Tyrone 1-24; Cavan 0-20
Tyrone were never seriously in trouble in this match at O’Healy Park on Sunday but they sure made it hard on themselves by allowing the Breffni men to stage something of a comeback in the second-half when the winners should have been out the gate at that stage.
That fade out will certainly be taken advantage of by All Ireland champions Armagh who meet the Red Hand in the clash of the day on Sunday week in the Ulster semi-final.
Thirteen points ahead and coasting, they went off the rails and Cavan started believing they could get something out of the tie when they reduced the margin to six points.
It took a Conn Kilpatrick goal with the end in sight to steady Malachy O’Rourke’s side and get them safely over the line with seven points to spare at the call of the final whistle.
The home side could point to the loss of ace attacker Darragh Canavan due to hamstring trouble before the game though his younger brother Ruairi was an adequate replacement on the day.
The Tyrone press was impressive and early scores rolled in from Niall Devlin and Darren McCurry settled nerves before Kieran McGeary, Aodhan Donaghy and Canavan added points. Cavan’s opening quarter saw them raise only two white flag as Tyrone continued to land impressive scores thanks to McCurry, McGary and Peter Teague also on target. Cathal McShane too hit a brace to give the home side a commanding interval advantage of 0-14 to 0-4.
It didn’t end there as the impressive home outfit continued on the switch to keep kicking points as if they were going out of fashion and with Canavan landing free and Ciaran Daly and Michael McKernan also finding the range, they went 13 points ahead in what was a totally lopsided affair for the crowd of over 6,500.
Cavan had been hit by injuries in the run up to the game but they never gave in and when Cian Madden landed a two-point effort, it roused his colleagues who proceeded to chalk up four more two-pointers with Darragh mcVeety landed a trio of these specialities to cut Tyrone’s lead significantly.
With a new sense of self-belief, they had the home defence pressurised and making mistakes though they didn’t concede further scores until sub Ryan O’Neill narrowed the margin to six.
Those expecting a grandstand finish were disappointed as a great pass from the incisive McCurry allowed big midfielder Kilpatrick in from a goal which settled the tie.
Dublin 2-21; Wicklow 0-18
Dessie Farrell was far from happy as his new-look Dublin escaped from fortress Aughrim with a nine-point win against a gallant Wicklow outfit on Sunday afternoon.
Although fielding six debutants, the Dublin boss stressed that another performance like the 70 minutes he had just witnessed would spell an end to his side’s quest for a 15th Leinster title in a row.
This win means the champions will meet Meath, who showed great heart and no little kicking skill with nine two-pointers to turn a 10-point half-time deficit into a seven point victory over high-riding Offaly who had the benefit of a strong wind in the first half at Tailteann Park.
The prospect of a Dublin-Meath class may no longer have fans drooling in anticipation like the nineties when they went four games before Meath emerged victorious. Nevertheless with Robbie Brennan now leading the Royals, Farrell is right to expect a proper challenge on Sunday week, particularly as his side has lost 46 All Ireland medals in retirements over the past two seasons.
Regardless of the fact that they beat Division 4 opposition in Wicklow, Dublin still showed in flashes that they have room to improve and the return of Stephen Cluxton and Paddy Small, who came on as a sub, in the next game, should improve both their defensive qualities and their restart ability.
New captain Con O’Callaghan was arguably the difference between the teams as he caused trouble every time he got on the ball - which from a Dublin point of view wasn’t often enough.
Still, he finished the game with 1-7 to his credit, albeit the goal came from a saved penalty, which he tapped home on the rebound past American Football kicker Mark Jackson.
The Wicklow boys were up for a scalp but once O’Callaghan found the range to offset some good home shooting from Kevin Quinn with a two-pointer and Oisin McGraynor, the likes of Colm Basquel, Ciaran Kilkenny, Niall Scully and Ross McGarry all added points.
Although against the wind, Dublin enjoyed spells of possession without penetrating the arc and only had one wide in the first moiety whereas the losers had six.
In such circumstances luck is often a factor as when Niall Scully's volley found the net past Jackson from the 13m line.
Skipper Dean Healey landed a two-pointer to give hope to the big home following but that sound was doused into silence almost immediately when the elusive Basquel was fouled for a penalty.
Jackson made a great diving save but the fleet-footed Cuala man followed up to ram home his side’s second goal.
McGraynor launched another two-pointer just on the break which made it 2-9 to 0-11 at the interval.
Wicklow defied the wind and tried to match Dublin on the changeover but slowly the points began to roll for the Metropolitans.
Greg McEneaney and Basquel and a big Tom Lahiff two-pointer eased them eight to the good but there was still a kick in the Garden men as defender Paddy O’Keane and Darragh Fee landed defiant points. If a Joe Prendergast effort for goal had gone under, it might have made things interesting, but it flashed over the crossbar and that was compounded by misses from Quinn and sub Chris O’Brien.
It was now obvious that no shock was in the offing, particularly as . O’Callaghan landed three crucial scores which were added to by impressive subs Killian McGinnis and Paddy Small.
Podge O’Toole kicked over a fine score but O’Callaghan replied with a two-pointer to seal the issue.
Afterwards, you sensed Farrell has his crew where he needs them in terms of making them work hard and improve over the coming 10 days.
He said: “I think overall, probably just disappointed with the level of intensity we displayed. I know we had a lot of championship debutants, I think six in total, so some inexperience out there, but there's a lot of senior leaders out there as well.
“Overall, it wouldn't excuse the type of performance we've produced today. It is disappointing. It's something that the lads will be very frustrated with themselves and it's something that we will reflect on over the next 48 hours or so. We started reasonably well, looked like we'd kick on and then completely took the foot out off the gas.
“Whether we thought the job was done or not, I don't know, but definitely Wicklow were well up for it and kept fighting to the bitter end. They were well organized and well coached. Oisin McConville is doing a great job with them and they really put up a formidable test and one that we struggled to overcome at times.
"It's definitely something for us to take away because that level of performance won't be good enough In Leinster this season. We coughed up a couple of good goal chances as well so a lot for us to work on in terms of the overall level of intensity. The purposefulness in our performance today just wasn't good enough," he emphasized.
GAA RESULTS
Ulster SFC quarter-final
Tyrone 1-24 Cavan 0-20
Armagh 1-34 Antrim 1-23
Leinster SFC quarter-finals
Louth 2-16 Laois 0-17
Meath 1-25 Offaly 0-21
Dublin 2-21 Wicklow 0-18
Kildare 2-17 Westmeath 0-21
Christy Ring Cup round 1
Derry 1-21 Donegal 1-17
Wicklow 1-24 Tyrone 2-16
London 5-18 Meath 0-21
Nickey Rackard Cup round 1
Armagh 1-13 Fermanagh 0-15
Mayo 1-21 Roscommon 1-14
Sligo 0-20 Louth 0-15
Lory Meagher Cup
Cavan 4-32 Warwickshire 1-11
Monaghan 2-13 Leitrim 0-9
Longford 4-21 Lancashire 0-16
