Cavan and Down ease to Dr McKenna Cup Section C victories

Goals were key as Cavan claimed a 3-12 to 0-12 win over Antrim in the McKenna Cup Section C opener at Creggan.

Cavan led by 1-3 to 0-4 at half-time, with their goal coming in the opening minute from Kevin Tierney.

This game opened up hugely on the restart, with goals from David Givney and Tierney in a 14-minute spell central to victory for the visitors.

Ten players scored for Down in the 1-15 to 0-7 win over UUJ at Newry with Peter Fitzpatrick hitting the goal.

At a wet and windy Creggan, Tierney's first-minute goal gave Cavan an immediate advantage and all Antrim's first-half points came from CJ McGourty with Martin Reilly, Eugene Keating and Givney on target for the Breffni County.

Cavan increased their lead to five after the restart as the conditions improved although two Michael Pollock scores then left only a kick of the ball between the sides.

However, Givney's goal increased Cavan's advantage to 2-9 to 0-9 and Tierney hammered in the Breffni County's third goal after good work by Keating.

At Pairc Esler, UUJ started brightly thanks to scores from Antrim's Niall McKeever and Down's Paul McPolin, but Down registered five unanswered points and never looked back.

Mark Poland led the charge for the hosts with five points, with Down leading by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval.

James McCartan's charges began the second half in the best possible fashion with Fitzpatrick's goal, as they moved 1-11 to 0-3 ahead by the 49th minute.

Caolan O'Boyle, Danny Savage and Danny McClean worked hard for the students but Down were full value for their 11-point win.

POWER NI DR MCKENNA CUP RESULTS

Section A

Donegal 1-07 0-13 Tyrone

Armagh 1-17 0-15 Queen's

Section B

Monaghan 2-11 2-15 Derry

Fermanagh P-P St Mary's College

Section C

Antrim 0-12 3-12 Cavan

Down 1-15 0-07 UUJ