Fermanagh tyros shock Ulster champions Cavan
A young inexperienced Fermanagh team proved a point to the county’s players who walked away by beating Ulster champions Cavan in a shock Division Three win at Brewster Park.
Sean Quigley scored 0-9 as Fermanagh recorded a surprise win that was taken on merit. Quigley and Eoin Donnelly might be the older heads who steered them home but the energy, resilience, and huge heart shown by a young Erne side will have given boss Ryan McMenamin plenty of encouragement for the season ahead.
A number of established Fermanagh players such as Ryan and Conal Jones and Tomas and Ruairi Corrigan have opted out this year stretching the county’s already small playing pool even further, but the team acquitted themselves well to the challenge of facing up to the Ulster champions.
The defeat was a bit of a reality check for Cavan, who led 0-6 to 0-5 at half time, but were second best after the break. They could not contain Fermanagh’s running game with the home side playing with a greater sense of urgency when it mattered. Quigley kicked four of their five first-half points, two from play, with Fermanagh making good use of possession.
Despite Cavan fielding a very experienced line-up, there was little between the teams early on and they were level five times in the first half, All-Star goalkeeper Raymond Galligan pointing a free in injury time to edge Cavan ahead at the break.
Building on last year’s success means introducing fresh talent and Cavan seemed to have unearthed a new scoring threat with debutant Patrick Lynch impressing for the visitors, scoring twice from frees and twice from play in the opening half.
Cavan lost James Smith to a red card for an alleged off-the-ball incident just before halftime.
Fermanagh hardly had time to take advantage when they too were reduced to 14 men, James McMahon – who had got on a lot of ball – was sent off for a second yellow card offence seven minutes after the restart.
If Lynch was Cavan’s scorer-in-chief in the first half, another newer face Caoimhin McGovern came to the fore in the second half with two quickfire points to help Cavan open up a two-point lead for the first time in the game.
Almost inevitably, Fermanagh hit back with Ciaran Corrigan and Quigley drawing them level.
It was anyone’s game midway through the second half at nine points each after Corrigan landed his second of the game with a less experienced Fermanagh side playing with a lot of heart.
Their most experienced man, Eoin Donnelly, thought he’d landed the all-important major after 57 minutes when Quigley threaded through a lovely pass to put him through one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
He kept the shot low across the goalkeeper and Galligan was beaten, but the woodwork came to Cavan’s rescue as Donnelly’s shot crashed off the upright.
Within seconds Cavan rubbed salt in the wound with an equaliser from Conor Brady.
Corrigan landed a superb third for Fermanagh before picking up a black card.
Quigley nailed another couple of difficult long-range frees and Corrigan, back on the field after his sin-binning, fisted the ball over the bar as Fermanagh held out for a deserved win.
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