Cavan forced to dig deep to see off Sligo
CONSIDERING they faced Dublin in an All-Ireland semi-final less than 19 months ago, Cavan supporters could have figured a Tailteann Cup clash with Sligo was somewhat beneath them.
They were conspicuous by their large numbers along the highways and byways approaching Croke Park, however, and raised the roof several times during a memorable semi-final encounter.
‘The word was that Virginia was chockablock this morning,’ reported manager Mickey Graham after the win. And we’d well believe him given the din they created all afternoon.
This is just what the GAA hoped for, the pre-tournament favourites elevating the status of the inaugural competition by buying fully into it.
And, make no mistake, a halfhearted Cavan effort would have come up short given how Sligo rose to the occasion of a rare outing at GAA headquarters.
Tony McEntee’s men actually won the second half, cutting what was a five-point deficit at half-time down to just two on a couple of occasions late on.
The Connacht semi-finalists may, or may not, regret holding Niall Murphy in reserve until half-time when they found themselves 1-3 to 0-11 behind.
He’d been troubled by a hamstring injury and missed the win over Leitrim.
Murphy scored four points when he came on, set up scores for Pat Spillane and Sean Carrabine, and probably would have palmed in a goal too had Patrick O’Connor chosen to pass sideways instead of blazing over a 44th-minute point.
‘Niall, to be fair, was fit to play,’ said McEntee. ‘The gamble was whether Niall was fit to last 70 minutes or not. We made that decision. Did it work out? I don’t know but in the 40 minutes that he was on the field, he was brilliant. He got scoring opportunities, he took a number of points. Would he have lasted from the start? I don’t know.’
McEntee was disappointed but mainly proud after watching his team produce probably their best display under him.
‘There’s loads of potential there and I’d reflect on one player, Pat Hughes, who has given loads of service to Sligo and today is his last day,’ said the Armagh man.
Cavan march on though, as anticipated, and will head to the July 9 final as favourites. They showed great resolve to dig in during the final 15 minutes or so and were superbly led again by Gearoid McKiernan and, next to him, Gerard Smith.
Between them, they scored eight points and accounted for the last five points of the game as Cavan just about held a spirited Sligo fightback at bay.
‘I thought Gearoid and Jason McLoughlin and Gerry Smith were outstanding,’ said Graham. ‘Jason McLoughlin was everywhere but that’s what you want and definitely the experience probably told a bit in the end.
‘I think both teams went for it, which was great to see. From a neutral point of view, I’d like to think that game was something really good to watch.’
The wonder was that there was just one goal scored. Cavan carved out five decent chances, the best of those falling to McKiernan late in the first half and early in the second half. On both occasions he was thwarted by Sligo goalkeeper Aidan Devaney, their hero too in the penalty shoot-out defeat of Leitrim.
Sligo created several good goal chances themselves and, with Patrick O’Connor’s 28th-minute shot that hit the crossbar in mind, will reflect on just how much of a game of inches it really was. The goal Sligo did get came from O’Connor in the 20th minute when he converted a penalty after Smith’s foul on Luke Towey. Spillane and Darragh Cummins also got points following clever thinking and quick frees by Hughes.
This wasn’t a game that Sligo threw away, though – far from it. Cavan, intriguingly, scored 11 first-half points, all of which came from different players.
They weathered the Sligo storm pretty well throughout the second half, always doing just enough to remain in pole position despite the excellence of Murphy.