Cavan Gaels 1-14
Kingscourt 1-11

Cavan Gaels downed Kingscourt tonight at Kingspan Breffni Park to set-up a showdown with old rivals Mullahoran in the quarter-finals of the senior championship.

In a repeat of the 2010 decider, the Gaels were simply too slick for their opponents, whom were reduced to 14 men in the 37th minute after defender Keith McCabe picked up a second caution.

From then on, Martin Dunne,who finished with 1-6, continued to torment the Stars with his deadly accuracy from both frees and open play. The All-Ireland SFC's current top-scorer netted a 56th minute goal which all but killed the game as a contest before Kingscourt sub Joe Dillon grabbed a late consolation before the final whistle.

The Gaels now face Mullahoran, who trounced neighbours Gowna earlier today, in two weeks' time when a semi-final place will be at stake against the champions.

A Martin Dunne free had the Gaels off the mark inside four minutes and Paul O'Connor soon doubled the lead after cutting inside and sliding the ball over James Farrelly's crossbar.

Ryan McCormack posted Kingscourt's first response through a free, but the Gaels created a three-point lead by the quarter hour mark after a sweet score from Dunne was backed up by full-forward partner Conor McClarey in similar fashion.

Joe O'Connor's side missed their chance to stretch their advantage to four and McCormack's second free was quickly followed up by Philip Tinnelly to keep things on a knife edge.

With Niall Murray assigned to disrupt the influence of Barry Reilly, Kingscourt went elsewhere for scores and found Philip Smith with time and space to pop over in between Paul Graham and Dunne (45) scores. Tinnelly made the most of menacing burst forward to trim the difference back to the minimum, before the Cavan town side owned the closing stages of the half.

Niall Murray and Michael Lyng sent over the points, with the latter coming off the back of a poor kick-out from Farrelly, to move the Gaels 0-8 to 0-5 in front by half-time.

Two Barry Reilly frees was the perfect tonic for Kingscourt after three minutes of the restart, but they'd suffer a hammer blow in the 37th minute when corner-back McCabe picked up a second yellow card.

Points from Murray and Eamon Reilly soon followed, as the Gaels looked to make the most of the numerical advantage, and when Dunne slotted his fourth point via a free won inside by Kevin Meehan the lead was at four points.

The Stars sorely needed the next score and they got it after some brilliant work from Ryan McCormack but they could have been in deeper had Tinnelly not pulled off heroics to clear McClarey's fisted effort off the goal line.

After two exceptional Dunne points (one a free from 45 metres), Kingscourt would need a goal themselves to get back into contention as the game moved towards the closing stages.

Two McCormack frees was all that the Meath border men could muster though, as they gifted Dunne a goal in the dying stages which had their supporters heading for the turnstiles before substitute Joe Dillon grabbed a mere consolation goal in the dying stages.

Cavan Gaels: Martin Cassidy; Niall Gurhy, Marc Leddy, Cathal Collins; Niall Murray (0-2), Eamon Reilly (0-1), Levi Murphy (0-1); Dominic Reilly, Darragh Sexton; Paul Graham (0-1), Michael Lyng (0-1), Paul O'Connor (0-1); Conor McClarey (0-1), Kevin Meehan, Martin Dunne (1-6, 3f 1 45). Subs: Barry Fortune for D Sexton (34mins), Andrew Graham for P O'Connor (57), Robert Maloney-Derham for Lyng (58), Karl Crotty for L Murphy (60).

Kingscourt: James Farrelly; Keith McCabe, Thomas Wakely, Shane Grey; Aaron Browne, Alan Clarke (0-1), JP Reilly; Colm Smith, Gavin Sheenan; Barry Reilly (0-2, 2f), Philip Tinnelly (0-2), Ciaran Gorman; Tomas Malone, Philip Smith (0-1), Ryan McCormack (0-5, 4f). Subs: Rory Sheridan for A Browne (36mins), Joe Dillon (1-0) for Tomas Malone (40), Sean Og Gargan for G Sheenan (43), Aidan Smith for Wakely (58).

Ref: Martin Brady (Ballinagh) Tweet

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