Lavey 0-10
Mullahoran 0-9

A last gasp point from Darragh Conaty earned Lavey their passage through to Round 2A of the senior football championship as they upset Mullahoran tonight at Kingspan Breffni Park.

The New Inns men dug their deepest in the final 10 minutes of this encounter after losing goalkeeper Conor Martin to a straight red card in the 48th minute, as late scores from Karl Duke and Conaty outweighed a free from Enda Reilly, who finished with 0-6, to hang on for the win.

Mullahoran overturned an early 0-4 to 0-1 deficit to lead by two at the halfway stage and looked the likely team in the early stages of the second-half when Raymond Lynch extended it to three.

However, Lavey were ignited by three unanswered points from Chris Conroy (frees) and eventually regained the lead in the 45th minute through Ray Cullivan's brilliantly struck free. Losing Martin only seemed to fuel their fire and they'd match Mullahoran blow for blow in closing stages to see out the win to set-up a showdown with Lacken for a quarter-final berth, while the Dreadnoughts must now defeat Drumgoon to keep their championship hopes alive.

Marksman Reilly opened Mullahoran's account inside the first minute with a 25-metre free after Paul Brady's fine fetch saw him impeded central to the posts by Lavey's scrambling defenders.

Lavey then struck some good early form which saw them into their first lead by the third minute via points from Darren Jordan and Gerard Smith. Duke did brilliantly to set-up Paul Gilchreest from his full-forward post to make it three on the trot and when the full-forward raised a white flag a minute later it looked like the New Inns men were set to motor on and add to their advantage.

It was around the 10-minute mark that Mullahoran received their wake-up call though, as they rattled off the next five scores without reply to earn the interval lead.

Reilly's second free came off the back of more fine work by Paul Brady and when Peter Paul Galligan swung over a beauty from the left flank the momentum was starting to flow for the Killydoon men. Paddy Brady turned over possession in his own half to level before a sweetly struck free from Reilly put his side back into the lead by the 16th minute.

With all of their good work wiped out in the space of six minutes, Lavey looked for a response but instead tallied two wides from Cullivan and Conroy as Reilly kept up his deadly accuracy at the other end to send Mullahoran in with a 0-6 to 0-4 half-time lead.

Lynch set the tone early in the restart for the leaders with appoint from the throw-in before Conroy's free ended a 24-minute scoring drought for Michael Tynan's men.

Conroy was on target again in the 35th minute to cut the difference to the minimum and the Cavan attacker was at the heart of a fine move for the black and whites three minutes later when his cross field ball found Duke in space. Mullahoran had little options but to drag down the Lavey's no 14, with a goal chance on, and Conroy tapped over the free to level it at 0-7.

A gem from Cullivan along the side line saw Lavey into their first lead of the half but they'd be forced to hang on to it with 14 men after goalkeeper Martin saw red for an altercation on the edge of his square. Referee John Emo acted on the advice of his umpire and awarded the free which Reilly simply converted, while Tynan was forced to withdraw Gilchreest to replace Martin between the posts with Killian Torsney.

The would-be winners responded in typical fashion to the dismissal, grabbing the next score through the lively Duke much to the delight of their vocal support.

Reilly levelled the sides for the fifth time and as the game drew to a close it was Lavey that had the final push in them which saw Smith nabbing possession around the centre and locating Conaty with a perfect past for him to send over what proved the winning score.

Fintan Cahill's charges hunted for a late equaliser but couldn't breach their opponents' stubborn rear guard and that sparked one or two small melees towards the end but the battle was won in the end by Lavey, whom had timed their finish to perfection.

Lavey: Conor Martin; Darren Donegan, Fergal Smith, Kevin Donohoe; Aaron Smith, Darragh Conaty (0-1), Stephen Jordan; Ray Cullivan (0-1, 1f), Shane Conaty; Paul Gilchreest (0-1), Darren Jordan (0-1), Darren Monahan; Christopher Conroy (0-3, 3f), Karl Duke (0-2), Gerard Smith (0-1). Subs: Diarmuid Conaty for D Donegan (40mins), Killian Torsney for P Gilchreest (49).

Mullahoran: Dominic Crudden; Seanie Smith, Noel Brady, James Reilly; Dermot Sheridan, Chris Prior, Daniel Reilly; Peter Paul Galligan (0-1), Paddy Brady (0-1); Paul Brady, Enda Reilly (0-6, 6f), Raymond Lynch (0-1); Christy Shiels, Philip Brady, Damien McArdle. Subs: Sean McKeogh for D Reilly (HT), Kevin Fitzsimmons for McKeogh (40mins, inj), Thomas Nannery for D McArdle (44), Jason Donohoe for C Shiels (54).

Ref: John Emo (Butlersbridge) Tweet

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