Cavan Gaels 2-14
Castlerahan 0-7

by Shane Corrigan
at Kingspan Breffni Park

Cavan Gaels cruised into another senior football championship final tonight after dismantling favourites Castlerahan at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Joe O'Connor's team started (and finished) this semi-final at a different pace to the Ballyjamesduff men and left them behind in the second-half as they ran up a commanding lead, with Martin Dunne (1-1), Paul O'Connor (0-4) and Sean Johnston (0-4) the key men in a 13-point victory.

Castlerahan duo Cian Mackey and Ronan Flanagan, whom were so influential in their side's quarter-final win over Ramor, were tied up by their opponents, while the loss of third midfielder Sean Brady before half-time proved a massive blow.

Having been denied a goal in the opening minute, the Gaels went about building up a three-point lead before Dunne struck their first major in the 24th minute, leaving the beaten 2011 finalists with a battle on their hands in the second-half. Castlerahan would simply never hit the heights which saw them reach the last four of this competition though and their counterparts' slot in the county final was already long booked before substitute Paul Graham raised a second green flag for them five minutes from time.

Cavan Gaels started this game at a higher tempo than their opponents as they very nearly goaled from the throw-in but for some heroics from Jamie Leahy. The Castlerahan goalkeeper did brilliantly to deny Dunne before diving low to block Johnston's rebounded effort.

It was an early let off for the Ballyjamesduffers but they'd still be down by two after five minutes, with a brace of points from Paul O'Connor and a Robert Maloney-Derham single outweighing Fergal Flanagan's first for Tony Brady's chargers in the fourth minute.

Maloney-Derham, who didn't start in the quarter-final victory over Mullahoran earlier this month, was assigned to guard Ronan Flanagan, while Cian Mackey's influence would be tracked by Niall Murray and Sean Brady's by Marc Leddy around the centre. Brady would see his night cut short, however, when he was stretchered off with a nasty injury in the 27th minute.

Castlerahan had made up for their sluggish start by the ninth minute when Mackey backed up a superb 40-metre effort from namesake Cian McEnroe with a free.

Declan Meehan, who was a late change to the Gaels team along with Maloney-Derham, nudged the Cavan town side back in front when he looped over from the right side and from there the better team began to show as Dunne and Johnston were repeatedly hit with the ball inside. A Dunne free was backed up by the Cavan senior sending Johnston through for his first of the night before the Gaels landed their first hammer blow.

After some slick approaching play, Michael Lyng found O'Connor inside and the ball popped up perfectly for Dunne to round Castlerahan's struggling full-back line and flash the ball past Leahy to the net.

It was the first part of a double dagger to the maroons, as Brady was stretchered off two minutes later, and only a McEnroe free could give them some reprieve before the interval, when the Gaels took in a merited 1-6 to 0-4 lead.

Castlerahan needed a strong start to the second-half to ensure that the leaders' momentum wouldn't continue to push them further adrift, but early scores from Meehan and Johnston left them with a mountain to climb for the next half-hour.

The trailers laboured for scores via Paul Smith and Mackey (free), but the Gaels were always able to keep them at bay. Some patient build up play saw Johnston grab his third score ahead of Castlerahan's best goal chance of the night which saw Mackey find Oisin O'Connell on the edge of the square, from where the wing forward lashed over Martin Cassidy's crossbar.

The flood gates opened after that, with Maloney-Derham, Johnston and O'Connor (2) pushing the lead to nine before the latter set-up Paul Graham, on as a blood substitute for Cathal Collins, to round Leahy and smash home, ending the game as a contest.

A second yellow card for Eamon Reilly was the only blemish on the result for the victors, but their influential centre-back will see his two-week suspension elapse in time for next month's final against Ballinagh.

Cavan Gaels: Martin Cassidy; Barry Fortune, Marc Leddy, Cathal Collins; Niall Murray, Eamonn Reilly, Levi Murphy; Dominic Reilly, Declan Meehan (0-2); Karol Crotty, Michael Lyng, Robert Maloney-Derham (0-2); Sean Johnston (0-4), Paul O'Connor (0-4), Martin Dunne (1-1, 1f). Subs: Paul Graham (1-0) for C Collins (50mins, blood), Conor McClarey (0-1) for L Murphy (51), Niall Smith for M Dunne (55), Kevin Meehan for S Johnston (56), Vincent Coyle for D Meehan (59).

Castlerahan: Jamie Leahy; Fergal Reilly, David Wright, Stephen Cooney; Paul Smith (0-1), Caolan McBreen, Paul Cusack; Shane Cusack, Cian McEnroe (0-2, 1f); Brian Coleman, Cian Mackey (0-2, 2f), Oisin O'Connell (0-1); Sean Brady, Fergal Flanagan (0-1), Ronan Flanagan. Subs: Enda Flanagan for S Brady (27mins, inj), Paul Brady for P Cusack (40), Alan Cusack for S Cusack (50), Padraig McGahern for C Mackey (55).

Ref: Joe McQuillan (Kill Shamrocks) Tweet

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