Cavan reached their first Dr McKenna Cup final since 2000 yesterday, with Eugene Keating their match-winner as they eased past Monaghan at Brewster Park.
Keating hit Monaghan for six, scoring 0-3 from play in both halves to help Cavan book their place in the final against Tyrone on Saturday night. The decider is also to be played in Brewster Park
Despite trailing by four points early on, with Dermot Malone netting the only goal of the game for Monaghan in the fifth minute, Cavan’s dominance grew. David Givney and Turloc Mooney kicked 0-3 between them rampaging forward from midfield. Keating was double-marked yet he was a superb target man up front and hit some special scores, including one off his weaker left foot.
Monaghan failed to score for 15 minutes during the first-half, during which time Cavan racked up four points without reply. Wing-back Philip Tinnelly, in his first season on the Cavan squad, burst forward to score two of those points as they led 0-9 to 1-5 at the break.
Noses in front
Cavan kept their noses in front throughout the second-half and had eight different players on the scoresheet. Monaghan went 13 minutes without a score in a second-half which went up a few intensity levels from the first.
Cavan worked incredibly hard to strip Monaghan of possession and burst forward at pace, with Michael Lyng, Dermot Malone, Kevin Tierney and Keating finishing off a number of well-worked moves.
Monaghan lost two players, Dessie Mone and Colin Walshe to black card offences in the last quarter. The game was still in the melting pot, with Monaghan a point down, when Mone was dismissed after the umpires alerted referee Ciarán Branagan to an off-the-ball incident in the 56th minute.
Walshe went for pulling down Vinny Corey four minutes from the end and Cavan then comfortably closed out the game.
CAVAN: C Gilsenan; J Hayes, R Dunne, K Brady; P Tinnelly (0-2), A Clarke, J McEnroe; T Mooney (0-2), D Givney (0-1); C Mackey, M Lyng (0-1), M Reilly; N McDermott (0-2, one free), E Keating (0-6), K Tierney (0-1). Subs: N Smith for Tinnelly (48 mins), M Dunne (0-1, free) for McDermott (61), N Murray for Tierney (65), D McKiernan for Mooney (67), P Leddy for Lyng (69), R Maloney-Derham for Reilly (70).
MONAGHAN: R Beggan (0-2, one free, one 45); F Kelly, K Duffy, C Boyle (0-1); D Mone, V Corey, C Galligan; G Doogan, P Finlay; P Donaghy, S Gallogly, P Keenan; J McCarron (0-2, frees), C McGuinness (0-2, frees), D Malone (1-1). Subs: D Clerkin for Doogan (h-t), C Walshe for Duffy (51 mins), R Wylie for Galligan (51), K O'Connell for Mone (Black card, 56), S Carey (0-1) for Gallogly (56), M McElroy for Walshe (67) .
Referee: Ciarán Branagan (Down).
