Cavan - 0-16, Fermanagh - 0-14: Mattie Kerrigan continued to have the Midas touch in his brief period as Cavan team manager when he led the Breffni side to a thrilling victory over Fermanagh, their second win at Breffni Park yesterday.
This was a game in which referee Mick Curley of Galway played a prominent role. He issued almost a dozen yellow cards and dismissed a player from each side, Fermanagh's Pal Brewster 10 minutes from half-time and Cavan's Larry Reilly in injury time at the end of the first half.
It was a game Fermanagh looked likely to win as they led from the seventh minute with a point from Kieran Donnelly until three minutes from the end of normal time. However, in a tense and dramatic last few minutes, Cavan grabbed the initiative, levelled the scores through Jason Reilly and then got the match-winning scores in injury time from a Finbar Reilly free and an outstanding score from Jason Reilly.
It was a different story in the early stages as Fermanagh called the shots. Paul Brewster and Liam McBarron dominated midfield and were full value for their 0-4 to 0-0 lead at the end of the opening quarter. In fact, Cavan's first score didn't arrive until the 16th minute from an Anthony Forde free and by half-time Fermanagh were in firm control and leading by 0-9 to 0-3.
CAVAN: A Donohoe; E Reilly, T Prior, C Hannon; R Rogers, A Forde (0-1), J Doonan; C Collins, P McKenna; P Galligan (0-1), P Reilly (0-3), B McCrudden (0-1), L Reilly, J Reilly (0-4), M Graham (0-1). Subs: F O'Reilly (0-5) for C Collins, M Brides for R Rogers, G Pierson for M Graham.
FERMANAGH: Ronan Gallagher; B Owens, K Gunn, P Courtney; N Keenan, J Gilheaney, N Cox; P Brewster, L McBarron; M McGrath, Rory Gallagher (0-5), T Brewster (0-4); S McCabe, S Maguire (0-2), K Donnelly (0-2), Subs: R Johnson (0-1) for P Courtney, Raymond Gallagher for S McCabe, S McDermott for K Donnelly.
Referee: M Curley (Galway).
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