Gaels advance with much-improved second half

ACFL Division 1 semi-final

Cavan Gaels 3-8

Ramor United 1-13

Paul Fitzpatrick at St Matthew’s Park

Two quickfire goals at the start of the third quarter made the difference as Cavan Gaels came from eight points down to book their spot in the Division 1 league final.

At half-time, Ramor were ahead by 1-10 to 1-2. The Gaels had been the better side for the first five minutes, at the end of which they led by 1-2 to 0-1.

But the Terry Coyle Park men failed to score for the remainder of the half as Ramor shut down their attack while, at the other end, the senior champions were always dangerous, varying long, high ball to Ado Cole and, at times, Sean Brady with running it at pace.

Keenan Donohoe opened the scoring for Cavan Gaels with a good effort from play but this was quickly cancelled out by Cole, who turned Niall Murray and fisted over.

Luke Fortune, lining out at wing-back, soon registered and then turned provider when he picked out Paul O’Connor with a great pass over the top and the full-forward raced into space and found the net with conviction from 12 yards.

Amazingly, that was as good as it got in the first half for Jason O’Reilly’s charges. James Brady got Ramor going again with a free and when James Bradley’s shot dropped short, Cole flicked it over.

A Brady free and a super individual score from Gareth Mannion tied the game at 1-2 to 0-5 on 18 minutes and Ramor piled on the pressure thereafter, adding on 1-5 in five minutes as it looked as if they had sealed their place in the league final.

A spectacular strike from Jack Brady gave Ramor the lead for the first time. Moments later, Cole broke down another high delivery and James Bradley raced on to the rebound to point.

The Gaels attacked but a Mattie Magee turnover saw them on the back foot and Cathal Maguire thumped over a super score off the left. Another counter-attack was punished when Laurence Caffrey swung in and when the resulting kick-out was intercepted and James Brady hit the net at the second time of asking, Ramor were ahead by seven and had all the momentum.

Brady added another free, a perfect strike from the left wing, as Ramor went in at half-time ahead by 1-10 to 1-2 and cruising.

But the Gaels had other ideas. They were going to need goals and against a Ramor defence who had kept eight clean sheets in their 12 group matches, that looked a tall order – but Jason O’Reilly’s men managed to plunder two and that proved crucial.

O’Reilly threw Gearoid McKiernan and John Fortune into the fray and both made an impact; Fortune’s brother Luke also became much more involved around midfield and had a brilliant second half which helped swing things the way of his side.

A huge ball from Kevin Meehan found McKiernan, who won and converted a mark immediately on his introduction.

Cathal Maguire and McKiernan (free) traded scores before Declan Meehan made it a six-point game. All of a sudden, the Gaels were beginning to win collisions all over the field. A stylish Keenan Donohoe point followed by a mark from sub Levi Murphy cut the gap to four and soon Cavan Gaels had it down to the minimum.

Another high ball was broken down by McKiernan and full-back John Fortune was on hand to bundle home his third goal in as many matches to make it 1-11 to 2-7 with 11 minutes remaining.

Ramor couldn’t get their hands on the ball by now. Luke Fortune won the resulting kick-out and Niall Murray found Declan Meehan, who planted the ball in the bottom corner of the net for a terrific goal.

Back came Ramor. Caffrey won a kick-out and Cole won a free, which James Brady converted, and the corner-forward then held his nerve to knock over another difficult free to tie the game with two minutes of normal time remaining.

Forty seconds into injury time, Cavan Gaels hit the front again when Keenan Donohoe sent over a tricky free. Ramor pressed in the dying seconds but Gaels goalkeeper Ciaran Flynn pulled Cole’s shot down from above the crossbar and that was that.

The win is a timely boost for the Gaels ahead of championship, who got more from their bench on the day, with a number of players still to return. Ramor, for their part, were also missing the likes of Damien Barkey, Brían O’Connell and Conor Bradley and will be hoping to be at full strength for the championship.

Ramor United: Liam Brady, Matthew Magee, Stephen Kavanagh, Adam O’Connell, Mark Magee, Jack Brady (0-1), Ben Smith, Laurence Caffrey (0-1), Gareth Mannion (0-1), Eoin Somerville, James Bradley (0-1), Cathal Maguire (0-2), James Brady (1-5, 5f), Ado Cole (0-2), Sean Brady

Subs: Sean McEvoy

Cavan Gaels: Ciaran Flynn, Kevin Meehan, Niall Murray, Evan McIntyre, Niall Smith, Barry Fortune, Luke Fortune (0-1), Robert Maloney-Derham, Emmanuel Shehu, Padraig Sexton, Andrew Graham, Luke Molloy, Declan Meehan (1-1), Paul O’Connor (1-0), Keenan Donohoe (0-3, 2f)

Subs: Gearoid McKiernan (0-2, 1f, 1m), John Fortune (1-0), Levi Murphy (0-1m), Daniel Graham, Jack Tully

Ref: Brendan Sweeney