Derry Masters survive heat of 'The Meadow' to see off Cavan

The evergreen Paul McFlynn top scored with six points, Bellaghy’s Gavin Diamond hit a rapid fire 1-02 when he was introduced, with Darren Conway scoring Derry’s first goal.

Amidst stiflingly hot conditions and oxygen sapping humidity, and backed by a big local support, Derry raced to an early four point lead. Local boy, and a man vastly underused by the county in years gone by, Shane McFlynn first worked the scoreboard early on.

Then it was Duck and Peacock’s time to flutter their feathers. Donal Brolly, from distance, and Ryan O’Kane, from a sharp angle, stretched the Derry lead to three. When Darren ‘Spongey’ Conway edged the home side 0-4 to no score ahead all the signposts pointed to a comfortable Oakleaf win.

But Cavan, who arrived both heavily numbered and heavily armed a good two hours before throw-in, weren’t at the Loup to make up the numbers. The Breffni, with a couple of big, strong target men up front causing chaos, hit three of the next four scores to pull an early handbrake on Derry’s drive to victory.

And with the Oakleafers play a little scrappy and inaccurate, with shots drifting wide or dropping into the Cavan ‘keeper’s grateful arms, the home side’s advantage was pulled back to 0-5 to 0-3 with half-time on the near horizon.

Indeed, the visitors scored another point just before the break but it would be the men in red and white who would have the final say of the opening half when Darren Conway clinically slotted home a 30th minute penalty for a 1-5 to 0-4 interval lead.

With the warm breeze now at their backs, Cavan, much more economical than their profligate opponents, took an early control of the second half with two quick points making it a two point margin in Derry’s favour.

Cavan, sniffing an upset on foreign fields, continued to test Derry’s mettle and trailed just 1-8 to 0-9 in the 45th minute. With the pendulum of the contest now firmly swinging in the Breffni men’s favour, despite some outstanding defensive work from Conor Doonan and Adrian Deery, Derry’s management duo of Ronan Rocks and James McGrath took some critical and remedial action, unleashing reinforcements from their packed bench.

The tactic ultimately proved a game winning one. Gavin Diamond was no sooner on the pitch when he was hitting a crucial over the shoulder point. Elsewhere Jimmy O’Connor, Benny McVey and Pauric Scullion brought much needed legs and fizz, running the ball with speed and purpose. Faughanvale’s Ryan King, making an impressive debut, bolstered Derry’s middle third.

The exhausted players they replaced, staggered off the sweat-inducing battlefield like bedraggled Clint Eastwoods coming out of the desert in a ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’. Rumours the Derry Masters management had deliberately selected the Loup’s sub-tropical climate to tire out Cavan legs were neither confirmed nor denied, but there can be little doubt that Derry finished much the stronger.

The injured Emmet McGilloway, laying down an early marker for Clubman of the Year, ferried water continuously to his thirsty comrades on the pitch like a less angry John Aldridge at USA ’94. Six consecutive scores wrestled the contest back in Derry’s favour and eventually paved the way to a comfortable victory.

Paul McFlynn, superb in his own back yard, was metronomic with his frees, while Ballymaguigan’s Ciaran McIvor weighed in with his usual score care of some hefty spadework from King. The home side finally began to drive home their complete supremacy.

Diamond’s clinically dispatched 54th minute goal put the game beyond doubt with more than a sufficient buffer on the scoreboard. Paul Carton, dreaming of a cold post-match pint of Harp since the start of the game, provided the lung-bursting assist. The Banagher powerhouse was excellent once again for Derry, mixing the ‘go forward’ hard yards and intelligent use of the ball.

Diamond, however, the jewel in Derry’s sparkling bench, scored the last point of the contest to see his side comfortably home. Next up for Derry Masters is an away trip to Down in a fortnight, with a huge thanks to the good folk of the Loup for their wonderful hosting of the day (and night’s) events.

Derry: Pearse McCallion, Adrian Deery, Eugene Scullion, Conor Doonan, Paul Cartin, Kevin McGuckin, Brian Mullan, Malachy Scullion, Ciaran McIvor (0-1), Donal Brolly (0-1), Paul McFlynn (0-6, 4f), Martin McGuinness, Shane McFlynn (0-1f), Darren Conway (1-1), Ryan O’Kane (0-1). Subs: Brian Scullion, John Bigmore, Seamie O’Kane, Ricky Clarence, Joe Bradley, Benny McVey, Ryan King, Kevin Doherty, Conal McGuigan, Pauric Scullion, Kieran McLarnon, Eunan Murphy, Gavin Diamond (1-2), Jimmy O’Connor

Referee: Marty Coyle (Tyrone)