Leitrim rue missed chances as late surge denied by injury time Cavan winner

For the second week in a row, Leitrim saw their League ambitions disappear with an injury time point but this time, it was the turn of the hurlers to suffer a late heartbreak as Cavan pipped them in the Allianz NHL Division 3B Final at the GAA National Centre of Excellence at Abbotstown.

Trailing by four points with 15 minutes to go against a Cavan team that had missed enough chances to be out of sight, Letirim mounted a ferocious final surge that saw them draw level nearly four minutes into added time through a Gavin O'Hagan as we appeared to be heading for extra-time, much to the disgust of Cavan fans trying to make it into Croke Park for the Division 3 football final.

But barely had the Leitrim cheers died down and Cavan hit back, sub Rian Delaney scoring a superb point from a tight angle and despite Leitrim having three great chances to tie the scores once more, two from long range frees, Olcan Conway's side were unable to pull off another miracle, leaving Cavan celebrating wildly at the final whistle.

Leitrim rue missed chances as Cavan celebrate Division 3B victory - GALLERY

Leitrim hurlers saw their dream of promotion from the Allianz NHL Division 3B shattered at the GAA National Centre of Excellence on Saturday as Cavan hit an injury time winner to snatch a 0-17 to 0-16. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was a busy man with his camera, snapping fans enjoying the action .... see who you can spot!

Unbelievably, in the final ten minutes plus another eight of added time, Leitrim missed seven chances as Cavan couldn't get the sliotar out of their own half except for that one occasion when Rian Delaney proved to be his team's hero.

What provoked that change in fortunes is hard to tell - Cavan made a few substitutions but maybe another factor was that referee Peter Owens pulled up injured. The Green & Gold camp felt that they hadn't got much from the Down official but the pendulum swung replacement official Aidan McAleer of Donegal as Leitrim roared into the contest with a vengeance that unfortunately fell just short.

It was cruel on a Leitrim side who battled manfully against a Cavan team that relied heavily on the sheer class of Canice Maher and Nicky Kenny, the East Cavan Gaels duo hitting all but one of their side's total and their class around the middle of the field and ability to work the ball out of danger areas was something Leitrim never got to grips with.

That Leitrim came so close to snatching a draw or maybe even victory saw much for the indomitable spirit displayed by Olcan Conway's side - Leitrim never gave up battling and their sheer desire to compete and battle for every sliothar kept them in a game where it looked as if Cavan would pull away several times during the contest.

Three times Cavan looked ready to stamp their class on this game only for Leitrim to dig in and haul them back in but unfortunately, they couldn't guarantee the supply of ball that Maher and Kenny thrived on for Cavan, their class telling the tale despite Leitrim's battling effort.

Conor Beirne launches a monster point over the Cavan crossbar after bursting through a challenge from a Cavan player Picture: Willie Donnellan

Ironically, Leitrim had a greater spread of scorers than Cavan with Gavin O'Hagan and Joe Murray really carrying the battle to the Breffni men but here was the game that Leitrim's resources were stretched too thin. Brendan Delaney - who actually started the Longford semi-final last week with what turned out to be a broken fibula - Conor Hackett & Cian Mallon were sorely missed while losing Tadhg Brannigan early in the first half didn't help their cause.

But no more than the footballers against Sligo the previous week, you've got to admit that Cavan looked the better team and had they been a shade more accurate, they would have surely had this game well wrapped up long before their anxious finale that had them looking over their shoulders and praying for the final whistle.

Cavan started brightest, intercepting a Leitrim clearance with Canice Maher firing over inside 45 seconds. Liam Moreton saw a shot blocked at the other end before Clement Cunniffe did well to haul down a Diarmuid Carney shot from going over the crossbar but Maher fired over from halfway to put Cavan two up.

After an Enda Moreton win, Leitrim opened their account when a heavy hit on Martin Feeney by Cavan’s Canice Maher saw Gavin O’Hagan convert the free. Nicky Kenny swapped points with Joe Murray, the Leitrim taking a long pass on his hurl on the run, balancing the sliotar before firing over.

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Two Maher placed balls, one from a 65, saw Cavan open a three point lead after just ten minutes but Sean Markham scored from distance to close the gap. Enda Moreton burst through but his shot was blocked but a swift O’Hagan riposte, turning sharply and shooting in one motion had the gap back to a point.

Nicky Kenny won a free for Cavan that Maher opted to go for goal with, the ball batted out by alert defenders with maher putting the 65 wide and the top marksman missed another free before good work from Diarmuid Carney set up a point for the centre-forward.

