Photo: Adrian Donohoe

Eight point victory sees Cavan face Monaghan in U21 semi-final

Damian McCarney

Cavan's U21s look forward to an Ulster Semi-final against neighbours Monaghan after a convincing win over Tyrone last night.

A large Breffni support turned out and played their part in driving Cavan on to a 1-11 to 0-6 win, as they surge for their fourth provincial titles in a row.
A low-scoring first half was marred by a fracas involving Joe Dillon, where a number of players from both teams waded in.Despite its minor nature, the scrap broke up the play for seven minutes, with only Red Hand wingback Kieran McGeary emerging with a yellow card. The stoppage played into Cavan's hands. 

Cavan faced a strong wind in the first half, and by cleverly retaining possession managed to return to the home changing rooms for Peter Reilly's half-time talk with the scores level at 0-3 apiece. Tyrone's defensive mindset played a part in their downfall, having deployed two sweepers, as opposed to trying to take advantage of the wind.

Roared
The Breffni support sensed that they had weathered the worst that Tyrone could muster and roared on the team as they emerged for the second half. Cavan were free to play a more expansive game, and take on shots from distance, with midfielder Michael Argue adding three further points from play to his one in the opening half. Over the 60 minutes, he scored as many on his own as Tyrone's starting front six did together.

The game was settled in the 46th minute when corner forward Joe Dillon took advantage of a defensive mistake and palmed home a goal. A Tyrone short kickout was intercepted by Enda Flanagan, who ran straight at goal only to lay off the ball to Dillon for the easiest of finishes.
As reflected on the scoreboard, Cavan's imposing defence strangled any possibility of Tyrone mounting a serious charge, with Mark Bradley the only Tyrone player to hit more than a single point.

Platform
Captain Conor Moynagh, who struck over an inspirational score with just five minutes to go, agreed that keeping Tyrone at bay for the opening 30 minutes provided a platform for victory.
'I think the way the first half panned out worked well for us,' Moynagh told the Celt's Sean McMahon.
'It was very stop-start, we were kicking into a tough breeze. It suited us that it was stop-start, and maybe a bit of a scrap didn't do us any harm, as awful as it is to say that.
'We got the scores at the right time, and we got a fortuitous goal, but the lads took it well. '
Monaghan are next up for Cavan after they enjoyed a convincing 1-12 to 2-7 win over Down at Iniskeen.
Cavan and Tyrone had been pre-tournament favourites, but the Tyrone win sees Cavan come in from 9/4 to 8/11 for the Ulster title, and 8/1 for the All-Ireland. Dublin are favourites at 6/4.

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