Cavan crash out

Paul Fitzpatrick at St Tiernach"s Park, Clones A hugely-disappointing Cavan crashed out of the Ulster Championship with barely a whimper after a subdued performance against a fitter, hungrier and more cohesive Antrim side last Saturday evening in St Tiernach"s Park, Clones. Despite entering the match as odds-on favourites to reach their first Ulster final in eight seasons, Cavan never got going and in the end were flattered to come within three points of their opponents, who kicked 13 wides and conceded a fortuitous goal in the third quarter. Tom Carr"s side were outplayed in most positions and struggled to grab any sort of possession at midfield, where Antrim made eight clean catches over the 70 minutes to Cavan"s three. A mini-revival in the ten minutes before half-time saw Cavan go in only a point down but it took their misfiring attack 20 minutes to register a score in the second half, by which stage the Saffrons were ahead by double scores, 0-12 to 0-6. It had all started so brightly, too. Cavan made all of the early running and, after three wides in the first four minutes from Martin Reilly, Ray Cullivan and Eugene Keating, they opened the scoring five minutes in when Nicholas Walsh, Ronan Flanagan, Padraic O"Reilly and Martin Reilly combined well to set up Sean Johnston, who curled over a sweet left-footed point. Ominously, however, Antrim levelled matters seconds later with their first attack when Michael McCann, wearing number eight but lining out at full-forward to devastating effect, outfielded Dermot Sheridan and set up Sean Burke, who fisted over the equaliser. A Cavan move started by John McCutcheon, who looked uncomfortable at corner-back having been excellent all year on the wing, broke down in the 10th minute and Antrim showed their pace and direct style by immediately scoring on the counter, Tomas McCann floating over in space. A wide from Martin Reilly, his second from a free, followed before Ciaran Galligan fielded a kick-out well and released Johnston who clipped over a rousing point to make it 0-2 apiece. Entering the second quarter, it became clear that Cavan would struggle to match Antrim"s intensity and incessant workrate. Liam Bradley"s side, as expected, lined out with Terry O"Neill as "sweeper" and this, allied to their "swarm" tackling and emerging dominance at midfield left Cavan under severe pressure in key areas. O"Neill fired over a point in the 16th minute to nudge Antrim in front and a foul by Sheridan on Burke allowed the St Gall"s man a simple chance to tap over his side"s fourth. Michael McCann and Burke continued to cause problems for the Cavan full-back line and the latter drew a save from James Reilly on the 20-minute mark. James Loughrey showed impressive pace to race upfield from wing-back unopposed and curl in a point from the right wing in the 21st minute to make it 0-5 to 0-2 and although Johnston hit back with a well-struck free after a foul on the strangely-quiet Cian Mackey, it was fast becoming clear that Cavan"s workrate was not what is should be as Antrim consistently built from the back with little in the way of tackling by the opposition. Fine fielding from the superb Niall McKeever set up Burke, who cut through the Cavan defence and fisted over Antrim"s sixth point with ten minutes remaining in the half. By this stage Paul Brady had been introduced for Padraic O"Reilly but the move did little to stem the tide in the following five minutes as Antrim carved Cavan open to create three clear chances, the first shot at goal from Tomas Mccann brilliantly kept out by James Reilly and followed by two poor wides from Aodhan Gallagher and Burke. A neat point from Paddy Cunningham made it 0-7 to 0-3 in the 28th minute as Cavan, lost around the middle, continued to consistently take the wrong option, admittedly under pressure from Antrim, whose tackle rate, it must be said, was incredible. Then, from nowhere and in a three-minute period, Cavan suddenly turned the match around. A massive Johnston free from over 40 metres made it 7-4, before Cullivan - by now operating around midfield - fielded a kick-out and set up Martin Reilly, who lobbed over a well-taken point. Walsh and Mackey combined to set up Cullivan for another to cut the margin to just a point, 0-7 to 0-6, as the sides retired for the half-time break. The large Cavan support in the crowd of 16,337 expected a renewed effort on the restart but were to be disappointed as Antrim turned the screw and totally dominated the third quarter. Winning the first two balls at midfield in the second half, they soon doubled their advantage with Burke slotting over from close range. McKeever grabbed the next kick-out to set up another Saffron attack, which ended with Michael McCann drawing a foul, which team captain Cunningham converted to make it a three-point game. Staring down the barrel of defeat, Cavan needed a huge response but, swamped in the back-line and unable to forge a decent supply line to Johnston, a sense of inevitability hung over proceedings already. Super fielding by Loughrey set up Gallagher for Antrim"s 10th point in the 44th minute as the floodgates threatened to open on the Blues, who by now looked out on their feet in many positions. The introduction of Larry Reilly at this point provided some spark up front but Antrim were in no mood to let up and when a Cavan move broke down through sloppy passing, they immediately struck with intent on the break and pulled five ahead through a Paddy Cunningham free following a foul on Burke. Two Antrim wides followed before Ronan Flanagan struck a wide himself on a rare Cavan attack. Incredibly given the dominance of the opposition, Cavan"s first booking of the match, for Nicholas Walsh, arrived in the 53rd minute, a sad statistic which highlights Cavan"s lack of physicality and commitment to the tackle over the 70 minutes. An Antrim turnover in their own half-back line allowed them to build quickly once again and Justin Crozier was in the right place to curl over his side"s 12th point seconds later. Having scored just three times in the previous 36 minutes and not at all in the second half, Cavan desperately needed to raise a flag and the break they required arrived in the 57th minute when a 45 by Martin Reilly dropped into the square where sub David Givney, who had been causing a nuisance of himself since being introduced, was on hand to poke to the net following a scramble. Continued from Leisure Lead Somehow, Cavan were within three points and Antrim began to look shaky for the first time. Paul Brady collected the next break and Michael Brides set up Givney who fumbled. Larry Reilly ducked in well however to scoop up possession and fire over a well-taken point with his right boot. A wide from Cunningham, after Aodhan Gallagehr had grabbed possession at midfield, was a let-off for Cavan, who replied with a wide of their own from Cullivan. A long-range Cunningham free left three between the teams again with four minutes remaining and although Cavan manufactured a couple of half-chances for sub Jason O"Reilly, Antrim never looked in danger of slipping up and deservedly held on. Having left the form of the Fermanagh match behind them and exited the Ulster race with a dreadful performance, Cavan now enter the second round of the qualifiers, where they will need to win two matches to reach the last 12. Antrim: Peter Graham; Colin Brady, Andy McClean, Kevin O"Boyle; Tony Scullion, Justin Crozier (0-1), James Loughrey (0-1); Aodhan Gallagher (0-1), Niall McKeever; Terry O"Neill (0-1), Kevin Brady, Tomas McCann (0-1); Paddy Cunningham (0-4, 3f), Michael McCann (0-2, 1f), Sean Burke (0-2). Subs: K Niblock for McKeever (59), C Close for Brady (65) Cavan: James Reilly; John McCutcheon, Dermot Sheridan, Michael Hannon; Michael Brides, Eugene Keating, Padraic O"Reilly; Nicholas Walsh, Ciaran Galligan; Sean Brady, Ronan Flanagan, Cian Mackey; Martin Reilly (0-1), Ray Cullivan (0-1), Sean Johnston (0-4, 2f) Subs: Paul Brady for P Reilly (21), Rory Dunne for McCutcheon (41), Larry Reilly (0-1) for Brady (45), David Givney (1-0) for S Brady (54), J O"Reilly for Keating (63). Ref: J Bannon (Longford).