Cavan 2-16
Fermanagh 0-13

Paul Fitzpatrick reports from Brewster Park

CAVAN MADE IT 10 wins in league and championship this season with a one-sided victory over a disappointing Fermanagh.

Having comfortably beaten Antrim and run Donegal close in the Ulster Championship, Cavan were installed as favourites to win the Tailteann Cup and they lived up to their billing here with an impressive win here.

Cavan sides have had a fine record at the Enniskillen venue in the last 10 years and the visitors picked up their seventh win over Fermanagh since 2012 with a sparkling display, led by the brilliant Thomas Galligan and Gearoid McKiernan who accounted 1-9 from play between them.

Cavan kicked 2-13 from play in an impressive attacking performance and some mid-game adjustments saw them shore up the defence, with the Erne men struggling to make any inroads from play, although they weren’t helped by some very poor shooting.

Cavan got off to a wonderful start when Galligan won the throw-in and stormed through the heart of the Fermanagh defence before tucking away to the bottom corner for the opening goal with just 14 seconds on the clock.

By the ninth minute, the Blues had extended their lead to 1-3 to 0-0. Galligan and McKiernan (two) pointed before Ryan Jones drove over from 45 metres to open Fermanagh’s account in the 10th minute.

Cavan's Tomas Galligan with Fermanagh's Ryan Jones. John McVitty / INPHO John McVitty / INPHO / INPHO

After some textbook defending from Padraig Faulkner, Killian Brady set Galligan up for another but Fermanagh were growing into the game and after a Cavan kick-out malfunctioned, Sean Quigley curled in a free off the ground.

Terrific scores from James McMahon and Ryan Jones left just the goal between them with 20 minutes played and a Quigley free cut the gap to two but that was as good as it got for the Erne men.

After Galligan made a nuisance of himself, Faulkner side-footed to the net following a scramble to make it 2-4 to 0-5. Fine strikes from Daragh McGurn and Quigley (free) were followed by a punched point for Galligan.

However, five Fermanagh wides in as many minutes before half-time hurt their chances and Cavan would dominate the second half.

Points from Jason McLoughlin, Paddy Lynch (free) and a super Conor Brady effort from the right wing put some daylight between the sides. Fermanagh continued to rack up the wides as Cavan registered again through Lynch, Thomas Galligan, Raymond Galligan (45), Cormac O’Reilly and a couple of high quality scores from McKiernan.

Fermanagh were heavily reliant on Quigley’s frees to keep them in contention as Cavan ran out comfortable winners to secure a semi-final place in Croke Park.

Scorers for Cavan: Thomas Galligan 1-4, Gearoid McKiernan 0-5, Paddy Lynch 0-3 (2f), Padraig Faulkner 1-0, Raymond Galligan (45), Jason McLoughlin, Conor Brady, Cormac O’Reilly 0-1 each.

Scorers for Fermanagh: Sean Quigley 0-8 (8f), Daragh McGurn (1f), Ryan Jones 0-2 each, James McMahon 0-1.

Cavan

Raymond Galligan (Lacken Celtic)

Cian Madden (Gowna)

Padraig Faulkner (Kingscourt Stars)

Killian Brady (Mullahoran)

Jason McLoughlin (Shannon Gaels)

Killian Clarke (Shercock)

Conor Brady (Gowna)

Thomas Galligan (Lacken Celtic)

James Smith (Crosserlough)

Oisin Kiernan (Castlerahan)

Gearoid McKiernan (Cavan Gaels)

Gerard Smith (Lavey)

Ciaran Brady (Arva)

Paddy Lynch (Crosserlough)

Niall Carolan (Cuchulainns)

Subs:
Cormac O’Reilly (Mullahoran) for C Brady (ht)
Martin Reilly (Killygarry) for Madden (53)
Luke Fortune (Cavan Gaels) for Carolan (60)
Oisin Brady (Killygarry) for J Smith (65)
Michael Argue (Bailieborough) for Lynch (66)

Fermanagh

Sean McNally (Teemore Shamrocks)

Ultan Kelm (Erne Gaels)

Jonny Cassidy (Enniskillen Gaels)

Luke Flanagan (Derrylin)

James McMahon (Roslea)

Richard O’Callaghan (Enniskillen Gaels)

Declan McCusker (St Joseph’s)

Ryan Jones (Derrygonnelly)

Joe McDade (Lisnaskea)

Josh Largo-Ellis (Irvinestown)

Ryan Lyons (Erne Gaels)

Aidan Breen (Tempo)

Stephen McGullion (Derrygonnelly)

Daragh McGurn (Belnaleck)

Sean Quigley (Roslea)

Subs:
Ciaran Corrigan (Maguiresbridge) for McGullion (14 mins)
Conall Jones (Derrygonnelly) for McDade (temp, 23 mins)
John Rehill (Enniskillen Gaels) for McCusker (46)
Oisin Kelm (Erne Gaels) for Breen (62)
Ronan McCaffrey (Teemore Shamrocks) for O’Callaghan (59)
Garvan Jones for Lyons (69)

Ref: Paul Faloon (Down)