Cavan reached the first ever Tailteann Cup Final following a three point victory over Sligo, 20 points to 1-14.
Cavan got off to a great start scoring the first six points of the contest from open play. Martin Reilly, James Smith, Gearóid McKeirnan, Oisin Keirnan, Paddy Lynch, and Conor Brady were all on target for Cavan.
Sligo got their first score of the game on 14 minutes before Luke Townley was brought down by Gerard Smith in the square resulting in a Sligo penalty.
Patrick O’Connor coolly converted the penalty sending Raymond Galigan the wrong way after 20 minutes. Killian Brady responded well for Cavan with a point from an acute angle just a minute later.
Sligo would subsequently get back-to-back points before Cavan would score three points in a row from Raymond Galigan, Gerard Smith and Gearóid McKeirnan to close out the first-half.
Cavan leading 0-11 to 1-3.
Niall Murphy’s second-half appearance helped the Yeats County to get the first three points of the second-half, cutting Cavan’s lead to two points.
Gearóid McKeirnan opened Cavan’s second-half account after 44 minutes before Patrick O’Connor got on the scoresheet for Sligo. Killian Clarke put Cavan three points up after 45 minutes.
The game became end-to-end as the sides would trade six points in seven minutes. James Smith, Cian Madden, and Gerard Smith were the Cavan scorers.
Patrick O’Connor narrowed Cavan’s lead to just two points after 54 minutes before Gearóid McKeirnan restored Cavans three point lead four minutes later.
Niall Murphy and Gearóid McKeirnan traded a score each for their teams in the space of a minute before Gearard Smith thought he put the game to bed putting four points between the sides after 71 minutes.
Sligo were not ready to admit defeat, scoring two points in a row from Alan Reilly and Sean Carrabine to give Cavan a scare by cutting down their lead to just two points with a minute of additional time left.
However Gerard Smith would put an end to Sligos hopes with the last score of the game after 76 minutes.
Cavan can look forward to another date in Croke Park for the Tailteann Cup final against Westmeath on July ninth.
