Donegal 1-17 Cavan 0-15: CHAMPIONSHIP 2002/Ulster SF preliminary round: Some razor-sharp score taking was the main difference between the sides at Breffni Park yesterday as Donegal registered a comfortable win in the preliminary round of this year's Bank of Ireland Ulster football championship.
Spearheaded by Brendan Devenney and Adrian Sweeney, the winners' attack were fast, elusive and accurate. Devenney shot seven points from seven, whereas Sweeney was only marginally less economical with five from seven.
After the League final walloping by Tyrone a fortnight previously, the last thing that Cavan wanted was early damage to morale yet within a minute that's exactly what they got. Full back Thomas Prior appeared to misjudge a bounce, letting Devenney in on goal. Two passes later and Adrian Sweeney had transferred to Brian Rope and he took the goal.
Afterwards, Cavan manager Matt Kerrigan was annoyed by some of the refereeing decisions of Paddy Russell. His point of departure was the allegation that Devenney had pushed Prior in the lead-up to the goal and that looked to have some merit. But equally, Michael Brides could count himself lucky that he got just a yellow after hitting a linesman with a petulantly thrown ball.
Later the same players were involved in the issuing of three yellow cards, with Prior picking up two and getting his marching orders in the 57th minute. "I was very annoyed," said Kerrigan. "I felt the referee was very hard on our full back, penalising him for 50-50 balls which led to him getting sent off. I don't think their player (John Haran) deserved to get a red card either. I thought it wasn't a great performance by the referee but it had nothing to do with us losing. Donegal were just better."
Mickey Moran, the Donegal manager, was content with the afternoon's work and was not particularly exercised by Haran's 35th-minute dismissal. "I didn't talk to him about it at half-time and can't really comment myself, whatever way the linesman saw it."
Devenney wasn't particularly bothered either by his second-half yellow card. "I was being hit in the back and pushed him but it's hard for a referee. I did say to him at one stage: "Why would I be holding him? I don't want him near me."
Donegal's top scorer did get wound up over some of his pre-match publicity, which had centred on his imminent dilemma over the expected offer of a soccer contract with Finn Harps for the upcoming summer season of the National League. His situation had become enmeshed with the ongoing GPA controversy, leading to a high media profile last week.
"One paper said I was threatening to leave Donegal. I had to apologise to the manager. He said that they'd made a monkey out of me. I don't like having that said about me." He did acknowledge that the soccer contract - which would if signed obviously become his priority this summer - was going to be a hard decision to make.
If the pressure on him was evident in the lead up, it certainly didn't show during yesterday's match. His shooting was devastatingly on target and his reading of the game excellent. The last point of the second half saw him accelerating onto a break, riding the challenge of a cluster of defenders and finding the fractional space necessary to squeeze over a point.
Beside him, Adrian Sweeney's virtuoso left foot was also in evidence and within eight minutes Donegal were totally in command with a six-point lead, 1-3 to nil.
Kerrigan was pleased with Cavan's resilience. They kept flailing away at the stifling grip that Donegal had taken on the match and by the end of the afternoon the margin was much what it was after Donegal's early blitz. Top scorer of the afternoon was Ger Pearson who kicked frees as effortlessly as Donegal were giving them away and bagged nine out of a personal total of 10 points.
The match was largely sorted out around centrefield where the huddling masses gathered to allow appropriate acreage to their stripped-down forward lines. Donegal were snappier on the break and Cavan couldn't get an adequate supply into their attack.
From the early attrition on the scoreboard, it was always likely that Cavan would need goals to get back on terms. The five goals scored against Roscommon in last month's League semi-final would appear to have come at a heavy price for Cavan in terms of setting the agenda for future opponents. Like Tyrone two weeks ago, Donegal were prepared for that eventuality and Moran said afterwards that they had been aware of the need to restrict goal chances.
But the two that were created went untaken. Pierce McKenna was the provider on both occasions. In the 11th minute his dropping ball was fisted off the crossbar by Jason Reilly. Minutes before half-time, a penetrating run was spoiled at the finish by McKenna's less than precise pass to Pearson and the wild finish that failed to raise even a white flag.
One positive point for the home side was the reappearance of Dermot McCabe after a long injury break. He gave a physical focus to the attack and showed a glimpse of his footballing class when, amidst the maelstrom in the middle, he picked out Jason Reilly with a stunning ball from around 35 metres.
Whereas Cavan were more competitive after the break, they still lacked the stiletto flourish of Devenney and Sweeney who continued to pick off points, with impressive assistance from Michael Hegarty, which countered any danger on the scoreboard.
Mickey Moran summed it up: "We played nice controlled football and didn't give it away. Once in possession we were able to hit Adrian and Brendan even though they were closely marked." Down are Donegal's next opponents and could do worse than bankroll Finn Harps to offer Devenney a decent contract.
DONEGAL: 1 T Blake; 4 N McGinley, 3 M Crossan, 2 S Carr; 5 R Sweeney, 6 B Monaghan, 7 K Cassidy; 8 J Gildea, 9 J McGuinness; 10 J Haran, 11 M Hegarty, 15 B Roper; 13 A Sweeney, 14 B Devenney, P McGonigle. Subs: 17 D Diver for Cassidy (57 mins); C Toye for Roper (65). Yellow cards: J McGuinness (37 mins), B Devenney (56), R Sweeney (70). Red card: J Haran (35 mins)
CAVAN: 1 A Donohue; 5 M Brides, 3 T Prior, 4 C Hannon; 2 E Reilly, 6 A Forde, 21 D Rabbitt; 8 P McKenna, 9 C Collins; 7 J Doonan, 11 P Reilly, 25 G Pearson; 13 L Reilly, 14 J Reilly, 15 P Galligan. Subs: 22 D McCabe for Galligan (32 mins); 18 P Kermath for Rabbitt (half-time); 17 M Graham for L Reilly (42); 19 B McCrudden for Collins (42). Yellow cards: M Brides (16 mins), T Prior (46 and 57). Red card: T Prior (57 mins)
