Cavan Gaels 3-6
Lacken 0-7

Two second-half goals saw Cavan Gaels march comfortably on to the first round proper of the county senior championship at the expense of 14-man Lacken this evening at Kingspan Breffni Park.

In a contest that was far from one-sided, Joe O'Connor's team timed their three goals to perfection with Eamonn Reilly's first propelling them towards a three-point lead at half-time.

With Niall McKiernan off form, Ray Galligan and Finbar Reilly were the 'go to' men for Lacken but once Martin Dunne registered the Gaels' second major approaching the final quarter it was a game that the favourites were never going to lose.

The opening 10 minutes were scoreless as both sides struggled to shake off some championship rustiness, with Martin Dunne and Raymond Galligan both seeing respective frees come off the upright before the latter collected a slick pass from Finbar Reilly to slot over Lacken's first on 11 minutes.

The endeavours of Terry Hyland and Kevin Shanaghy had helped the intermediate champions keep out the Gaels up until the 13th minute when Conor McClarey looped in a ball to Paul Graham, who fisted over. The former Cavan minor captain sent the town side into their first lead two minutes later with a fine effort from his station on the right flank.

Lacken were slipping somewhat and were rocked with a heavy blow in the 22nd minute when Gaels skipper Reilly was sent through on a blistering run by McClarey and buried the ball beyond Colin Comerford.

Dunne's well-executed free two minutes earlier meant the would-be winners were leading by five with as many minutes remaining in the half and but for a much needed score from Niall McKiernan down the other end the Gaels could have been moving out of sight.

O'Connor's side saw a few more chances going astray (they kicked six wides to Lacken's four in the first-half) and that allowed Galligan to put a score between the sides for the interval after sailing over a sweetly struck '45', leaving it at 1-3 to 0-3.

As expected, Jason O'Reilly's charges had a bit more urgency about them for the start of the second-half and trimmed the difference to two through a Niall McKiernan free. They were fortunate to see a goal effort by McClarey blocked minutes later and despite corner-back Kevin Shanaghy receiving a straight red card for a challenge on Declan Meehan, they soon made it a one-point game via a Galligan free.

A similar effort from Dunne down the other end halted a rare 21-minute scoring drought for the leaders and despite a brilliantly struck trademark free from Finbar Reilly, which brought the difference to one, the Gaels would never be in danger of letting this game slip away once they struck their second goal in the 50th minute.

After failing to deal with a long ball, Lacken 'keeper Comerford broke possession only as far as Michael Lyng, who offloaded to Dunne and the All-Ireland SFC's current top-scorer had the simple task of tapping to the net.

A minute later the game was over as a contest when Lyng sent wing back Barry Fortune through to crash the ball to Comerford's near post, sealing the Gaels' place in the next round while condemning Lacken to the backdoor.

Cavan Gaels: Martin Cassidy; Niall Gurhy, Cathal Collins, Fergal Blessing; Barry Fortune (1-0), Eamonn Reilly (1-0), Levi Murphy (0-1); Dominic Reilly, Declan Meehan; Stephen Murray, Michael Lyng, Paul Graham (0-2); Conor McClarey (0-1), Paul O'Connor, Martin Dunne (1-2, 2f). Subs: Ed O'Hanlon for D Reilly (24mins, temporary), Reilly for O'Hanlon (26).

Lacken: Colin Comerford; Kevin Shanaghy, Damien McKiernan, Terry Hyland; Shane Finnegan, Philip Moynagh, James Moynagh; Conor Finnegan, James Galligan; Michael Shanaghy, Raymond Galligan (0-4, 1f, 1 '45'), Stephen Brady; Martin Brady, Finbar O'Reilly (0-1, 1f), Niall McKiernan (0-2, 1f). Subs: Colm Sheridan for Finnegan (55mins), Killian Galligan for F Reilly (56), Joe Crowe for N McKiernan (56).

Referee: Raymond Tynan (Ramor United) Tweet

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