Cavan edge Ladies intermediate football semi

Cavan 3-13 Leitrim 2-26

Cavan 2-26 Leitrim 3-13

Cavan came good after extra-time to win a thrilling TG4 All-Ireland Ladies intermediate football championship semi-final against Leitrim at Leahy Park, Cashel this evening.

Cavan, beaten semi-finalists in 2010, have now gone one step further this year and will face Limerick or Westmeath in the September 25 final at Croke Park.

The Breffni girls did it the hard way, coming from nine points down to force extra-time, before eventually cruising to a 10-point win.

Leitrim full-forward Aine Tighe scored 3-7, including two penalty goals and seven points from frees, but the Kiltubrid attacker was held scoreless in extra-time as Cavan came on strong.

Tighe’s late free levelled the game at 3-12 to 1-18 and took the match to extra-time before Cavan outscored their opponents by 1-8 to 0-1 during the extra 20 minutes.

Cavan’s leading scorers Aisling Doonan and Bronagh Sheridan, who bagged 2-14 between them, led the charge while subs Grainne Smith and Darna Clerkin also played massive roles for Adrian McGovern’s side.

At half-time in normal time, Leitrim led by 1-10 to 0-4, with Tighe bagging 1-6 in the first half.

Cavan battled back to within six points early in the second half but were rocked by sucker-punch penalty goals scored by Tighe, who completed her hat-trick.

Bronagh Sheridan’s 46th-minute goal hauled Cavan back into contention and the winners would eventually prevail to seal a place in a first All-Ireland final since the 1981 senior decider.

Scorers:

Cavan: A Doonan 1-8 (0-4f), B Sheridan 1-6 (0-3f), D Clerkin & C O’Reilly 0-3 each, R O’Keeffe & G Smith 0-2 each, R Murphy & E Costin O’Connor 0-1 each.

Leitrim: A Tighe 3-7 (2-0 pen, 0-7f), S McLoughlin, L Brennan & R Fowley 0-2 each.

CAVAN: C McCutcheon; C O’Reilly, G McGlade, C Gray; R Murphy, P Crowe, D English; R Crowe, A Cornyn; R O’Keeffe, B Sheridan, E Costin O’Connor; B Boylan, C O’Reill, A Doonan.

Subs: G Smith for O’Keeffe (46), D Clerkin for Boylan (51), A Traynor for O’Connor (58), S Green for Murphy (69), R O’Keeffe for English (76).

LEITRIM: C O’Brien, M McCawley, S Kerrigan, C Quinn; K Gilgunn, A Conlan, M Stenson; D Ward, S McLoughlin; S McManus, L Brennan, S McWeeney; R Fowley, A Tighe, S Fowley.

Subs: M Reynolds for McManus (58), S Feely for McWeeney (60), S McWeeney for S Feely (70).

Referee: S McIntyre (Tyrone).