Cavan find gap in Derry wall

Dr McKenna Cup/ Cavan 0-17 Derry 0-12: Cavan overcame a heavy downpour to inflict a rare Celtic Park defeat on Derry yesterday.

With Dermot McCabe and Donal Thomas winning regular ball, Cavan sped into a 0-10 to 0-5 lead by the 24th minute - though points from Paddy Bradley and Jim Kelly saw Derry close the gap to a single point at the interval.

But Cavan are further down the road with their training programme and their extra sharpness told as Donal Keogh's side dominated the second half.

DERRY: B Gillis; M McGoldrick, K McGuckin, J Keenan; P Carton, K McIvor (0-1), A McAlynn; Patsy Bradley, J Conway; R Wilkinson, C Gilligan (0-2, both frees), R Convery; J Kelly (0-2), Paddy Bradley (0-6, five frees), A McCartney (0-1). Subs: F Doherty for Conway (29 mins), K Gallagher for McGoldrick (45 mins), E Bradley for Convery (48 mins), R McElhone for Wilkinson.

CAVAN: C Anderson; M Cahill, D Rabbitte, K Fannin; J Crowe, N Walsh, E Reilly; D Thomas, D McCabe (0-1); M Cunningham (0-3), M McKeever (0-1), M Brennan; C Mackey (0-2), S Brady (0-2), G Pierson (0-4, frees). Subs: L Mulvey (0-2) for Rabitte (21 mins), J O'Reilly (0-2) for Thomas (45 mins), A Reilly for Mulvey (70 mins).

Referee: J White(Donegal).

• Down 0-9 Antrim 0-9- A last-minute equaliser from Fintan McGreevey spared Ross Carr the embarrassment of starting his term in charge of this Down team with a defeat to Jody Gormley's Antrim side in Downpatrick.

•  Monaghan 1-10 Fermanagh 0-5- Monaghan enjoyed an excellent second-half at rain-soaked St Molaise Park, Irvinestown yesterday.

However, Monaghan have been left with injuries to two key players - centre back Jason Hughes, who hobbled off after 28 minutes, and fellow defender Shane Mulligan, who had to be helped off in the 46th minute.

• Tyrone 2-14 Queen's 0-9- Second-half goals from Niall Gormley and Colm Donnelly helped Tyrone to a winning start to their Dr McKenna Cup campaign yesterday.

But the big talking point to emerge from Healy Park was a straight red card which has ruled ace attacker Stephen O'Neill out of next month's NFL tie against Dublin under Croke Park's new floodlights.

• Armagh 0-10 St Mary's 0-4- The experience of Steven McDonnell, the work-rate of Martin O'Rourke and the calm defensive authority of Andrew Mallon steered an experimental Armagh side safely past St Mary's University College, Crossmaglen yesterday.

• Donegal 1-6 UUJ 1-4- Donegal got off to a winning start yesterday in a poor game at Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon.

The final point came from veteran Brian Roper, who had a great game on his home pitch.

Dr McKenna Cup - Round Two

Section A: Armagh v Fermanagh, Monaghan v St Mary's. Section B: Cavan v Queen's University, Tyrone v Derry. Section C: UUJ v Down, Antrim v Donegal.