CAVAN PULL OFF ULSTER SFC SHOCK AGAINST MONAGHAN
Veteran keeper’s late free sees off fancied Farney men
DRAMA in the drumlins, as there always is with these two. In years to come, there should be song and verse dedicated to the day Raymond Galligan’s long punt dumped Monaghan out of the championship. The Cavan captain was brave in nailing a 55-metre free when the opening game in this strangest of football seasons looked set for a penalty shoot-out.
Galligan’s heroics came just seconds after Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan had levelled as extratime was moving into injury-time. There was time for one more act. Thomas Galligan – outstanding around the middle of the field following his half-time introduction – earned a last-minute free as a result of his persistence.
Up stepped the Cavan skipper, a former forward reinvented as a goalkeeper in recent years. Having made three fine saves early on, he had also won the coin toss and elected for his team to play against the strong wind during the first period of additional play. It meant that wind was at his back as he lined up the difficult kick which he duly converted.
The pity is that there were no Cavan supporters in attendance for a moment to remember.
The two Galligans will be revered this week as heroes. But they weren’t the only ones. Gearóid McKiernan’s physical presence was a problem for Monaghan all afternoon and he won plenty of ball when his team needed it. Pádraig Faulkner endured a difficult first 35 minutes in the company of Conor McManus but grew into the game and made a brilliant tackle to dispossess Dessie Ward moments before the end of extra-time. Luke Fortune registered two vital longrange points while levelled the game, 1-13 apiece, at the end of normal time.
This is the tightest inter-county rivalry in Gaelic football – no fixture has been drawn more times in Championship fare. However, there seemed to be no inevitability about the draw at the end of a compelling first half.
Cavan had got the same blistering start that paved the way for their shock victory in last year’s Championship, with Oisín Pierson scoring a wonderful goal after eight minutes as the underdogs, relegated to Division 3 of the National League last week, built an early 1-2 to 0-1 lead.
But this was the alarm call Monaghan players needed after securing top-flight status themselves. They hit the next five points in a row, finding holes in the Breffini defence. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Galligan making three smart saves in the first half – and the crossbar denying Conor McCarthy – the Farney men could have been out of sight before the interval.
Having spurned four goal-scoring chances, it was left to McManus to find the net. In the final 15 minutes of the first half, he turned on the style, scoring a wonderful point before tricking Faulkner with his superb movement and latching on to a clever pass from Kieran Duffy to cushion the ball under Galligan.
Monaghan were seven points up at the interval, 1-11 to 1-4, and looked like they held all the aces. But in this darkest of winters, there is going to be a long and painful inquest in Kavanagh Country around their second-half performance. They simply didn’t play at all, only scoring two points and those coming from defenders Duffy and Fintan Kelly.
Monaghan clearly felt that seven points was enough of a lead to see the game out. It is something both the management and more senior players will have a hard time explaining in the coming months. When Cavan got a foothold around the middle, thanks in the main to Thomas Galligan and McKiernan, Monaghan had no answer. Gerry Smith’s late leveller was the least they deserved.
And still, the hosts could have found a way to win in extra-time, even after losing Christopher McGuinness to a red card. Substitutes Colin Walshe and Andrew Woods both converted chances in the first period but momentum swung once again in the second period when Thomas Galligan had the vision to pick out Marty Reilly, who palmed the ball into the net.
There was yet more drama in the final few minutes. Shane Carey brought Monaghan level from a mark, Chris Conroy nailed a 45 to put Cavan back in front before Beggan’s long free seemed to certain to set up penalties.
But the last act belonged to the Cavan captain. It means the Breffini men will meet Antrim in the Ulster quarter-final next weekend. For the Farney boys, a winter of soulsearching beckons as they consider how they let this one slip.