Cavan were missing chances but a Kenny point restored their three point lead before O’Hagan punished a foul on himself by converting the free on 23 minutes. The Cluainin hurler also saw a shot batted out by Breffni keeper Darren Sheridan before a long run from Kenny ended up with a point.

Joe Murray goes down after a blow from Cavan's Nicky Kenny on Saturday Picture: Willie Donnellan

The lead stretched to four for the first time when Cavan got away with a pretty blatant off the ball block on Paul Lenehan chasing his man, Cavan working the ball for Maher to fire over. O’Hagan replied with a free after another foul on Feeney but Feeney himself was off target from a tight angle.

Kenny got another, his third of the half, on 30 minutes but a long Conor Beirne delivery found Joe Murray and he off-loaded to Gavin O’Hagan for a nice point. Then good work from Liam Moreton and Martin Feeney set up David McGovern for a good score to cut the gap back to two points.

However, a Maher free left Cavan with a 0-11 to 0-8 halftime lead with Olcan Conway bringing on James McNabola and Sean O’Riordan at halftime, a move that had an instant impact with McNabola scoring a great point from the corner, although he followed up with a narrow wide a minute later.

Two Kenny points from Cavan stretched the gap back to four points but a Brannagan clearance was brilliantly fielded by Joe Murray who fired over on eight minutes. Five minutes later, a sideline to O’Hagan then released Murray for a point with the gap back to three.

Maher responded before a truly remarkable Conor Beirne point as he fielded a long ball and then just bowled over a Cavan opponent who foolishly got in his way, knocking him for six before unleashing a monster point from the middle of the field.

Cavan responded once more with their only two scorers at this point, Kenny scoring from about 60 yards and Maher converting a free that landed a booking for Enda Moreton. Cavan’s Nicky Kenny was yellow carded with 12 minutes to go for a careless hurl that struck Joe Murray’s head. 

From that free, Murray broke through a challenge to solo through for a fine point and the gap was back to three points. Leitrim were now beginning to charge but O’Hagan shot wide, Clement Cunniffe had a long range free batted out before sub Michael Dervan converted a free from his own 65 with less than two minutes of normal time.

Gavin O'Hagan breaks free of the challenge of Cavan's Anthony Sheridan Picture: Willie Donnellan

We also had a change of referee with sideline official Aidan McAleer replacing an injured Peter Owens and whether it was a change of official or a change in mindset, Leitrim started to win the battles and win frees.

Gavin O’Hagan converted a free just into added time to cut the gap back to a point and despite a yellow card for Martin Feeney, it was Leitrim charging forward. O’Hagan saw a shot hit the woodwork and be cleared before Enda Moreton shot wide.

But to great acclaim from the Leitrim supporters at the GAA National Centre of Excellence, Leitrim drew level when O’Hagan hit a monster free from halfway to tie the scores with over four minutes of added time played.

Unfortunately for Letirim, Cavan’s response was superb, they charged forward and got the ball wide to Rian Delaney who hit a brilliant point to edge the Ulster side back in front over five minutes into added time.

The drama didn’t end there - with referee McAleer playing another two minutes, Leitrim had some great chances with O’Hagan putting a free wide, Enda Moreton mere inches off target on the run before Dervan had a long range free go wide as Cavan held on for victory.

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LEITRIM

Scorers: Gavin O’Hagan 0-7, 5f; Joe Murray 0-4; Conor Beirne, James McNabola, David McGovern, Sean Markem & Michael Dervan 0-1 each

Team: Clement Cunniffe, Paul Lenehan, Aaron McLoughlin, Kevin Clerkin, Conor Berine, Jerome Fitzgibbon, David McGovern, Enda Moreton, Gavin O’Hagan, Stephen Goldrick, Joe Murray, Sean Markham, Tadhg Brannigan, Liam Moreton Martin Feeney. Subs: Sean O’Riordan & James McNabola for McLoughlin & L Moreton (HT); Ethan Clancy for Brannagan (41); Michael Dervan for Markam (63); 

CAVAN

Scorers: Canice Maher 0-9, 3f, 1 65; Nicky Kenny 0-7; Rian Delaney 0-1

Team: Darren Sheridan, Shane Briody, Dominic Crudden, Liam Og Cooke; Jack Barry, Cillian Sheanon; Matthew Hynes, Dillon Mulligan; Nicky Kenny, Tom Leonard; Canice Maher, Colm Sheanon; Sean Keating; Diarmuid Carney; Colin Gargan. Subs: Rian Delaney for Keating (50); Anthony Sheridan for Gargan (57); Mark Mofftat & Philip McCabe for Carney & Cooke (65); Enda Shalvey for Leonard (70)

Referee: Peter Owens (Down) - replaced 64 mins Aidan McAleer (Donegal)