Graham masterminds revenge for Tailteann Cup loss
Cavan's Cian Madden and Kevin Maguire of Westmeath
Cavan deservedly avenged last year’s inaugural Tailteann Cup final loss to Westmeath in front of a big crowd in Mullingar, bagging a precious brace of Division 3 points in the process.
Westmeath, now under the tutelage of one of their most iconic former players Dessie Dolan, had the aid of a useful wind in the first half, but they found scores very hard to come by despite going into a two-point lead by the 12th minute, courtesy of a converted free from John Heslin and a neat score from play by the returning Shane Dempsey.
By this stage the home team had lost experienced defender Jamie Gonoud to injury and Mickey Graham’s charges proceeded to kick the next four scores without reply via Oisín Brady and goalkeeper Raymond Galligan (both from frees), and Dara McVeety and Ryan O’Neill (both from play).
Shortly before the latter point, Heslin bore down on the Cavan goalmouth in the 27th minute, but his low shot was deflected to safety by corner back Evan Finnegan. Ronan O’Toole opened his account in the 35th minute, but Martin Reilly rounded off the scoring with the last kick of the half, leaving Cavan ahead by 0-5 to 0-3 at the interval.
McVeery added another 70 seconds after play resumed. Sam McCartan was black-carded in the 39th minute to add to Westmeath’s woes, and they looked set for a heavy defeat when Cavan added points from Galligan (two great frees) and O’Neill (a mark).
However, great work by sub Luke Loughlin teed up Ronan Wallace for a slapped goal in the 56th minute. Another sub Lorcan Dolan chipped in with a brace of opportunist points to leave the home team trailing by just the bare minimum (0-9 to 1-5) with ten minutes remaining. However, the Breffni men finished the stronger with points from Oisín Brady and Ciaran Brady (from frees) and an inspirational score from full back Padraig Faulkner. Heslin wrapped up the scoring from a routine free. Late Westmeath pressure yielded no reward.
Mickey Graham was delighted with the win. "Mullingar is always a tough place to come. To bring in so many new faces and for them to show such good character was great. We want lads challenging for places. We did well against the wind and the lads worked extremely hard in the first half to give us a two-point cushion for the second half."
Dessie Dolan was understandably disappointed. "Mickey Graham is a shrewd man and he did well tactically. They were very hard to break down and we struggled to score, only getting three points with the wind in the first half. We gave away a lot of good possession, but it’s early in the season and all the lads tried very hard. The team that finished looked strong, but we had lads struggling with injuries who hadn’t a full game in them."
R Galligan (0-3, 3fs), D McVeety, R O’Neill (1m), O Brady (2fs) 0-2 each, P Faulkner, M Reilly, Ciaran Brady (f) 0-1 each.
R Wallace 1-0, J Heslin (2fs), L Dolan 0-2 each, S Dempsey, R O’Toole 0-1 each.
R Galligan; E Finnegan, P Faulkner, N Carolan; Ciaran Brady, D McVeety, T Madden; Conor Brady, K Clarke; O Kiernan, Cian Madden, J McLoughlin; M Reilly, R O’Neill, O Brady.
E Maguire for Conor Brady (inj., 33), P Lynch for Reilly (55), J McCabe for Cian Madden (64), B Boylan for O’Neill (69), Conor Madden for O Brady (70).
J Daly; D Scahill, K Maguire, J Gonoud; J Dolan, R Wallace, N Harte; C McCormack, A McGivney; S McCartan, R O’Toole, J Heslin; J Lynam, R Forde, S Dempsey.
D Giles for Gonoud (inj., 8), L Loughlin for Forde (42), R Connellan for McGivney (43), L Dolan for Dempsey (54), D Lynch for Lynam (61).
S Mulhare (Laois).
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