Published: Wednesday, 17th February, 2010 5:00pm

Cavan blitzed by far-superior Antrim

by Paul Fitzpatrick

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Nicholas Walsh, Raymond Galligan and Dermot Sheridan surround Antrim's Tony Scullion.

Not quite a Valentine's weekend massacre this but, had Antrim their full squad to choose from, it surely would have been. On a chilly night in Breffni Park, Cavan were outfought and outclassed by the one side in Ulster that we traditionally could safely be counted on to beat.

That's where the Breffni senior footballers are right now, sad as it is to report. While a well-worked Raymond Galligan goal helped Cavan lead by two a couple of minutes before half-time, the Saffrons - minus their strong St Gall's contingent - reeled off a brace of quick scores to go in level at the break and restricted the woeful hosts to just 0-2 in the final 35 minutes.

Liam Bradley stated after the match that he wasn't happy with the first half performance but the Derry man must have been elated with the Saffrons' showing after the break as, with Michael and Tomas McCann pulling the strings and Paddy Cunningham razor sharp inside, they played some fantastic attacking football.

In contrast, Cavan were lifeless in many positions, washed out at midfield and totally devoid of ideas going forward.

The opening quarter, ironically, had been closely-contested. Cavan opened the scoring with a well-struck free from new full-forward Galligan but Antrim levelled through a fisted Cunningham point in the eighth minute after good work from Michael Magill, who was already proving a handful for novice Cavan full back Tomas Corr.

Gareth Smith, probably the hosts' best performer on the night, and Cunningham traded points before the Lamh Dearg man slotted over a free to make it 0-3 to 0-2 in the 17th minute.

Back came Cavan with another Galligan free but, moving the ball at pace and working tirelessly when not in possession, the visitors always looked comfortable.

Tom Carr's side almost stole in for a goal when Galligan picked out David Givney but the Mountnugent man's shot rattled the crossbar. The rebound fell to Martin Reilly who fluffed a good chance; Reilly would be withdrawn minutes later for Ronan Flanagan but the Castlerahan player, carrying an injury, would struggled with the pace of the game.

A dubious free allowed Cunningham to nudge the visitors in front and although Cavan hit back with points from wing-back Mark McKeever - a tremendous score from long range - and a 40-metre free from Smith, Antrim landed a sucker punch when a mix-up in the hosts' defence, where neither Eoin McGuigan nor Corr claimed a high ball, allowed Tomas McCann space to rifle the ball to the roof of the net from close range to make it 1-4 to 0-5 with 31 minutes played.

Cavan, to their credit, knuckled down and responded with a sweet, looping Cian Mackey point which drew a huge cheer from the large crowd, and the roof almost came off the Breffni stand a minute later when Cavan put together, and finished, their best move of the match.

Nicholas Walsh, who was mostly anonymous before being taken off in the second half, Micheal Lyng and Smith recycled possession before 'Nesty' fired in a long punt. Flanagan was in the right place to cleverly punch the ball in mid-air for the diving Galligan to brilliantly palm home.

A great goal at an ideal time looked to have set Cavan up nicely but, crucially, Antrim struck two fine points through Cunningham (free) and Michael McCann to level it up at 1-6 apiece at the break.

Whatever the Baker said in the dressing room at half-time worked for Antrim as they emerged re-energised at the start of the second half and threw everything they had at Cavan, who soon looked out on their feet in many positions.

Totally on top at midfield, Antrim finally began to pull clear midway through the third quarter, starting with a Cunningham free in the 44th minute.

Totally dominant around the middle through Michael and Tomas McCann, Antrim bombarded the Cavan full-back line, which was badly exposed at times, with Cunningham in particular making hay on Dermot Sheridan.

The Lamh Dearg man added a sweet point from play three minutes later to restore Antrim's lead and from there until the end it was all one way traffic, with Cavan missing any kind of spark and unable to penetrate a watertight Saffron rearguard.

A good point from Tony Scullion and another from Tomas McCann opened a gap which was increased when Michael McCann set up Magill for a well-taken goal on the hour mark.

Up 2-11 to 1-7 and coasting by now, Antrim tacked on further points from Cunningham and Tomas McCann to run out totally deserving eight-point winners.

For Cavan, it's a case of "as you were". The win over Roscommon has been put in perspective and Antrim - who, notably, have only lost to Tyrone, Kerry and Sligo in the 2009 Division Four final under Bradley - exposed chronic problems in key positions.

CAVAN: Fintan Reilly, Dermot Sheridan, Tomas Corr, Martin Cahill, Mark McKeever (0-1), John McCutcheon, Alan Clarke, Eoin McGuigan, Nicholas Walsh, David Givney, Gareth Smith (0-3f), Cian Mackey (0-1), Martin Reilly, Raymond Galligan (1-3, 3f), Micheál Lyng

SUBS: Ronan Flanagan, Eddie O'Reilly, Ciaran Galligan, Michael Brennan

ANTRIM: John Finucane, Dermot McCann, Paul Doherty, Kevin Boyle, Tony Scullion (0-1), Justin Crozier, Deaglan O'Hagan, Michael McCann (0-1), Brendan Herron, Kieran Close, Tomás McCann (1-3), James Loughrey, Paddy Cunningham (0-8, 4f), Michael Magill (1-0), Michael Pollock

SUBS: Kevin Brady, Gerard O'Boyle, Aaron Douglas