Published: Wednesday, 10th February, 2010 4:46pm

Fired-up Cavan trounce poor Roscommon

by Paul Fitzpatrick

Martin Reilly
Pic by==: 97

A sensational final quarter, during which Cavan tore a disappointing Roscommon side apart, saw Tommy Carr's side take a 13-point win and, crucially, two league points, home with them from Hyde Park last Sunday.

The result came about for a combination of reasons - Roscommon's surrender once Cavan got in front, the visitors' (and in particular excellent debutant Raymond Galligan's) mesmerising finishing and, most encouragingly of all for the few hundred Breffni die-hards who travelled, a greatly improved work rate in all sectors.

That's not to say that supporters should be getting carried away just yet, as Carr stressed after the match. Surprisingly given the double-scores final result, this was a match in which Cavan spluttered and backfired for long periods and it was only when the impressive Eoin McGuigan goaled in the 48th minute to open a four-point gap that the engine began to purr.

But how it purred late on. With Roscommon more or less giving up the ghost, Cavan played quick, clever football and showed remarkable composure, reeling off 1-8 to Roscommon's single white flag over the final 22 minutes.

While the brilliant Gareth Smith was the fulcrum of the attack, probing and clinical, inside him, Galligan was outstanding. The Lacken player has taken time to fulfil his underage potential but has put in a huge effort this season with county and college and it showed here. He gave a masterclass, kicking six frees (one from as far out as 50 metres), three from play and an exquisite line ball.

Ironically, early on it had looked as if the opposing full-forward, Donal Shine, would be the one to deliver the champagne performance. Having destroyed Cavan Under 21's in the Hastings Cup final last week, Shine began this match in the same vein of form.

A foul by Cavan after one second (surely a record?) was followed by a lift-ball which allowed Shine to slot over the opening point off the ground from 50 metres.

A super point by John Rogers from the wing made it 0-2 to 0-2 after seven minutes of a stuttering first-half which was blighted by stoppages and hold-ups early on and took a long time to really ignite.

Shine sent over another fine point to make it 3-0 as Cavan, loose in the tackle and struggling at midfield, scratched their heads for inspiration.

Finally, with a full 15 minutes played, Cavan got off the mark with their first shot when Galligan slotted over his first having been fouled himself.

A feature of Cavan's play was that, for reasons of confidence perhaps, all of their scores arrived in clusters, handfuls of three and four points in as many minutes followed by lengthy gaps.

Sure enough, a well-struck free by Gareth Smith and an excellent right-footed point by Mark McKeever, who tackled and attacked well over the 70 minutes but could have been tighter at times, levelled it up at 0-3 apiece.

Having snatched the initiative through hard work, Cavan than handed the hosts back their lead. Seconds after McKeever's point, Roscommon waltzed forward without a Cavan glove being laid on them and Shine was on hand to bury the ball to the net, despite a good effort from Fintan Reilly.

When the same player added another in the 21st minute, Cavan were five down and floundering, struggling for the oxegen of possession at midfield and thus tied up and gagged in attack.

The three-minute burst of scoring earlier on had shown that Roscommon were vulnerable at the back though and, working hard all over but especially through John McCutcheon, Martin Cahill and the excellent, high-fielding David Givney, Cavan began to claw their resolutely back.

Dermot Sheridan too was having one of his finest halves in the blue jersey and kept the ship steady when it veered towards the rocks at this stage.

Cian Mackey, who showed some nice touches while playing well within himself, pounced and tapped over when Micheal Lyng - who had a quiet match - mishandled the ball, and a neat score on the run from 'Nesty' after a fine Givney fetch brought Cavan back to within a goal, 1-5 to 0-5, in the 25th minute.

With McGuigan in particular coming into the match at midfield, it became clear that if Cavan could win enough of what Carr terms "dirty ball" and cut out a few simple errors, they'd win the match.

A close-range free from Galligan cut the gap to two before Givney stepped up to fire over a sweet point after good work from Mackey in retaining possession and Cahill in winning it.

A free from Shine made it 1-6 to 0-7 but two excellent Galligan kicks, one after a foul on Lyng, tied it up at 0-9 to 1-6 at the break.

All over the field, Cavan weren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and they began the second half in that manner. A poor decision by ref Declan Corcoran, who made some strange calls, allowed Shine a simple free but Cavan replied immediately through a huge effort from Givney from the right corner.

A good point from David O'Gara nudged Roscommon back in front in the 42nd minute but from there, Cavan took control. McGuigan set up McCutcheon for an excellent left-footed point under pressure before Galligan stroked over a magnificent 45 to nudge Cavan in front for their first time.

Remember what we said about confidence? Having never led, suddenly Cavan began to pour forward. Gutsy play by Gareth Smith and Martin Reilly set up McGuigan, who tucked away a superb finish under Geoffrey Claffey to make it 1-12 to 1-8.

A 50 metre free from Galligan extended the lead to five in the 50th minute and excellent work by McKeever set up the Lacken man for another four minutes, this one a left-footed effort from play, to make it 1-14 to 1-8.

Galligan was on fire by now and curled over a spectacular sideline ball from 40 metres in the 56th minute to extend the lead.

Roscommon replied to momentarily stem the tide but a point from Lyng and another from Galligan, from play this time, made it 1-17 to 1-9 with eight minutes to play.

On top in every position by now, Cavan kicked on and finished superbly with Galligan and sub Eddie O'Reilly (two) tacking on points before Cian Mackey completed the rout with a well-taken goal in injury time.

A resounding win and a dream start for Cavan to this year's league, but plenty of questions raised in key areas to - hopefully - make sure that Carr and his players keep their eye on the ball for the visit of Antrim to Breffni Park this Saturday (throw-in, 7.30pm).

Maybe, a corner has been turned...

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