On 21 minutes, Laois grabbed a lifeline when Cavan failed to deal with a long ball into the full-back line. It stuck in the mud, struck the goalpost and in a comedy of errors, found its way to the net, Eoin Lowry getting the final touch.
A free from Mark Barry made it 1-3 to 0-4 for the Midlanders on  24 minutes but Cavan finished the half very strongly. A super free from Magee, a wonderful point from the right wing from Pierson and two scores from Gerry Smith (one turned over by the goalkeeper) put them two ahead.
And then, just before half-time, came a turning point. Doughty cut in from the left and dinked a shot – whether he was going for a goal or a point was immaterial as the ball nestled in top right corner of the net.
That sent Cavan in for their tea with a five-point advantage and, crucially, Laois now had centre-back Robert Pigott in the sin bin. And within 30 seconds, the Blues had taken complete charge after sub Stephen Murray rose highest to flick the ball past Laois goalkeeper Niall Corbet to make it 2-8 to 1-3.
Cavan went on to turn in a mature performance against the wind in the second half, using the ball well and defending expertly, individually and as a unit, holding Laois to just three points.
Magee won and converted a mark to make it 2-9 to 1-3 before O’Carroll converted two frees. Ray Galligan came up from goals to convert one of his own, which O’Loughlin quickly cancelled out.
Cavan, though, refused to panic and worked the ball well, eating up the clock. With full-time almost up, Laois were awarded a penalty but Galligan saved well from Gary Walsh and with that went the hosts’ hopes.
Deep in injury time, then, Graham’s men capped off a great day’s work when McKiernan played Murray in and the Cavan Gaels man sent a powerful shot to the roof of the net. Game, set and match to the Breffni men.

Cavan: Raymond Galligan (0-1f), Chris Conroy, Padraig Faulkner, Killian Brady, Gerard Smith (0-3), Ciaran Brady, Oisin Kiernan, Thomas Galligan, Gearoid McKiernan, Luke Fortune, Martin Reilly, Evan Doughty (1-0), Oisin Pierson (0-3), Bryan Magee (0-3f), James Smith
Subs: Stephen Murray (2-0) for Fortune (ht), Conor Madden for Conroy (52), Liam Buchanan for J Smith (69), Paul Gilchreest for Doughty (70), Stephen Smith for Magee (70)

Laois: Niall Corbet, Brian Byrne, Mark Timmons, Gearoid Hanrahan, Sean O’Flynn, Robert Pigott, Patrick O’Sullivan, John O’Loughlin, Sean Byrne, Michael Keogh, Colm Murphy, Eoin Lowry, Mark Barry, Kieran Lillis, Evan O’Carroll @
Subs: Trevor Collins for Byrne (45 mins), Ross Munnelly for Murphy (50), Gary Walsh for O’Flynn (60)
Ref: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)