Johnston inspires Cavan to Victory

May 19th, 2008

Ulster SFC:
Cavan 1-19 Antrim 1-14

Cavan convincingly booked a spot in the Ulster SFC Quarter-Finals, thanks to a five-point victory over Antrim at a sunny Casement Park in Belfast.

A 33rd-minute Dermot McCabe goal set Cavan up nicely for victory but it was a strong performance from full-forward Sean Johnston with eight points which sealed the win.

Another upsetting statistic for Antrim manager Jody Gormley, who sees his Saffron side now play in the Tommy Murphy Cup, will be the 11 wides which his side amassed in the second half, with the bulk of those efforts coming from scorable positions.

Cavan began this game at a lightning pace and led by 0-7 to 1-1 after 20 minutes, following a second point of the contest from full-forward Sean Johnston.

The visitors had led by 0-3 to 0-0 after six and a half minutes, thanks to scores from Dermot McCabe, Jason O’Reilly and Martin Reilly but a goal from Conor McGourty two minutes later for Antrim levelled the contest for the first time.

McGourty’s ninth minute goal was a well placed effort as he slotted to the net, following a precision pass from Paddy Cunningham who caught a high ball in from a Sean Kelly free-kick.

However Cavan settled well, winning a lot of possession in the midfield sector outscoring Antrim by 0-6 to 0-2 over the next 16 minutes, as Cavan took a 0-9 to 1-2 lead, ten minutes before the break.

But Antrim suddenly woke up to the action, and strung together some excellent moves with Tomas McCann latching onto a pass from his brother, midfielder Michael; as the half-forward sent over the Saffrons first point from play in the 28th minute.

This was a good passage for the hosts who equalised, with five minutes remaining before half-time thanks to points from Ciaran Close and goal-scorer McGourty at 1-6 to 0-9.

But McCabe’s 33rd minute goal, following some clever play by Sean Johnston; saw Cavan in the ascension once again, although Paddy Cunningham did get a point back for Antrim, with his third score of the contest; to leave the score at 1-9 to 1-7 at the interval.

Antrim dominated possession in the opening ten minutes of the second half, but despite this they could only manage two points on the scoreboard over this period, as they sent four scorable chances wide of the target.

Just a point continued to separate the sides as the game entered the final 20 minutes, but it was then that Cavan turned on the style, scoring six of the next seven points to lead by 1-17 to 1-11 in the 58th minute.

Sean Johnston was instrumental during this purple patch for the blues, with four glorious points, as he fisted the air in celebration following his seventh point, with 12 minutes remaining.

Antrim failed to give up with Conor McGourty converting his third point with ten and a half minutes remaining.

However Cavan finished strongly to book a quarter-final spot against Armagh on June 15th.

CAVAN: James Reilly; M Hannon, R Dunne, M Brides; D Sheridan, A Forde, M Cahill (0-1); M McDonald (0-2), D McCabe (1-1, 1f); M Reilly (0-3), R Flanagan (0-2), B Watters; C Mackey, S Johnston (0-8, 2f), Jason O’Reilly (0-2). Subs: P Reilly for Brides (31); L Mulvey for Sheridan (44); P Brady for Dunne (47); E O’Reilly for Jason O’Reilly (59)

ANTRIM: S McGreevey; K O’Boyle, A McClean, J Loughrey; T Scullion, J Crozier, S Kelly; A Gallagher, M McCann; T McCann (0-3, 2 45), K Niblock (0-1), P Close; P Cunningham (0-4, 4f), C McGourty (1-4), C Close (0-1). Subs: M Magill (0-1) for P Close (39); T O’Neill for P Close (55); C Brady for Crozier (61); T Convery for Gallagher (65); E O’Neill for Niblock (71).

Referee: Jimmy White (Donegal)

Frees: Antrim 25 (17,8) Cavan 12 (5,7)

Wides: Antrim 14 (3,11) Cavan 5 (2,3)

45’s: Antrim 2 (1,1) Cavan 0 (0,0)

Yellow Cards: Antrim 0, Cavan 2 (Cian Mackey, Martin Cahill)

Attendance: 7,096

Out and About with the ‘FUN to Fame’ Mascot – Antrim v Cavan