Gowna will play Kingscourt Stars in next month’s Cavan senior football championship final after both sides came through their respective semi-finals at Kingspan Breffni on Sunday.

Vinny Corey’s Gowna side dethroned Crosserlough with an impressive 2-16 to 2-11 win in Cavan Town where the holders had got out to an early 1-2 to 0-0 lead after Emmett Boylan’s fourth minute goal.

Cavan ace Paddy Lynch added another goal for the Kilnaleck men some seven minutes later, but they’d lose talisman Dara McVeety to injury in between both majors.

Conor Casey cancelled out Lynch’s strike with a green flag of his own in the next attack and Gowna would be on level terms once Daire Madden hammered to the back of the net on the quarter hour mark.

Tiaran Madden and Conor Madden sailed over scores to surge the Longford border men two in front ahead of Crosserlough landing scores via Boylan (two-pointer) and Lynch that helped them edge a 2-7 to 2-6 lead at the interval.

The second-half saw Corey’s charges hit another gear as a hat-trick of Robbie Fitzpatrick points put them into a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

Conor Brady, Conor Madden and Conor Casey sailed over scores to widen the margin to five ahead of Fitzpatrick (2) and Cian Madden cementing the win which sees their club into a fourth SFC final in five years.

The later game at Kingspan Breffni saw Kingscourt Stars making their goals count in a 2-12 to 0-17 win over last year’s runners up Ramor United.

An 11th minute penalty from Meath star Jordan Morris saw the Stars move 1-0 to 0-2 in front before Ramor eventually got back ahead in the 26th minute through James Bradley’s point.

The sides would go in all square at the break (1-5 to 0-8), with Sean McEvoy seeing a penalty saved by Stars’ keeper Tom Martin on the eve of half-time, but Ramor were able to go two up early in the restart through the points of Matthew Smith and skipper Jack Brady.

That lead would be wiped out once Ciaran Dermody struck Kingscourt’s second goal and, despite Ramor going ahead again via a Liam Brady two-point free and Adam O’Connell’s point, Colin Kelly’s side saw out the win with late scores from Joe Dillon and 2020 All-Star Faulkner who proved the hero for his club. 

The two remaining teams now get set to meet the weekend after next in a repeat of the 2023 decider which saw Gowna winning by 5-15 to 0-13 to record back-to-back Oliver Plunkett Cup successes.

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