Published: Tuesday, 26th January, 2010 2:31pm

Cavan reach Hasting's Cup final

Gearoid McKiernan
Pic by==: 97

Cavan's vaunted U21 football squad added to their lustre on Saturday afternoon last when they enjoyed a comfortable, if slightly flattering, win over Longford at the 3G facility at Kingspan/Breffni Park.

By dint of their latest win, they young blues will play in the final of this year's Hastings Cup final which is expected to be a repeat of this weekend's duel with Roscommon.

Sticking to their policy of running the rule over as many of their 40-strong panel as possible ahead of the county's March 24th provincial championship date with Down, the Cavan team-management made a handful of changes from the side which defeated Leitrim (2-19 to 0-7) last time out.

One of those changes saw netminder Martin Smith take his place in the starting line up and the Laragh 'keeper took the opportunity to steal the show with a string of top-notch saves.

Smith's innings was instrumental in steering the hosts past the winning post in first place with two point-blank saves in each half putting a halt to Longford's gallop at critical times.

"They had at least four good goal-scoring chances but on each occasion Martin (Smith) came to the rescue and all credit to him," team-manager Terry Hyland acknowledged after the game.

"It was a good, tight game and the final scoreline doesn't reflect how close the exchanges were.

"On another day, Longford might have gotten through for a couple of goals and that would have put a totally different look on the scoreboard."

And yet for all Smith's heroics - plus Longford's superior wides' tally - Cavan led from pillar to post and never really looked like being turned over at any juncture.

Points from Declan McKiernan (free), Brendan Fitzpatrick and the equally lively Niall Smith catapulted Cavan into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead after 13 minutes and, even at that stage, a slight air of inevitability hovered over proceedings.

Cavan's capacity to win 'dirty ball' from the kick-outs and their greater aggression at close quarters in general ensured that the blues up front were afforded quite a bounty of ammuntion as the first half kicked on.

Longford ought to have erased Cavan's lead in the 19th minute though but 'keeper Smith stood up well and blocked his opponent's shot to keep a clean sheet.

Longford tried to arrest Cavan's ball-winning ability in the vital diamond area of the field but their policy of employing their left corner-forward as a 'third midfielder" back-fired on them as Darragh Tighe garnered a raft of ball as a consequence of following his man.

Longford did get off the mark in the 22nd minute but by that stage they were trailing by 0-1 to 0-5 and patently in need of usurping goalkeeper Smith's command of his area.

Four consecutive wides from the Leinster side didn't help their cause of course and those errors were compounded when Brendan Fitzpatrick, Gearoid McKiernan (a terrific sideline free from 47 metres) and Niall Smith all notched fine individual scores to leave Cavan 0-7 to 0-1 in front at the interval.

The second half was almost a case of deja vu with Longford's profligacy and Smith's brillance contriving to let Cavan off the hook at various times.

Even with the withdrawal of Sligo IT-engaged Gearoid McKiernan in the 37th minute, Cavan continued to augment some no-nonsense defensive work with some excellent hoovering up of possession in the middle third of the field.

Longford were their own worst enemies at times with several promising moves being slaughtered on the altar of poor marksmanship and, oftimes, over-elaboration.

Points from Packie Leddy (free) and Brendan Fitzpatrick rubbed salt into Longford's festering sore and while the visitors countered with two unanswered points - one scored from a rebound off the diving Smith - inside the three-quarter hour mark, that was their lot essentially.

Cavan closed up shop at the back and refused to relinquish their hands from the tiller in the cockpit.

Up front, the hosts highlighted Longford's deficiencies at the opposite end of the field with sharp, incisive play which engineered time and space for Shane Tierney, Declan Meehan and Robert Maloney-Derham to split the posts and put an extra coat of gloss on the team's display.

Cavan; Martin Smith; Darragh Tighe, Rory Dunne, Paddy Carroll; Kevin Meehan, James McEnroe, Joshua Hayes; David Givney, Gearoid McKiernan (0-1); Declan Meehan (0-1), Declan McKiernan (0-2, both frees), Niall Smith (0-2); Brendan Fitzpatrick (0-3), Adrian Cole, Shane Tierney (0-1).

Subs; Shane Grey; Daniel Graham; Packie Leddy (0-1, free); Michael Reilly; Johnny Klushe; Robert Maloney-Derham (0-1).

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