Cavan 2-11
Fermanagh 1-11
AFTER THE OPENING night debacle against Armagh, Cavan have got their ship sailing serenely through the choppy waters of Division Two with three consecutive wins now.
This was achieved with no small measure of grit. They had just three wides to the hosts’ dozen failed attempts, and Fermanagh passed up four goal chances throughout the game.
Ryan McMenamin has them playing a more expansive game that is attractive to watch, but when you do that, you still have to be careful with your chances.
They opened the scoring with a beautifully-crafted goal by Ultan Kelm, but Cavan then chalked up the next five points. Still, with the home side owning the lion’s share of ball, they went into the break 1-5 to 0-7 ahead and added another straight after half-time.
Where they fell down, was their inability to deal with the good old-fashioned high ball into the square.
It cost them on 44 minutes when the excellent Oisin Kiernan delivered a dangerous high ball in and full back Padraig Faulkner made it up the pitch to tap it down into the net.
Their second arrived on the hour mark, Ryan Connolly hoisting it in this time and when Erne goalkeeper James McGrath couldn’t secure it, Thomas Galligan was on hand to snap it up and blast home from almost on the line.
Man of the match Gearoid McKiernan garnished his performance with five points, one of those a superb mark, and Chris Conroy took another, showing Cavan are starting to learn the new rules quicker than most.
Scorers for Cavan: G McKiernan 0-5, 0-1 mark, T Galligan 1-1, P Faulkner 1-0, O Kiernan 0-2, O Pierson 0-2, 1f, C Conroy 0-1 mark.
Scorers for Fermanagh: U Kelm 1-0, C Corrigan 0-3, C Jones, E McManus 0-2f 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 (74m)
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)
Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)
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Division 4
Waterford 2-12
Sligo 0-16
Earlier today Waterford picked up their first points in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League as they enjoyed a successful trip to Sligo.
Second-half goals from Seanie O’Donovan and Dylan Guiry proved crucial for Benji Whelan’s Waterford side.
O’Donovan netted in the 49th minute to leave Waterford adrift 0-11 to 1-7 and when Guiry bagged his goal in the 63rd minute, it pushed the Deise in front 2-9 to 0-14.
Sligo did fight back to draw level but a couple of injury-time points from play by Darragh Corcoran clinched the spoils for Waterford.
It capped a disappointing week for Sligo after they lost out to Wicklow last Sunday on the back of winning their opening two games. They were in front 0-9 to 0-6 at the interval but couldn’t close the deal despite 0-5 from Liam Gaughan and 0-3 from Barry Gorman while Jason Curry notched 0-4 for Waterford.
Andy Dunne and Murray Kinsella join Gavan Casey to tee you up for Sunday’s big one. The lads try to figure out where the winning and losing of the game will be, field a The42 member’s question as to what extent the media plays a role in Ireland’s performance, and Andy explains why Henry Tuilagi haunts his dreams at night.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud