Hosts Cavan had to survive a fierce fightback from neighbours Monaghan to nick the spoils in a fractious Dr. McKenna Cup final round match at Kingspan/Breffni Park.
The Breffni men cruised their way to a 0-12 to 0-4 interval lead but they needed two goal-line saves in the dregs of the game to secure a semi-final meeting with Fermanagh for his side.
Sadly though the derby duel may be remembered for the fact that five players were dismissed by referee Sean Hurson over the 70 minutes.
Cavan were on fire in the opening half with talismanic midfielder Gearoid McKiernan bringing a Midas-like touch to proceedings.
McKiernan notched three points from play in the first moiety and had able lieutenants alongside him in wing-backs Killian Clarke and Martin Reilly.
The rampant hosts had six points on the board - all from different scorers - before Stephen Gollogly opened Monaghan’s account with a converted free in the 12th minute.
The game turned ugly just the hour mark when a Drew Wylie foul on the in-running Martin Reilly ignited a row at the end of which Wylie and his Monaghan team-mate Paul Finlay saw red as did Cavan's McKiernan.
Thirteen minutes earlier Cavan’s Niall McDermott walked having picked up his second yellow card while team-mate Damien O’Reilly was black carded in the 66th minute.
The tie settled down after the Wylie incident with Monaghan taking the initiative for the remainder of the game.
An excellent save by Conor Gilsenan at his near post and a brave block by Rory Dunne on 74 minutes preventing Paul Meegan ensured a nervy but deserved 1-13 to 0-13 home win.
Pete McGrath's Fermanagh qualified for the Dr. McKenna Cup semi-final despite losing their final game to Donegal in Ballyshannon - it finished up 0-12 to 2-5.
In sunny conditions but on a heavy pitch, the game could have been out of Fermanagh’s reach at half-time only for a magnificent display from goalkeeper and man of the match Thomas Treacy.
The custodian made three great saves while Donegal full-forward Hugh McFadden blazed wide on another occasion in the opening half.
Donegal were worthy of their 0-10 to 0-3 half-time lead but a Fermanagh side with much more fitness preparation behind them, improved significantly in the second half.
The introduction of Eoin Donnelly at midfield was a catalyst and a goal from raiding wing-back Marty O’Brien got them back in the contest early in the second period.
Poor shooting let them down though as they hit 17 wides over the 70 plus minutes . A second goal from Sean Quigley with 13 minutes remaining gave them a great opportunity but they were only able to add one further point in the final minutes.
Nonetheless it was a satisfactory outcome for the Maguire men. They finished joint top of Section B with Donegal but qualified for the semi-final by virtue of their better scoring average.
“We have used 29-30 players over the three matches, a number of whom are new to intercounty football. So we have had an enormous benefit from the McKenna Cup. We now have a semi-final. That’ll bring the team on further and everything is geared to our first game against Louth in the National League,” said a happy Fermanagh manager, Pete McGrath.
“We have more work done than Donegal. I told the players at half-time that fitness would be a telling factor in the last 10 or 15 minutes. As the game wore on, the work we have done on the training field over the last couple of months came to the fore on a heavy pitch.
“Donegal had Neil Gallagher in the middle of the field; they had Christy Toye. They had Frank McGlynn at centre half-back. That’s a very strong triangle. Experienced men; physical men. We struggled against that but we were better in the second half.”
Tyrone made it three wins from three to cruise through to the Dr McKenna Cup semi-finals as Group C winners.
In a game that was switched to Clones due to an unplayable Omagh pitch, Tyrone were never troubled by a sluggish Antrim side.
Saffron goalkeeper Chris Kerr saved his side from an even greater defeat with a couple of first half stops, but was at fault for the only goal of the game scored by Kyle Coney in the 38th minute.
Tyrone led by 0-7 to 0-4 at half-time, and never looked back once Coney netted, with Sean Cavanagh bringing his tally to four points, as Darren McCurry and Connor McAliskey hit two points each.
Owen Gallagher, John Carron and Tony Scullion starred for a Saffron side that dominated for spells, but suffered from poor distribution and the absence of a clinical finisher - it ended 1-11 to 0-7 in favour of Tyrone.
Meanwhile Derry saved everyone the hassle of getting the calculators out as their highly experimental team lost their final McKenna Cup outing to Queen's; 1-5 to 1-9.
The Oak Leafers handed starts to 11 of their under-21 team, and only the withdrawals of Ciaran McFaul and Terence O’Brien prevented that figure from being 13.
Antrim’s Ryan Murray stood out a mile for Queen’s, hitting 1-5, including a blistering finish past Eoin McNicholl for his side’s goal.
The game rarely rose from the malaise and the first 20 minutes of the second period saw just one score at either end.
Niall Loughlin did manage a Derry goal, on his own club ground, but the Oak Leafers who finished the game with 13 men after black cards for debutants Peter Hagan and Anthony Hargan after they’d used all six subs, ultimately lost out by four points to the lively students.
