Football

Cavan stroll to easy win over Armagh at Breffni Park

 Picture by Philip Walsh
 Picture by Philip Walsh
By Neil Loughran at Kingspan Breffni Park

Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Cavan 2-16 Armagh 0-14

THIS was the game that was supposed to see the Ulster Championship spark into life. Two games so far, two one-sided affairs, leave it to Cavan and Armagh – they’ll get things going. Or, at least, so plenty of us thought.

Instead, Antrim’s six-point defeat to Fermanagh on the opening day remains the closest Ulster encounter so far, as Terry Hyland’s Breffnimen breezed past the Orchard with eight to spare at Kingspan Breffni Park yesterday.

Although Cavan had routed the Orchardmen in the League, players and management on both sides appeared to have convinced themselves that was just a one-off, a freak result. Everything Cavan kicked turned to gold, they couldn’t miss.

Sure Armagh will come at them all guns blazing, it’ll be a completely different game.

Seventeen points may not have separated the counties by the sound of Eddie Kinsella’s final whistle yesterday afternoon, but it may as well have done.

For Kieran McGeeney and his men, losing by however many scores - just losing at all - under the Championship microscope would hurt 10 times more than any chinning in early March ever could.

Either they hadn’t learned their lesson from the previous meeting at the same venue, or Cavan are just too far, far too good for the Orchardmen at the minute. On yesterday’s evidence, it looked like the latter.

Armagh’s 0-14 total came from just three players, and they only registered six from play. They also won possession from just one Cavan kick-out in over 70 minutes.

The Breffnimen, meanwhile, got eight different scorers on the board, with 1-10 coming from play.

Goals from Dara McVeety and Martin Reilly – two men whose industry and effectiveness was highlighted by McGeeney before the game – were decisive blows, but the game was all but over when Cavan scored 1-5 to a single Armagh point between the 13th and 26th minutes.

A bit like at Celtic Park last week, when Derry started strongly before being blown out of the water by Tyrone, that Breffni blitz came after a promising opening 10 minutes for Armagh.

McGeeney sprung a surprise before throw-in by selecting Paul Courtney in goal instead of Paddy Morrison, who picked up a back injury a fortnight ago but was thought to be fit to start.

Courtney has some experience of playing between the sticks at minor level, but the Ballyhegan native – who plays for St Jude’s in Dublin – normally features out the field.

Not that it seemed to bother the Orchardmen too much in the early stages as frees from Stefan Campbell and Ethan Rafferty, as well as a beautiful Rafferty score, helped them into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead. Unfortunately for Armagh though, that was as good as it got.

Within five minutes they were a point back as the excellent Seanie Johnston started to find his range from frees, and Cavan began to take a grip on the game.

Twice in the space of two minutes they profited from loose kick-outs from rookie ‘keeper Courtney. First, Gearoid McKiernan – moved back to midfield in Liam Buchanan’s absence – broke the ball to Conor Moynagh, before it found its way into Johnston’s hands and he made no mistake.

In the 18th minute, it was Kiernan who benefitted when Tomas Corr laid the ball off after winning the kick-out. That put Cavan three up, and nine minutes later they were seven ahead – thanks largely to a well-worked goal after 25.

A long diagonal ball in from Feargal Flanagan was misread by Ciaran O’Hanlon and it bounced over the Killeavy man’s head. Cavan were ruthless in punishing that error, as Reilly drove towards the square before off-loading to McVeety, and he fired past Courtney.

Armagh hit back to score three of the last four points of the half but, going in six down at the break against such a slick counter-attacking unit, getting back into the game was always going to be a tall order.

Tony Kernan wasn’t about to give up the ghost though as the Crossmaglen forward, one of Armagh’s better performers, produced a beautiful finish with the outside of his right boot to open the second half scoring.

Campbell was also attempting to carry the fight to Cavan, but a second Breffni goal from the penalty spot in the 44th extinguished any feint hopes of a comeback.

The move that led to the penalty was so simple, as Conor Moynagh picked up Raymond Galligan’s kick-out, laid the ball off to Cian Mackey before he was felled by Andy Mallon as he cut back towards goal.

And Cristiano Ronaldo had nothing on Martin Reilly, a former underage soccer player with Burnley, as the Killygarry man stuck the ball in the net.

Armagh had a chance to level the penalty count up with 13 minutes left to play when Campbell was felled by a clumsy Killian Clarke challenge just inside the square. But the Orchard’s afternoon was to go from bad to worse.

Campbell’s poor spot-kick was trapped between Galligan’s legs, the Cavan ‘keeper got up and turned smartly before releasing the ball to Mackey.

The Castlerahan man, floating across the ground, left James Morgan for dead before playing in Johnston to fire over his seventh, and final, point of the day as the Breffnimen eased into a semi-final meeting with old foes Tyrone.

Make that three games, three one-sided affairs, and an Ulster Championship that has still to catch fire. Not that Cavan will care one bit.

MATCH STATS 

Cavan: R Galligan (0-1, 45); P Faulkner, K Clarke, R Dunne; F Flanagan, C Moynagh (0-1), N Murray; T Corr, C Mackey; D McVeety (1-1), G McKiernan (0-3), M Reilly (1-0, pen); D Givney (0-1), M Argue, S Johnston (0-7, 0-4 frees). Subs: C Brady for N Murray (46), E Keating for M Argue (51), K Brady for P Faulkner (66), G Smith for S Johnston (67), L Buchanan for G McKiernan. Black card: J Brady (0-2) for E Keating (53). Yellow cards: D McVeety (10), M Argue (14), S Johnston (22)

Armagh: P Courtney; J Morgan, C Vernon, M Shields; A Mallon, A Forker, C McKeever; B Donaghy, E Rafferty (0-4, 0-3 frees); R Grugan, T Kernan (0-2), C O’Hanlon; C Watters, S Campbell (0-8, 0-3 frees, 0-2 45s), G McParland. Subs: A Findon for C O’Hanlon (27), M McKenna for C Watters (29), J Hall for G McParland (HT), S Connell for C Vernon (39), J McElroy for E Rafferty (44). Black card: S Heffron for J McElroy (63). Yellow cards: C Vernon (17), J Morgan (22), R Grugan (59)

Referee: E Kinsella (Laois)

Attendance: 15,263