Champions fight back to draw in fiery clash

SFC round 3

Cavan Gaels 1-12

Gowna 1-12

Kevin Óg Carney at Kingspan Breffni

Gowna retrieved a five-point deficit in the final 19 minutes of actual playing time to secure a crucial share of the spoils in a thrilling SFC third round clash at Kingspan Breffni on Saturday evening last.

The Gaels looked well positioned to claim victory with the chequered flag in sight but the dismissal of two of their players inside a two-minute period in the dregs of normal time and a never-say-die spirit in the Gowna camp conspired to encode the word stalemate on the tie at the conclusion of six minutes of added-on time.

In an otherwise sporting encounter, Gowna also finished with 14 men after team captain Ryan McGahern was shown a second yellow card in added-on time towards the end of the second half.

Kingspan Breffni was verdant green, dry and absolutely conducive to hosting an exciting, fast-paced and quality game and the teams duly obliged. With the game simmering throughout, it came very close to boiling over but the fractious nature of the contest helped to leave all boxes ticked.

The upshot of the tie is that both sides need to win their final round games to be sure of getting through to the quarter-finals although the Gaels, on 3 points, as opposed to Gowna (on 2 points) will be more confident ahead of their next outing.

The Gaels had led by 1-12 to 1-7 with 46 minutes on the clock and the game looked like theirs to lose. However, their inability to engineer a second goal left the door ajar for the defending champions and the latter failed to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The Gaels' outright failure to land a killer punch was compounded by Gowna's surge towards the finishing line. The Longford-border side left their best stuff ‘till last with a point apiece by Conor Madden (47), Oisin Pierson (50) and Cian Madden's free (52) making it a two point game and, more to the point, anyone's game entering the dregs of the contest.

Gowna very much on the front foot in the closing stages with the red carding of Emmanuel Shehu in the 55th minute and his brother Favour Shehu two minutes later giving Gowna a huge leg-up; one that really ought to have seen them bag two points rather than one point for their night's work.

Ultimately, a draw was arguably the fairest result although, on balance, the Gaels, although long-time leaders, will feel that they earned a good dividend considering they were left playing with just 13 men for the guts of the last 10 minutes of the match.

The game was one that must have went close to satisfying the purist, It had a lot going for itself with the tone of the game established from the get-go.

Both sides contributed handsomely to a really fine contest that hit the ground running with a cracking opening two minutes.

The crowd had scarcely cemented themselves into position when Conor Brady scored a brilliant solo goal for Gowna with less than two minutes on the clock. Then, less than a minute later, Luke Molloy goaled from the penalty spot after Evaan Fortune was fouled in the act of trying to find the Gowna net.

It remained all-action stuff and after coming with Luke Molloy, the overlapping Favour Shehu forced Gowna 'keeper Daire Madden to finger tip the ball over the line for a '45 after the former's shot dipped dangerously under the crossbar with five minutes on the clock.

The sides continued to slug it out and the 1-3 to 1-3 scoreline at the end of the opening quarter gave a major hint as to what was to come with both ‘keepers kept busy as defences largely trumped in the fast-paced, open, exchanges.

The Gaels' led by 1-6 to 1-4 at the interval but it was a lead that never looked iron clad. In fact it was reduced to the minimum just two minutes after the restart with Tiarnan Madden running directly at the retreating Gaels' backline before splitting the posts.

The game continued to ape the attack-counter attack mode of play with star man Tiarnan Madden’s point (36) being matched by a classy Padraic Sexton effort (39) which, aided by a point apiece from Gearoid McKiernan and Emmanuel Shehu left the Gaels leading by 1-12 to 1-7 at the 46th minute mark.

Gowna were to unleash a major sting in their tail though, keeping their opponents scoreless in the long run for home and picking off some lovely points, most notably from Oisin Pierson (50) and concluding with an ice cold equaliser (58) from the stand-out Tiarnan Madden.

Gowna: Daire Madden; Conor Brady (1-0), Fionnán Brady, Eoghan Hartin; Ryan Brady, Ryan McGahern, Tiarnán Madden (0-6, 2f); Ryan Donohoe, Robbie Fitzpatrick (0-1); Conor Casey, Cillian Brady, Cian Madden (0-3, 3f); TJ Fitzpatrick, Oisín Pierson (0-1), Darragh McConnon.

Subs; Conor Madden (0-1) for D McConnon; Seanie Hartin for TJ Fitzpatrick; Mark McKeever for C Casey; David Phillips for Fionnan Brady.

Cavan Gaels: Ciaran Flynn; Favour Shehu, Evaan Fortune, Levi Murphy; Emmanuel Shehu (0-3, 1f), Luke Fortune, Padraig Sexton (0-1); Luke Molloy (1-1), Robert Maloney-Derham; Niall Murray, Jack Tully (0-2), Barry Fortune; Paul O'Connor, Gearóid McKiernan (0-4, 3f), Ben Tully (0-1).

Subs; Andy Graham for P O'Connor; Daniel Graham for P Sexton; Evan McIntyre for B Tully; Keenan Donohoe for J Tully.