St Patrick's Cavan into MacRory Cup decider

St Patrick's Cavan reached their first MacRory Cup final since 1975 thanks to a convincing 1-12 to 2-4 win over Omagh CBS at Castleblayney.

The Breffni boys will meet St Patrick's Dungannon on St Patrick's Day.

Cathal Donaghy smashed home a ninth minute goal for Omagh but Thomas Edward Donohue found the net on 24 minutes as his side led 1-7 to 1-3 at half-time.

The Cavan side confirmed their dominance in the second half, although Gavin Slane scored a goal for Omagh.

A team with a terrific work ethic and a couple of accurate finishers, the Breffni lads turned in a committed display to reach their first decider for 40 years, when their manager was Cardinal Sean Brady.

After Donaghy's goal the Breffni county lads worked their way back with scores from corner men Donohue and Conor Smith to go level by the 21st minute.

And St Pat's then struck for a goal, Ben Conaty slipping the ball to Donohue for a clinical finish past Packie O'Neill.

Donohue's third converted free eased Cavan into a 1-7 to 1-3 interval lead, and once they got the wind in their backs in the second half, they thrived.

Centre back Cian McManus was a constant driving force from deep, and they added scores through Matthew McKenna, Donohue and a brilliant Pierce Smith effort.

A defensive error allowed Slane to nip in for a 52nd minute Omagh goal, but Cavan regained their composure to finish the job off with late scores from Smith, and Omagh finished with 14 men, following the straight red card dismissal of defender Eoghain Murray.

St Patrick's Cavan scorers: Thomas Edward Donohue 1-4 (3f), Pierce Smith 0-3 (2f), Conor Smith, Matthew McKenna 0-2 each, Ben Conaty 0-1.

Omagh CBS scorers: Gavin Slane, C Donaghy 1-0 each, James Darcy (f), John Harkin (f), Nathan Donnelly, Aidan McSorley 0-1 each.