Sport

McCabe forces Mayo to share

A point from Dermot McCabe one minute into injury-time gave Cavan a deserved draw against Mayo at Breffni Park yesterday.

Mon Apr 16 2001 - 01:00

A point from Dermot McCabe one minute into injury-time gave Cavan a deserved draw against Mayo at Breffni Park yesterday.

There was an air of unreality about the game, however, as there was nothing at stake for either teams.

While the standard of football was not at its highest - 26 wides being registered over the 70 minutes - Mayo looked the likely winners from an early stage and deservedly led at half-time by 1-4 to 0-5.

The goal came from Linden Reilly who fisted a high lobbing ball from David Nestor to the net. Mayo's other high scorer was Maurice Sheridan who showed his accuracy from frees.

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Cavan battled back in the second and, as they gained much more of the possession, the threat from forwards of the calibre of Jason Reilly and Mickey Graham began to make an impact.

Points from Dermot McCabe, Mickey Graham and Finbar Reilly levelled the scores with 10 minutes left. Mayo then edged two points clear through Sean Carey and Maurice Sheridan.

The teams were deadlocked with three minutes of normal time remaining until Linden Reilly put Mayo ahead once again. As Cavan continued to waste opportunities, Dermot McCabe finally found the target and levelled the scores as the game moved into injury-time.

Cavan's team manager Val Andrews was pleased with the team's performance, especially after the heavy defeat by Derry the previous Sunday and preparations now begin in earnest for the championship clash with Down in less than six weeks time.

CAVAN: A Donohoe; G Sheridan, T Prior, C McCarey; A Forde (0-1), J Doonan, P Reilly; C Clarke, B McCrudden; H Smith, D McCabe (0-5), F Reilly (0-1); M Graham (0-1), J Reilly (0-1), L Reilly (0-1). Subs: M Brides for H Smith; P Galligan for L Reilly; F O'Reilly for C Clarke; J Tierney for M Graham.

MAYO: P Burke; K Golden, K Cahill, A Higgins; F Costello, G Ruane, M Connolly; M Coleman, C McManaman (0-1); M Sheridan (0-5), D McDonagh, D Nestor; L Reilly (1-1), M McNicholas, P McGarry. Subs: D Brady for M Coleman; S Carey (0-1) for D Nestor; J Gill for P McGarry; S Grimes for F Costello; B Padden for D McDonagh.

Referee: B White (Wexford).