Tyrone bend but refuse to break in brilliant Breffni battle

Underdogs Cavan died with their boots on in a scorching Ulster SFC quarter-final 

21 April 2024; Michael McKernan of Tyrone celebrates during the Ulster GAA Football Senior Championship quarter-final match between Cavan and Tyrone at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ulster SFC: Cavan 3-16 Tyrone 1-23 AET

Tyrone avoided the casino of penalties and instead used extra-time as their ticket through to the Ulster SFC semi-finals.

Underdogs Cavan died with their boots on at a scorching Kingspan Breffni Park after Brian O’Connell’s fisted point (74) had denied the O’Neill County a straightforward route to the last four of the competition.

Tyrone had earlier been on the cusp of Easy Street after romping into a 1-16 to 1-8 lead with less than 20 minutes of normal time left to play.

Cavan were in never-say-die mode though and they defied the odds to come within two points of booking a date with Donegal after scoring their first 3-10 from open play.

Two outstanding diving, goal-saving, blocks by Mattie Donnelly (Tyrone) and Luke Fortune (Cavan) pock-marked a cagey opening ten minutes.

But then in a jiffy, Cavan found Tyrone’s jugular when after good work by Conor Brady and Oisín Brady down the right wing, Cian Madden placed his shot high into the net despite five Tyrone defenders putting up the stop sign in front of him.

In the dead heat, Cavan needed to maintain such efficiencies but, instead, they had their hands ripped too easily off the tiller.

Crucially, after Madden’s major (9), Tyrone countered with a 1-3 unanswered tally between the 13th and 21st minutes to turn the game on its head for the first time on a crazy day for Ulster football.

The O’Neill County’s opening goal was engineered by team-captain Brian Kennedy and executed by the loose-limbed Liam Gray, leaving the hosts facing into a four point deficit with 17 minutes on the clock.

Tyrone cantered to a 1-10 to 1-4 interval lead and the game seemed to be Tyrone’s to lose entering the final 20 minutes of normal time as Cavan laboured to eat into their opponents’ six point deficit.

A black card for Tyrone defender Padraig Hampsey in the 48th minute hinted at a change in the order of things though and in a thrilling four-minute period Breffni Park exploded in noise.

First, Padraig Faulkner’s 53rd-minute goal – after great work by Niall Carolan and Conor Brady – provided the spark before a follow-up Oisin Brady point (55) and Carolan’s major (57) ignited the whole arena like never before.

Cavan smelled blood and Oisín Brady’s brilliant solo point (61) meant the sides were level (3-10 to 1-16) for the first time in the match.

Tyrone bent but didn’t break though and despite fielding a handful of championship debutants, they kept their composure and focus to stay in front (1-20 to 3-12) going into added-on time but a Paddy Lynch free and O’Connell’s fisted point spelled extra-time.

Understandably, the tempo of the clash noticeably dropped thereafter and as both think tanks rang the changes, the game took on a chaotic disposition with spillages, frees and keep-ball increasingly the name of the game.

Scores were at a premium as the spectre of penalties loomed large with just Daragh Canavan (free) and Tiarnan Madden managing to find the target in the first period of extra-time.

Euphoria was just ten minutes away though for Tyrone while agony lay in waiting for the hosts as the final period of tension-filled extra-time panned out.

Predictably, frees were the operative word down the back straight with Tiarnan Quinn’s conversion (87) rendering Paddy Lynch’s corresponding score (90) irrelevant.

CAVAN: Gary O’Rourke; Cian Reilly, Killian Brady (0-1), Brian O’Connell (0-2); Padraig Faulkner (1-0), Niall Carolan (1-0), Conor Brady; Luke Fortune (0-1), Oisin Kiernan; Ciaran Brady, Gerry Smith (0-1), Oisin Kiernan; Cian Madden (1-1), Paddy Lynch (0-5, 3f), Oisín Brady (0-3).

Subs: Cormac O’Reilly for C Madden (49); Tiarnan Madden (0-2) for O Kiernan (C,) h-t); J McLoughlin for L Fortune (h-t); Cormac O’Reilly for C Madden (48); Killian Clarke for Killian Brady (65): Conor Rehill for N Carolan (78); Ryan Donohoe for P Faulkner (inj, 79); Tristan Noak Hoffman for Ciaran Brady (83).

TYRONE: Niall Morgan (0-1, f); Conall Devlin, Padraig Hampsey, Michael McKernan (0-3); Sean O’Donnell, Mattie Donnelly (0-1), Niall Devlin (0-1); Brian Kennedy (0-1), Aodhan Donaghy; Ciaran Daly (0-2), Kieran McGeary, Liam Gray (1-0); Darren McCurry (0-4, 2f), Darragh Canavan (0-7, 3f), Ruairí Canavan (0-1).

Subs; Ben Cullen (0-1) for K McGeary (52); Cathal McShane for R Canavan (57); Joe Oguz for A Donaghy (59); Michael O’Neill for L Gray (65); Tiarnan Quinn (0-1, f) for D McCurry (inj, 77); Conor Cush for D Canavan (inj, 82); Niall McCarron for C Devlin (86).

Ref: David Coldrick (Meath)