Battling Cavan leave comeback too late

At half-time here, it had looked as if Cavan were picking up where they left off in 2010, slipping to a humbling defeat in the driving rain, but their battling second half performance made sure that while the points were lost, their pride wasn't. Down 0-11 to 0-3 after 35 minutes, Cavan managers Terry Hyland and Val Andrews made a couple of changes, one enforced (Gerard Pearson for the injured Sean Johnston), and another tactical (Tomás Corr entering the fray at midfield). The changes, along with the obvious advantage of playing with, instead of into, the gale, brought about a remarkable change which almost saw Cavan snatch an unlikely result. While they never led and only came within two points of the visitors when Barry Reilly curled in their final point deep into injury time, Cavan succeeded in salvaging plenty from this performance against a strong Derry side featuring, by consensus of their travelling press pack, “seven to eight†of their guaranteed 2011 championship. Derry found their range quickly and their shooting was superb. They adapted better to the conditions, hitting the full-forward line early and often, whereas Cavan – sorely lacking a target man around the square - were ponderous in their approach against the wind. Cavan had opened the scoring in the seventh minute, Paddy Gumley converting a good free after Johnston wriggled between two defenders and was taken down. The Cavan Gaels man's game depends on the sort of supply which rarely materialises on the sort of night that “was in it†here; the swirling wind and incessant downpour was never going to suit a game based on trickery and control and Cavan's marquee forward got little change from the Derry full-back line, which was led well by Kevin McCloy. A good score from Barry McGoldrick levelled it up for the visitors a minute later, with James Reilly – who had celebrated his return to the team with a cracking save two minutes in – forced off through injury before he could take the resulting kick-out. Derry quickly took charge and reeled off six points on the trot, Declan Mullan, Mark Lynch, Paddy Bradley and the deadly accurate Conleth Gilligan (three) doing the honours. Bradley and Gilligan in particular looked dangerous every time they gained possession. Two of Cavan's better performers, wing-forwards Ronan Flanagan and Keith Fannin, combined to create a chance which the industrious Drumgoon man converted in the 20th minute but Derry soon tacked on their eighth from play, this time through defender Michael Drumm. A soft free blown by Donegal official Shaun McLaughlin – who did the visitors no favours with some of his decisions – was slotted over by Johnston but Derry still had time to fire over the final three points of the half, with Bradley and Gilligan (two) doing the damage. Down by eight, Cavan badly required a shake-up and, to give them their due, an increase in work rate was immediately evident on the resumption. A sweet 40-metre free from the ground from Mickey Brennan cut the gap to seven and Cavan's confidence visibly grew. The presence of the combative Corr brought great energy to the midfield, while Pearson was also keen to show what he had to offer in the full-forward line. The Gowna man, and Flanagan, were involved in a move which was finished by corner-back Patrick Carroll to make it 0-11 to 0-5 in the 46th minute. Playing noticeably more direct football, Cavan cut the gap still further with a fine point from Pearson, who picked up a great pass from Fannin, shrugged off a defender and curled in well. He added another moments later, driving over with the outside of the boot from 35 metres, and when Corr drove over the best score of the half, latching on to a loose ball, taking on an opponent and splitting the posts from distance, the freezing couple of hundred supporters in the stand sensed that an unlikely comeback was on. That hope was more or less extinguished in the 56th minute when Derry got in for the their first score of the half. Unfortunately for Cavan it was a goal, and an avoidable one too. A high ball into the square eluded sub goalkeeper Davy Ward and Paddy Bradley's flicked effort trickled slowly across the line, rolling to a halt just before it nestled in the corner of the net. A sweet strike from Bradley two minutes later made it 1-12 to 0-8 but there was a dying sting left in Cavan. A Pearson free – if there was a foul at all, it was surely in the square – made it a six-point game again before Brennan conjured a moment of pure magic. A long ball from Padraic O'Reilly found the Drumalee man, who skinned a defender, soccer-style, sped along the end-line without pausing to lift the ball and blasted an excellent finish to the roof of Danny Devlin's net. That sensational goal, with four minutes on the clock, left things interesting and Derry were certainly rattled. With the momentum against them, the Oak Leafers closed up shop, wasting time and playing down the clock and although sub Reilly got in for a neat point, the final whistle came too soon for Cavan. Not a win, but not the worst of starts by a long way... CAVAN: James Reilly, Patrick Carroll, Eoin Smith, Damien O'Reilly, Dane O'Dowd, Alan Clarke, Stephen Jordan, Ciaran Galligan, Padraic O'Reilly, Keith Fannin (0-1), Anton Reilly, Ronan Flanagan, Paddy Gumley (0-1f), Sean Johnston (0-2f), Micheal Brennan (1-1, 0-1f) SUBS: Davy Ward for J Reilly, Tomás Corr (0-1) for Galligan, Gerard Pearson (0-3, 1f) for Johnston, Barry Reilly (0-1) for Brennan (blood sub), Barry Reilly for Damien O'Reilly, James McEnroe for Anton Reilly DERRY: Danny Devlin, Ciaran Mullan, Kevin McCloy, Dermot McBride, Michael Drumm (0-1) , Barry McGoldrick (0-1), Gearoid Ó Catháin, PJ McCloskey, James Conway, Declan Mullan (0-1), Ciaran McGoldrick, Mark Lynch (0-1), Niall McNicholl, Paddy Bradley (1-3), Conleth Gilligan (0-5) SUBS: Barry McGuigan for Niall McNicholl, Niall Holly for James Conway, Ruairi Shivers for Ciaran McGoldrick, Declan Brennan for Michael Drumm REF: Shaun McLaughlin (Donegal).