A reminder of what these teams stand for

Ulster SFC First Round/ Cavan 2-11 Down 3-8: Hopefully the old sovereigns of the Ulster game set the tone for the rest of the senior football championship yesterday.

These teams may never come close to the replicating the towering achievements of their predecessors, but in the famous old bowl in Cavan town, they went about playing football with full hearts and no little adventure.

This match flew in the face of the prevailing sense that the Ulster game is dour and cagey by nature. It rattled ahead full throttle, Cavan eager to give the local support in the 13,500 crowd something to celebrate and Down seeking their first competitive win of the year.

Cavan and Down just wanted to score, consequences be damned.

By half-time, not a single yellow card had been issued, and all through, this was a brisk, open encounter. Both teams conveyed the impression they were learning as much about themselves as one another and after serving up 70 minutes of terrific entertainment, they trooped off to the dressingrooms with just enough bright notes to carry into the replay in Newry next Sunday.

The draw was achieved through a desperately late Ronan Murtagh equaliser. The polished Down wing back dashed upfield to clip a deserved reprieve after Dermot McCabe had the locals dancing on the terraces with a high, booming free that had the look of a winner about it.

McCabe's shot, on the stroke of full time, was the grace note of a stunning Cavan revival - a minute earlier, sub Jonathan Crowe had blasted a goal to pull his county back from the brink of an early exit from Ulster.

Defeat, had it materialised, would have been hard on Down. Miserable as their form was all through the winter, there was always the nagging suspicion that Ross Carr regarded the league with the old aristocrat's disdain, and rumour was that he was putting his young charges through hellish sessions.

And on the first day of the championship, they made naïve mistakes and tended to stand back and admire themselves a little. But in style and imagination, they reminded the stadium and the TV audience of all Down football is celebrated for.

And what a wonderfully refreshing and exciting proposition it is to have a young manager who trusts his forwards to express themselves.

There were periods yesterday when the visitors moved the ball with serene comfort, transferring it through the blue shirts without a care in the world. Even some of Down's poorest attempts at scoring had a patina of class and ambition about them - that black-and-red sheen.

Cavan's endeavours were more grounded and honest. McCabe is a gargantuan presence. Larry Reilly is a chunkier version of the speed merchant who illuminated Cavan's summer in 1997, but yesterday he was terrific, clipping two fine points and finishing an important second-half goal before eventually tiring.

Martin Cahill kept the impish Daniel Hughes scoreless and boss Donal Keoghan managed his bench highly effectively, bringing in the muscle of Nicholas Murphy as well as hero-of-the-hour Crowe.

James Reilly may well be the best goalkeeper in the country - he pushed a cheeky Dan Gordon shot to his left in the first half and could do nothing about the Down goals.

Nobody could have. The first came on eight minutes, with John Clarke winning a good ball and firing forward. Aidan Carr and Coulter worked a quick one-two before Coulter played a lovely flat pass for Ronan Sexton to finish.

On 20 minutes, Carr played Coulter and the ground went quiet as Benny ghosted forward and made the ball kiss the net. And when Gordon waltzed through for a third, we wondered if Ross Carr had instructed his boys not to be arsed with points.

These goals were grievous blows to Cavan, who worked industrious points through Gerald Pearson and Seán Johnstone. It looked like being one of those days when Down's reputation for consummate finishing and inherent arrogance would triumph.

The quality of the fare dipped badly for a while in the second half, when both teams looked like middleweights as distinct from the big, menacing real deals. When Paul McComiskey and Murtagh finished two brilliant points, Breffni went into a hush. It looked like a classic Down summer punch.

Then came the late, hectic burst of scores and a replay that nobody complained about.

CAVAN: J Reilly; P Brady, E O'Reilly, M Cahill; M Hannon, A Ford, R Flanagan; D McCabe (0-2, frees), L Mulvey; R Cullivan, M McKeever, L Reilly (1-02); S Johnstone (0-1), G Pearson (0-3), J Reilly (0-2 frees). Subs: M Lyng for R Cullivan (41 mins); C Mackey for S Johnstone (50); N Murphy for L Mulvey (54); S Brady (0-1) for G Pearson (60); J Crowe (1-0) for P Brady (63).

DOWN: M McVeigh; D McCartan, D Rooney, K McGuigan; R Murtagh (0-2), B Grant, J Clarke; D Gordon, J Lynch; J McGovern (0-1 free), A Carr, R Sexton (2-0); D Hughes, P Downey, B Coulter (1-1). Subs: M Cole (0-2) for J Clarke (18 mins); S Kearney for J McGovern (47); P Murphy for J Lynch (50); P McComiskey (0-1) for D Hughes (60).

Referee: D Fahy(Longford).