Division Three Football League Final: Cavan beat Fermanagh 0-16 to 1-7

Goalkeeper Raymond Galligan's four points helped Cavan clinch the Division Three Allianz Football League title at Croke Park

Cavan came good in the second half to defeat Fermanagh 0-16 to 1-7 in the Allianz Football League Division Three Final at a damp Croke Park.

Darragh McGurn's well-taken 28th-minute goal helped Fermanagh lead 1-3 to 0-5 after a low-key opening 35 minutes.

But Cavan upped the pace considerably in the second half with goalkeeper Raymond Galligan's four placed balls also helping them take control.

Cavan's bench was influential as Conor Smith and Conor Madden hit late points.

Fermanagh had beaten already-promoted Cavan 1-14 to 2-9 last weekend to secure their place in Division Two but the Breffni County were clearly the better side on this occasion as they warmed up for their Ulster Championship opener against either Armagh or Antrim in three weeks.

The Ernemen will face defending champions Derry in their provincial quarter-final at Enniskillen on 15 April.

Game gets off to very slow start

Saturday evening's game got off to a very slow start before a relatively sparse crowd with it taking 13 minutes for the first score to arrive when Gearoid McKiernan pointed a free before Paddy Lynch doubled Cavan's advantage seconds later from another placed ball.

During the first half, both sides opted for the safety-first lateral pass on many occasions as they struggled to get their runners moving.

Fermanagh's opening score didn't come until a Ryan Lyons point from in the 22nd minute.

A fisted point from Ryan O'Neill restored a two-point advantage for Cavan in the 27th minute but Fermanagh were suddenly ahead ahead a minute later as McGurn produced the most composed of finishes from close range after Luke Flanagan's superb ball had found a charging Josh Largo Ellis, with the half-forward squaring to the full-forward despite Killian Clarke's efforts.

Fermanagh led 1-3 to 0-5 in the Division Three Final at Croke Park

Fermanagh were still one-point up at the break but while an Aidan Breen score cancelled out McKiernan's point immediately following the resumption, that was the last time the Ernemen were ahead.

Galligan's first free levelled the contest and four further successive Cavan points put daylight between the sides by the 53rd minute with Dara McVeety and Oisin Brady among the scorers.

Cavan's lead could have been even bigger by that stage with Fermanagh goalscorer McGurn superbly blocking a Killian Clarke goal chance, before Galligan pointed the resultant 45.

Fermanagh threatened a revival as two Ryan Jones scores were split by a point from substitute Sean Quigley to leave the minimum between the sides at the hour mark.

But the Ernemen didn't score again as a McKiernan score started a run of five straight closing Cavan points, which included fine efforts from substitutes Smith and Madden.

Fermanagh: S McNally; L Cullen, C Cullen, L Flanagan; J Cassidy, S McGullion, C McManus; R Jones (0-2), B Horan; J Largo Ellis, R Lyons (0-3), R McCaffrey; U Kelm, D McGurn (1-0), A Breen (0-1).

Substitutes: S Quigley (0-1) for Breen 43 mins, D McCusker for McManus 43, C McShea for Largo Ellis 52, G Jones for McGurn 59, McGee for Horan 73.

Cavan: R Galligan (0-4); N Carolan, P Faulkner, J McKenna; Ciaran Brady, D McVeety (0-1), G Smith; K Clarke, J Smith (0-1); J McCabe, G McKiernan (0-2), C Madden; O Brady (0-2), P Lynch (0-3), R O'Neill (0-1).

Substitutes: Conor Brady for McKenna 19, J McLoughlin for Carolan HT, C Smith (0-1) for O'Neill 46, Conor Madden (0-1) for McKiernan 63, T Madden for McCabe 66.

Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow)

Sligo win Division Four title

Tony McEntee's Sligo edged out Oisin McConville's Wicklow in the Division Four Final at Croke Park

Tony McEntee's Sligo edged out Oisin McConville's Wicklow 2-10 to 0-14 in the earlier Division Four Final in what was a managerial joust between the two former Crossmaglen and Armagh team-mates.

Wicklow led 0-7 to 0-2 in the first half but a goal from Sligo captain Niall Murphy cut the Garden County's lead to 0-8 to 1-3 at half-time.

Sligo bossed the second half with Murphy finishing on 1-4 and Paul Kilcoyne firing in their second goal.

Skipper Murphy afterwards dedicated Sligo's win to the late Red Óg Murphy, the Sligo star who died on 1 April last year.

ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE RESULTS

Division Three A Final

Roscommon 2-17 Armagh 0-15

Division Three B Final

Cavan 0-17 Leitrim 0-16