Cuchulainns caused the first major upset of the Cavan senior football championship with a four point win over reigning champions Ballinagh at Breffni Park.
Cuchulainns 1-16
Ballinagh 0-15
Ballinagh got the better start and were 0-4 to 0-2 up after ten minutes. But the Mullagh side battled back and a fine point from Adam O’Reilly tied the game at 0-7 each after 25 minutes. Seamus Clarke gave Cuchulainns the lead and further points from Adam O’Reilly and Adrian Taite gave the underdogs a 0-10 to 0-7 interval lead.
Last years champions got the first two points of the second half through Niall McDermott and David Finnegan. By the 15 th minute Cuchulainns had the lead out to four 0-14 to 0-10 thanks to fine scores from Shane Smith, Adam O’Reilly and Brian McGee. The crucial score came on the 25th minute when a Seamus Clarke free found Adam O’Reilly and he crashed the ball to the Ballinagh net for the games only goal. McGee added another point and Cuchulainns were on their way to a memorable victory.
Adam O’Reilly turned in a man of the match display. The minor footballer scored 1-5 from play of the Cuchulainns tally.
