Derry end Cavan's championship

Derry 0-25 Cavan 2-9 aet

Derry's lethal twin strike force of Paddy Bradley and Enda Muldoon shared 15 points as Cavan's championship season was brought to an end at Celtic Park.

The Oak Leafers over-ran Eamonn Coleman's Breffni side in extra-time, after the sides had finished level on 0-15 to 2-9.

Remarkably, Cavan failed to score in extra-time, while the home side hit 10 points to book their place in round three of the All-Ireland Qualifiers series.

Derry's powers of endurance saw them totally outplay their opponents in the final 20 minutes, during which they showed that they could yet be a force in the race for this year's All-Ireland title.

Derry, with Fergal Doherty and Patsy Bradley dominating the midfield region and Johnny McBride proving an effective link man, made all the early running, and two wonderful points from Paddy Bradley gave them the edge.

Bradley wasn't so accurate from placed balls, but he had attacking support from McBride, Doherty and defender Padraig Kelly, all of whom swept over scores for a 0-5 to 0-2 lead by the 22nd minute.

Cavan looked sluggish and hesitant, managing just two points in the opening half-hour, both from 13 metre frees, converted by Michael Lyng.

But suddenly they began to look menacing and dangerous, and when Mark McKeever sent Jason O'Reilly clear, a goal looked certain, but the full forward sent his hurried shot flashing wide.

Then, a moment of madness from Derry 'keeper Barry Gillis and a bizarre goal. He tried to pass the ball over the head of advancing Cavan attacker Gerard Pierson, who charged down, collected and slid home to an empty net.

Cavan, somehow, were level, and took the lead through McKeever, and when Conleth Moran and Enda Muldoon, from a free, hit back for the home side, it was level at the break, 0-7 to 1-4.

But when Muldoon took the game by storm in the opening stages of the second half, Derry raced into a four points lead.

Muldoon swept kicked three sweet points to make it 0-11 to 1-4, but the game took another dramatic twist.

Cavan, with Dermot McCabe sprung from the bench to bolster their midfield challenge, came storming back to narrow the gap to a point, with Lyng hitting two.

And in the 53rd minute the Breffni men struck for a second goal. Pierson deflected Larry Reilly's long delivery into the path of Jason O'Reilly, who cut inside and fired a low shot to the corner of the net.

Derry refused to buckle, and with fearless commitment they took the game back to their opponents. Bradley and Muldoon were in target, and after McKeever had hit another gem at the other end, it was full back Niall McCusker who hit a dramatic injury-time equaliser.

Another Derry rush, inspired by Bradley, with three points, saw them open up a four points gap to lead by 0-19 to 2-9 midway through extra-time.

And Mickey Moran's men continued to dominate a flagging Cavan side, hitting six more points to win at a canter.

Derry: B Gillis, K McGuckin, N McCusker (0-1), G O'Kane, F McEldowney, P O'Kane, P Kelly (0-1), F Doherty (0-1), Patsy Bradley (0-1), J Donaghy (0-1), J McBride (0-2), C Moran (0-1), J Bradley, Paddy Bradley (0-8, 4f), E Muldoon (0-7, 4f). Subs: P McFlynn (0-1) for O'Kane, C Gilligan (0-1) for Moran, Fergal McEldowney for Donaghy

Cavan: E Elliot, S Cole, D Rabbit, E Reilly, A Forde, A Gaynor, K Crotty, T Crowe, C Collins, L Reilly (0-1), M Lyng (0-4, 3f), M McKeever (0-3), M Brides, J O'Reilly (1-0), G Pierson (1-1). Subs: D McCabe for Brides, R Donohue for Collins, M Hannon for Crotty, P Brady for E Reilly, S Johnston for Pierson,