Sport

Fermanagh hold out in tough tie

There was a pulsating finish to this game at Kingscourt yesterday when Fermanagh had to battle hard to hold out for a vital win…

Mon Feb 26 2001 - 00:00

There was a pulsating finish to this game at Kingscourt yesterday when Fermanagh had to battle hard to hold out for a vital win against a hungry Cavan side.

Local rivalry always seems to produce something out of the ordinary whenever these counties meet and this game proved no exception, with Fermanagh belying their lowly position in the table.

This was a tough match which had hard tackling, lots of bookings and yellow cards, claims for a penalty by Cavan in the closing stages (which was turned down by referee Gerry Kinneavy) plus a total of 20 wides, 16 of these to Cavan.

Fermanagh dominated the early stages and two goals within the space of seven minutes from Kieran Donnelly and Raymond Gallagher were the launching pad for a top-class performance which gave them a half-time lead of 2-4 to 0-3.

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The Cavan defence looked vulnerable at this stage and were fortunate not to concede at least two more goals.

The Cavan selectors introduced the experienced Dermot McCabe at the start of the second half and such was the doggedness of the exchanges that the opening 13 minutes were scoreless until Rory Gallagher scored a point to stretch Fermanagh's lead to eight points.

With 10 minutes left, and the same margin between the sides, Cavan's corner forward Michael Graham gave his side a lifeline with a goal, and points from James Doonan and Anthony Forde reduced the deficit to three points.

As Cavan battled to save the game, further points from Gerard Pierson and Charles Clarke left one point between the teams as the game stretched into three minutes of additional time. Fermanagh, however, held out.

FERMANAGH: S Boyle; M Lilly, B Owens, P Courtney; N Cox, S Burns, R Johnson; O Mulligan, C Courtney; K Donnelly (1-0), Rory Gallagher (0-3), S McDermott; Raymond Gallagher (1-2), S Maguire (0-1), S King. Subs: M O'Donnell for S Maguire; C McElroy for S King; M McGrath for O Mulligan.

CAVAN: A Donohoe; G Sheridan, E Jackson, T Prior; A Forde (0-2), J Doonan (0-1), P Reilly (0-1); C Clarke (0-1), B McCrudden; P Galligan (0-1), J Tierney, R Cunningham (0-1); M Graham (1-1), G Pierson, F Reilly. Subs: J Reilly for F Reilly; D McCabe for R Cunningham; C Mulligan for J Tierney.

Referee: G Kinneavy, Roscommon.