Cavan singing in the rain after third win in succession

Cavan 2-11
Fermanagh 1-11

Paul Fitzpatrick
at Brewster Park

All has changed utterly for the Cavan senior footballers. Five points down at half-time in round 2 having lost their opening match heavily, they appeared to be heading for the relegation trap door but Saturday night’s win over Fermanagh in Enniskillen was a third in succession in which they again showed grit, composure and smarts in equal measure.
All of a sudden, Mickey Graham’s are rated as second favourites to win the Division 2 title outright. And it’s easy to see why; Fermanagh had lost just once in their previous nine matches at Fortress Brewster and even that was a narrow reversal against Ulster champions Donegal. Nothing comes easy down by the Erne.
That was the way of it again here. Fermanagh were highly motivated and played well in almost all areas; poor shooting, however, cost them dearly.
As the rain fell incessantly, every ball was bitterly contested. After a cagey opening 10 minutes, Fermanagh opened the scoring with a terrific goal. Aidan Breen and Shane McGullion were involved in a slick hand-passing move which opened the heart of the Cavan defence and was finished to the net by Ultan Kelm.
Cavan’s response, though, was exemplary. Gearoid McKiernan, who had his best match of the season and provided leadership at key times, replied with a trademark point after good work from Evan Doughty and, moments later, the big number 11 added another after taking a pass from Chris Conroy and breaking the line before hooking over.
Ray Galligan had to be on his toes at the other end to cut out a Kelm pass to speedster Ciaran Corrigan, whose pace caused Cavan lots of problems particularly in the first half.
An Oisin Pierson free after a foul on Ciaran Brady and a brilliant long-range effort under pressure from Oisin Kiernan nudged Cavan in front and the visitors quickly landed their fifth point in succession when McKiernan spectacularly made an offensive mark and converted himself.
Two frees from Conall Jones steadied the ship for Fermanagh, whose cause was helped when Evan Doughty picked up a black card before half-time.
Fermanagh edged ahead again when Breen split the posts, again after a neat hand-passing move created a gap, but Cavan replied on 33 minutes when Pierson sent over a magnificent strike from the left corner.
The Blues hit the front again just before the short whistle when the outstanding Chris Conroy, who had probably his game in the blue shirt, made an acrobatic offensive mark and tapped over but the Erne men finished the half stronger with a fisted point from Corrigan and a super score from Ryan Jones to take a 1-5 to 0-7 lead in with them at half-time.
Within 90 seconds of the restart, Ryan McMenamin’s men had doubled that advantage with a Shane McGullion point. The intensity was as high as ever, with big hits and vicious ground battles for breaks the order of the day.
In such a close contest, goals were going to be crucial and Cavan’s first almost arrived on 40 minutes when Conroy floated a high ball towards Thomas Galligan on the square but his flick crept over rather than under James McGrath’s crossbar.
Five minutes later, McGullion also went off on a black card and Cavan looked to then turn the screw. A beautiful point from Kiernan, who was immense, levelled matters with 25 minutes remaining and as the constant drizzle grew heavier.
And on 52 minutes, Cavan fans were smiling in the rain when Kiernan’s point attempt dropped short and full-back Padraig Faulkner rose highest to flick to the net. That major made it 1-9 to 1-6 and although Ryan Jones replied with a good score, the next one was to prove crucial – and it fell to Cavan.
Galligan had been ghosting in close to goal at various times all evening and position himself there again. After great work from Ciaran Brady, sub Ryan Connolly’s shot fell short and the presence of the big Lacken man caused panic. He grabbed possession and held his nerve to round the goalkeeper and smash to the roof of the net from a yard out.
Suddenly, it was a five-point game, a lead which looked insurmountable unless Fermanagh could plunder a goal. They tried hard in the closing stages but lacked that edge up front (their tally of 12 wides to Cavan’s three tells its own story), with the away side hitting them on the break with two points from McKiernan, one fisted, to wrap up a highly impressive win.
While Fermanagh were wayward up front and committed the cardinal sin of failing to deal with two old-fashioned high balls into the square at the other end, Cavan deserve huge credit. They were smarter on the evening, took their chances, and were deserving winners.
Next up is Clare next Sunday (2.30pm, Kingspan Breffni).

Scorers for Cavan: G McKiernan 0-5 (1m), T Galligan 1-1, P Faulkner 1-0, O Kiernan 0-2, O Pierson 0-2 (1f), C Conroy 0-1 (m).
Scorers for Fermanagh: U Kelm 1-0, C Corrigan 0-3, C Jones, E McManus (2fs) 0-2 each, R Jones 0-2, Shane McGullion, A Breen 0-1 each.

Cavan: R Galligan; G Smith, P Faulkner, K Brady; M Reilly, C Brady, O Kiernan; T Galligan, C Conroy; E Doughty, G McKiernan, C Madden; O Pierson, J Smith, B Magee
Subs: S Murray for Doughty (42m), L Fortune for Magee (50m), R Connolly for O Pierson (56m), B Kelly for Madden (62m), L Buchanan for J Smith (70+4m)

Fermanagh: J McGrath; J Cassidy, C Cullen, K McDonnell; D McCusker, R O'Callaghan, Shane McGullion; E Donnelly, R Jones; A Breen, U Kelm, C Corrigan; Stephen McGullion, C Jones, J McMahon
Subs: D McGurn for Stephen McGullion (56m), D Teague for McCusker (57m), E McManus for C Jones (64m), E Sheils for McDonnell (66m).