Dynamic Down shock Tailteann Cup favourites Cavan

A late goal from Danny Magill put the seal on quarter-final victory

Down’s Ryan McEvoy gets away from Cian Reilly of Cavan

Tailteann Cup quarter-final: Cavan 0-15 Down 1-17 

Down produced an upset in an absorbing Tailteann Cup quarter-final by overcoming odd-on favourites Cavan at Kingspan Breffni.

Danny Magill’s major (68) deservedly propelled the Mourne County over the finishing line with a bit to spare.

Down’s football early on mirrored the day itself, bright and breezy. In contrast, the hosts looked off-colour.

The sides shared four points before Rory Mason and Liam Kerr (14) put the Mourne County into a lead that they were to retain for the rest of the half.

Backed by a strong breeze, the visitors sported a better cutting edge as the game advanced but on three occasions in the first half, they let Cavan off the hook by firing over, instead of under, the bar.

Cavan laboured to reap a significant dividend from open play but back-to-back converted frees by Oisín Brady cut Down’s lead to the minimum, 0-6 to 0-5, after 22 minutes.

Down continued to operate off the front foot and a rampaging run by centre-back Ceilum Doherty allowed Liam Kerr to split the posts.

A classy Rory Mason point added to Down’s momentum but they needed ‘keeper Niall Kane to pull off a fine save to deny Oisín Brady a goal (33).

Down’s defence of their 0-9 to 0-7 interval lead was less than assured and Cavan eased to level terms (0-10 apiece) by the three-quarter mark.

But the second half gravitated to become an archetypal see-saw affair with neither team managing to secure a grip for anything more than fleeting minutes.

With 15 minutes left to play, an upset was in the air as Cavan trailed by 0-11 to 0-14, prompting Mickey Graham to place Blues’ talisman Gearóid McKiernan on the edge of the square.

Down held firm though and Liam Kerr’s classy left-footer (63) maintained his side’s two-point lead after a gem from Oisín Brady got the biggest cheer of the day.

But it was Down’s fans who raised the roof in the dregs of the game with Magill punishing Cavan’s ball-watching antics with a shot, all alone, from point-blank range.

Cavan scorers: O Brady (0-8, mark, 5f) P Faulkner (0-2); O Kiernan (0-1); G McKiernan (0-1, f); B Boylan (0-1); C Madden (0-1); T Madden (0-1).

Down scorers: L Kerr (0-4); P Havern (0-4, mark, 2f); R Mason (0-5, 2f); D Magill (1-1); P McCarthy (0-1); R Johnston (0-1); S Annett (0-1).

CAVAN: R Galligan: C Reilly, P Faulkner, N Carolan; Ciarán Brady, O Kiernan, Conor Brady; G McKiernan, K Clarke; C Madden, D McVeety, T Madden; B Boylan, G Smith, O Brady.

Subs: R O’Neill for Conor Brady (inj, 22); C Moynagh for B Boylan (57); J McCabe for C Reilly (61); C McGovern for G Smith (72).

DOWN: N Kane; P McCarthy, P Laverty, A Doherty; M Rooney, C Doherty, P Branagan; D Guinness, O Murdock; L Kerr, R Mason, D Magill; E Branagan, P Havern, R Johnston.

Subs: S Johnston for E Branagan (43); R McEvoy for P Laverty (59); S Annett for R Johnston (66); G Collins for R Mason (72).

Ref: S Mulhare (Laois)