Longford rained on Cavan’s parade in sunny Kingspan Breffni to blow the race for the Lory Meagher Cup wide open with one round of games left to play.
Needing victory to book their place in the final, Cavan played catch-up for all but three minutes of the game and just couldn’t thwart the Cian Darcy-inspired visitors.
Tipp native Darcy notched 14 points and was a constant thorn in the side of the a hosts, who failed to cash in on the wind in the second half and the dismissal (59) of Longford midfielder Paddy Lynham.
The visitors started much the better and led by double scores, 0-6 to 0-3, after 17 minutes but a terrific Cillian Sheanon goal (23) looked like igniting Cavan’s cause.
Longford looked ropey for the first time in the match and it took a great diving save by ‘keeper Pat Burke to deny Sheanon a second goal and leave Longford leading by 0-12 to 1-5 at the interval.
After match-winner Darcy converted yet another free to extend Longford’s lead to six points (0-14 to 1-5) with 39 minutes on the clock, Cavan fought back to notch four unanswered points.
Darcy’s points continued to pock-mark the game but Cavan kept nipping away at Longford’s heels and seconds after Lynham saw red, Liam O’Brien’s free (59) made it 1-14 to 0-18.
Cavan drew level (1-16 to 0-19) in the 61st minute for the first time since the sixth minute and they were level again (1-17 to 0-20) in the 63rd minute but Longford held their nerve to get over the line.
Scorers – Cavan: L O’Brien (0-6, 4f, ’65); N Kenny (0-4); C Sheanon (1-0); S Keating (0-3); C Maher (0-2); T Leonard, J Barry , D Mulligan, B Fitzgerald, (0-1) each. Longford: C Darcy (0-16, 15f); R Murray (0-3); D Buckley (0-2); K Murray, O Gately, P Lynham, J Rabbitt (0-1) each
Cavan: C Gallagher ; S Briody, G Fitzpatrick, E Shalvey; D Carney, L O’Brien, M Hynes; D Mulligan, C Sheanon; T Leonard, J Barry, N Kenny; S Keating, M Moffett, C Maher. Subs: B Fitzgerald for M Moffett (h-t); P McCabe for D Carney (42); J Carney for M Hynes (55); R Farrell for T Leonard (71),
Longford: P Burke; D Caslin, E Allen, S Lancaster; A Quinn, K Murray, E Tully; P Lynham, C Mullane; O Gately, D Buckley, J Rabbitt; R Murray, C Darcy, M Mulcahy. Subs: J Casey for D Caslin (39); R Courtney for M Mulcahy (56).
Ref: J Judge (Mayo)
Fermanagh 1-23 Lancashire 0-20
Fermanagh moved a step closer to securing a place in the Lory Meagher Cup final with a six-point win over Lancashire at Brewster Park.
In a high-scoring first half it was the visitors who went in at the break with a four point advantage, 0-14 to 0-18.
However, the home side went on to enjoy the better of proceedings in the second half with a Brian Teehan goal helping them to a 1-23 to 0-20 victory.
Lancashire started the brighter as they led 0-4 to 0-1 in the early stages, midfielder Eoghan Clifford, who landed nine first-half points, among the scores.
Fermanagh rallied and points from Dannan McKeogh and Sean Corrigan levelled matters at 0-10 apiece but it was Lancashire who finished the half the stronger as Clifford and Christopher Convery knocked over points to leave them four in front at the interval.
The Ernemen began the second half well with McKeogh rattling over the opening three points of the half to bring the home side back to within one.
And with 44 minutes on the clock, Fermanagh swooped for the only goal of the game. Good work by Tom Keenan saw him usher Teehan in on the left hand side and he crashed a shot to the corner of the net to put Fermanagh into a 1-17 to 0-18 lead.
Teehan and Corrigan tagged on further points to push Fermanagh six clear and they were able to maintain that through to the finish as they claimed the spoils.
Scorers – Fermanagh: S Corrigan 0-9, D McKeogh 0-9 (5f, 1’65), B Teehan 1-2, L McCusker 0-2, J Duffy 0-1. Lancashire: E Clifford 0-9 (3f), C Convery 0-3, D Lynch 0-2, P Boylan 0-2, S Parsons 0-1, J Patton 0-1, S Nugent 0-1, F Henry 0-1
Fermanagh: C McKernan; S McKendry, R Porteous, D Bannon; Ciaran Duffy, R Bogue, O Johnston; J Tormey, Caolan Duffy; T Keenan, J Duffy, L McCusker; S Corrigan, B Teehan, D McKeogh. Subs – A Flanagan for J Duffy (38), D Teague for Ciaran Duffy (56), C McManus for Keenan (62), B Corrigan for Tormey (70).
Lancashire: J Doyle; S Leonard, A Morgan, A Gallagher; E Kelly, S Nugent, F Henry; C Convery, E Clifford; P Boylan, C Kenny, D Lynch; S Parsons, B Donnellan, J Patton. Subs – H Lane for Parsons (39), E Costello for Donnellan (43), B Slattery for Leonard (45), J Treacy for Convery (61), E Kearns for Morgan (65)
Leitrim 2-25 Warwickshire 0-16
A strong second-half performance from Leitrim helped them to a convincing victory over Warwickshire at Shane McGettigan Park, Drumshanbo.
Results from earlier games in the group meant both teams were out of contention, but it did not stop providing an entertaining and competitive encounter.
An exciting first half left only one point between the teams at the break, Leitrim leading 0-11 to 0-10. But the visitors were very wasteful, hitting 13 wides after playing with the advantage of the breeze.
Leitrim’s Gavin O Hagan hit seven first-half points, five from frees, with Warwickshire’s Jordon Conway hitting six, two from play, three frees and a “65”. Two early second-half points for the visitors edged them in front but the home side began to take control, hitting five points with just a solitary point in reply to lead by four midway through the second half.
As in the first half, the visitors were wasteful and Leitrim took advantage, racing into an eight-point lead with five minutes remaining. Whatever chance the visitors had was gone when Paul Lenehan was shown a red card. Leitrim hit two goals and a point late on, which really put a false look on the scoreboard and didn’t do justice to a battling Warwickshire side.
Scorers – Leitrim: Gavin O’Hagan (0-14, 10f, 4p), Sean Markham (1-2), Sean O’Riordan (1-2), James McNabola (0-2), Michael O’Brien (0-2), Martin Feeney (0-1), Joe Murray (0-1), Stephen Goldrick (0-1). Warwickshire: Jordon Conway (0-10, 5f, 4p, 1 x 65), Jack Grealish (0-4, 3p, 1f), Alex Hanley (0-1), Oisin Sattery (0-1)
Leitrim: Clement Cunniffe; Jerome Fitzgibbon, Stephen Goldrick, Pearse Kenny; Paul Lenehan, Conor Beirne, David McGovern; Joe Murray, Michael O’Brien; Brian Goldrick, Gavin O’Hagan, Martin Feeney; Philip Burgess, James McNabola, Conor Hackett. Subs Sean Markham for Pearse Kenny, Sean O’Riordan for James McNabola, Niall Crowe for Philip Burgess,
Warwickshire: Robbie Duggan; Colm Shalvey, Dan Ryan, Joe O Connor; Matthew Keane, Ciaran McKeague, Daire King; Alex Hanley, Niall Shalvey; Ian Dwyer, Jack Grealish, David Devine; Oisin Slattery, John Collins, Jordan Conway. Subs: Noel Lenehan for Dan Ryan, Jack Trainor for Ian Dwyer, Kevin Murphy for Oisin Slattery, Colm Kavanagh for Matthew Keane.
Referee: Matthew Farrell (Roscommon)
