Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC quarter-finals
Derry 1-13 Sligo 0-15
THE swashbuckling Richie Mullan struck a smashing goal for Derry as they staged a mighty comeback to edge out Sligo in a thrilling All-Ireland MFC quarter-final clash on Saturday.
Sean McKeever – nephew of the great Kieran McKeever – broke up a Sligo attack and the ball was transferred to Tiarnan McHugh, who superbly flicked the ball into Dungiven man Mullan’s path.
The centre-forward had ice in the veins as he slid the ball low past Sligo keeper Alan Davey, who had an excellent game between the posts.
Mullan’s strike put wasteful Derry, who hit 15 wides, into a 1-10 to 0-12 lead in the 45th minute.
That signalled a frenetic final quarter as Sligo’s magnificent Red Og Murphy hit two wonder points to haul the Yeats lads back into contention.
That levelled matters and midfielder Barry Gorman was very unlucky to see his shot hit the post.
But Patrick Quigg coolly hit the winner in a thrilling finish as Derry carved out a memorable victory.
However, the real difference between the sides was the timely introduction of Derry’s talismanic full-back Conor McCluskey and Simon McErlain at half-time.
The duo did not start due to injury but came on and made a real impact around midfield, where Sligo’s Niall Colsh and Barry Gorman had previously reigned supreme.
Derry full-forward Tiarnan McHugh said he was just relieved to get through.
He added: “It is just so great to get that win and to get to an All-Ireland final, there is just no better feeling.
“We knew Sligo were going to be a tough test and we played them twice this year so we were aware that they carried a lot of quality.
“They are a good team and Red Og Murphy is a truly great player. He was on fire in the first half but we managed to get on top in the second half.
“We made a few substitutes which made a good difference in the second half.
“We have a great panel and we were able to make use of it and that was pretty crucial.”
Derry just about deserved their victory but for long periods it looked like unfancied Sligo were going to pull off a major shock.
Derry hit nine first half wides and were unable to lay any kind of glove on Murphy, who proved to be deadly accurate from plays and frees.
In contrast, Sligo were unable to take their chances and repeatedly shot hastily and wide.
Murphy signalled the Yeats county’s early intent with some exquisitely converted frees.
The underdogs were well worth their 0-4 to 0-2 lead by the 10th minute with Murphy and Ciaran O’Dowd on target and Richie Mullan and Tiarnan McHugh on target for Derry.
St Pat’s, Maghera MacRory winning captain Declan Cassidy levelled matters at four points each by the 12th minute.
But the Murphy-inspired Sligo were growing in confidence and sprinted into a 0-10 to 0-5 lead by the 26th minute.
Derry had a great chance of a goal in the 15th minute but Sligo keeper Alan Davey superbly denied Derry midfielder Padraig McGrogan from point blank range after a sweeping Derry move.
There were growing signs of a Derry revival coming up to the break as Sligo turned over with a lead of 0-10 to 0-6.
A brief melee erupted as both sides headed for the tunnel at half-time with Derry midfielder Padraig McGrogan picking up a yellow card after an alleged incident with a Sligo official.
But whatever the Derry management told their players at half-time seemed to work as the Oak Leafers flooded midfield and the match turned inexorably in their favour.
Derry: O Hartin; F Mortimer, O McGill, S McKeever; O Quinn (0-1), D Rafferty, C McShane; P McGrogan, O McWilliams (0-4f); P Quigg (0-3, 2f) R Mullan (1-2), D Cassidy (0-1); B McCarron, T McHugh (0-1), C Murphy Subs: S McErlain (0-1) for C Murphy, C McCluskey for D Cassidy (h-t), C Brown for C McShane (50), M McGrogan for T McHugh (50), M Bradley for D Rafferty (52), C Quinn for O Quinn
Sligo: A Davey; E Lyons, B Cox, J Weir; K McKenna, E Lavin, O Conlon; N Colsh, B Gorman (0-2); R Anderson, L Towey, C O’ Dowd (0-1); C Ryan, R Og Murphy (0-11, 0-7 frees), C Brett (0-1) Subs: O Higgins for R Anderson (37), C Marren for C Ryan (44), B Tuohy for J Weir (50), J Ellis for C O’Dowd, J Carroll for O Quinn
Referee: J Molloy (Galway)
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Galway 0-11 Cavan 1-11
A magnificent final quarter – during which they out-scored Galway by 1-5 to 0-1 – helped Cavan into their first All-Ireland minor semi-final since 1974 at Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday.
It was all about resolve, according to manager John Brady, as his side came back from a hefty deficit to prevail.
“We showed great character, we missed a few goal chances but we kept coming back and I thought for the last 15 minutes there was really only one team in it,” said Brady.
“Our defence has been criticised after other games but I thought they were outstanding.”
It took Cavan 15 minutes to register their first point through Oisin Pierson, by which stage they had already shipped three from Padraic Costello, Darragh Silke (free) and a great strike from Matthias Barrett.
Within seconds of opening their account, Cavan added another from Tiernan Reilly, which was cancelled out by Conor Campbell.
Silke’s free restored the three-point gap before Cavan’s Ruairi Curran kicked two points, Philip Rogers added another before Costello rounded off the first half scoring.
Two Silke frees and a super Evan Murphy effort extended Galway’s lead to 0-9 to 0-5 in the third quarter.
Man of the match Cian Madden kick-started the revival with a point and although Costello responded with a free, another fine Madden effort and two from his clubmate Pierson made it a one-point game.
Silke capitalised on an error at the back but the Ulster side weren’t done yet as Pierson smashed the ball to the roof of the net as they took the lead for the first time.
In the closing stages, Madden conjured a score and then tacked on a free as Cavan recorded a memorable win.
