Two from two as Cavan teach students a lesson
Cavan 0-17
Queen's University 0-3
Paul Fitzpatrick
at Ballyconnell
Cavan eased to a commanding win over Queens University to make it two wins from two in the McKenna Cup this afternoon in Ballyconnell.
Mickey Graham made wholesale changes to the side which beat Down last week and gave a number of new players game time and several of them did their chances of nailing down a spot no harm, not least debutant wing-back Conor Rehill (Crosserlough), who was the Man of the Match.
Early points from the impressive Michael Argue (two), Niall McKiernan (two, one free) and Padraig Moore helped the hosts into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead and with the defence, led by the exccellent Padraig Faulkner and Conor Moynagh, giving nothing away, they were in complete control for the remainder of the game.
By half-time, the Blues were 0-8 to 0-3 ahead with points from Ray Galligan (free), Moore and a screamer from debutant Ryan O'Neill (whose score, on his home pitch, drew a huge cheer from the supporters).
And Cavan kept the students scoreless in the second half, with half-time sub Kevin Tierney getting the scoreboard ticking with a fine point on the resumption and Conor Madden also making a big impact off the bench.
“We are happy enough, conditions were difficult for both teams, it's still early in the year but you'd be happy that we've taken a step forward from last week,” stated Graham after the game.
“We just wanted to work on our handling and our first touch and I thought that was a lot better today than it was last week.
“We're just looking for a steady upward curve every day we go out so we'd be happy with what we saw today regarding the skills end of things anyway.”
Next up for Cavan is a long trip to Ballybofey to take on Donegal this Wednesday night, with the winners guaranteed to progress to the semi-finals.
Cavan: Ray Galligan (0-3f), Jason McLoughlin, Padraig Faulkner, Patrick O'Reilly, Barry Fortune, Conor Moynagh, Conor Rehill, Michael Argue (0-2), Paul Graham, Niall McKiernan (0-2, 1f), Chris Conroy, Ryan O'Neill (0-1), Jack Brady (0-2, 1f), Padraig Moore (0-2), Oisin Pierson
Subs: Kevin Tierney (0-1) for Moore (ht), Niall Clerkin (0-1) for McKiernan (ht), Conor Madden (0-3, 2f) for Pierson (48 mins), Luke Fortune for Moynagh (60)