Published: Wednesday, 7th October, 2009 10:43am

Cavan shine in demolition derby away to Monaghan

Co Cavan RFC's first team have made a vast improvement already this season and they continued their 100 per cent record with a first win over neighbours Monaghan in five years last Saturday afternoon in Ballinode.

Key to this victory was Cavan's strength in the line-out, where Alistair Trenier and 2008 captain Garry Browne won a lot of possession, and the commitment in the tackle of the likes of number eight Shane McCormack, captain Robert Beattie and player-coach Tumaile Tasola.

Added to this was a classy display by veteran Salesi Tu'ipulotu at out-half, who kicked brilliantly from the hand and chipped in with two tries as well as turning over an astonishing amount of possession.

Cavan were 5-0 up after five minutes when McCormack went over for a stunning individual try. The visiors remained on top territorially but struggled to offload in the tackle and were penalised time and again by the fussy referee.

A 36th minute try by Tu'ipulotu, which was converted well by new kicker Gareth Corrigan, made it 12-5 at the break and although Monaghan fought back hard in the second half, Cavan always looked the more potent side.

A good break by Steven Ivers helped make it 19-10 and although Monaghan tacked on a penalty, another Tu'ipulotu try late on rounded out an impressive win.

CAVAN: Alan Brady, Myles O'Reilly, Paul McCusker, Martin O'Reilly, Garry Browne, Alistair Trenier, Robbie Beattie, Shane McCormack, Steven Iver, Salesi Tu'ipulotu , Justin Pilgrim, James Loughnane, Tumaile Tasola, Gareth Corrigan, Dan Leddy