Castlerahan 5-10
Gowna 1-5

Cian Mackey struck for 3-4 as Castlerahan trounced Gowna this afternoon to move into the quarter-finals of the senior football championship.

The lights were operational but unnecessary for this one at Kingspan Breffni Park, as the Ballyjamesduff men lit it up in this replay in what was arguably the most impressive performance of any team in the competition thus far.

In a lethal display, Mackey had 2-2 to his name after 17 minutes which always left Gowna playing catch-up, despite Gerald Pearson poaching a goal for them before the interval, as the winner pushed a five-point lead up to seven early on in the second-half before Mackey netted his third in some style.

Gowna, meanwhile, were out of sorts and could only manage 0-3 for the second period, which would never be enough here as their opponents kept raising both flags until the last whistle to round up a 17-point victory.

Castlerahan's sizzling start underlined their intent in this contest, scoring 1-1 inside the first three minutes. Enda Flanagan had them up in running with a fine point after just 20 seconds and it was the U21 star that sent Mackey through for his first goal, crossing with his first for the Cavan forward to do the rest from two yards out.

The centre-forward had already found his rhythm early on and his team mates wisely fed him with their next two chances, which he took expertly to coast the Ballyjamesduff men six clear after a quarter of a hour.

Gowna needed Conor Madden to put his head down and drive through four Castlerahan defenders to fly over their opener on 16 minutes.

Disaster struck for the trailers soon after though, with Mackey slipping Daniel Lynch through on goal and the corner-forward had his effort blocked by the foot of Raymond Keogh. Referee Kieran McCarville gave horizontal arms for the penalty, which only one man was going to take, as their number 11 expertly converted.

David Hyland popped over well-executed free in response for Gowna, but a goal before half-time was what they really desired to get them back in contention.

You guessed it, they got it. After Madden carried possession to at centre-field Hyland the county man aimed to Gerald Pearson in the square and the veteran attacker was quickest to the ball slipping through Paul Smith's hands, sending it to the roof of the net.

A brilliant score from Oisin O'Connell from all of 50 metres closed the half at 2-4 to 1-2, leaving the Longford border men with more than just a fighting chance for the second-half.

Mackey (free) and Madden each raised white flags to maintain the five-point difference early on in the resumption, but the signs were very ominous for Mickey Harkins' men once Cian McEnroe (free) and O'Connell sailed over scores.

Ugly scenes followed in the 43rd minute with a melee breaking out in front of the stand, where players and mentors got involved in the rumble, and once the dust settled yellow cards were distributed to Castlerahan's Enda O'Connell and Gowna's Keogh.

Gowna would lose Shane Briody to an ankle injury picked up before the row broke out and once Mackey dinked over Stephen Leddy for a sensational third goal on 50 minutes the stuffing was completely knocked out of the men from the Lough.

It didn't mean Michael Reilly's men were done yet either, as they stayed ruthless and went on to register another 2-2 in the remaining 10 minutes. It was Fergal Flanagan, who was instrumental in Mackey's third major, and Enda Flanagan weighed in with goals four and five, as Castlerahan saw out the comfortable rout to move into the last eight.

Castlerahan: Jamie Leahy; Stephen Cooney, Caolan McBreen, Ronan Flanagan; Enda O'Connell, Cormac Daly, Fergal Reilly; Killian McEnroe, Barry Cusack; Paul Smth, Cian Mackey (3-4, 1f, 1 pen), Cian McEnroe (0-2, 1f); Daniel Lynch, Enda Flanagan (1-1), Oisin O'Connell (0-2). Subs: Brian Coleman for K McEnroe (23mins), Fergal Flanagan (1-1) for O O'Connell (47, inj), Sean Fitzpatrick for C McBreen (54), Shane Reilly for E Flanagan (58), Fiachra Sweeney for S Cooney (58).

Gowna: Stephen Leddy; Willie Stephen, Cathaldus Hartin, David Philips; Andrew Dewart, Emmet Madden, Shane Harton; Niall Madden, Raymond Keogh; Mark McKeever, Conor Madden (0-2), Gerald Pearson (1-0); Ronan Shiels, David Hyland (0-2, 2f), Shane Briody. Subs: TJ Fitzpatrick for R Shiels (47mins), Damien Fitzpatrick (0-1) for S Briody (47, inj).

Ref: Kieran McCarville (Cootehill)

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