Champions Gowna in trouble after defeat to Ballyhaise – The Irish News

GOWNA's hunt for a hat-trick of Cavan senior football titles is on thin ice after they suffered a surprise defeat (0-17 to 3-9) at the hands of Ballyhaise.

Ballyhaise, 2023 IFC winners, took a 3-3 to 0-5 lead with goals from Martin Conaty (5), David Brady (13) and Micheál Brady (18).

Gowna trailed 0-8 to 3-5 at half-time, but despite allowing Ballyhaise some safe points at the restart to players such as Oisin Pierson, Conor Casey and Cian Madden, the team held on until the end.

Two second-half goals in 50 seconds saw league leaders Crosserlough take an easy 2-18 to 0-6 victory over Laragh United after dismantling Lavey.

The 2020 title winners led from kick-off to finish, with county ace Dara McVeety spearheading much of the good work from 'Lough' as ​​they built a 0-10 to 0-3 half-time lead.

The comfortable league leaders all but sealed the deal in the 36th minute when Peter Smith scored his third goal in the last two games with a fantastic finish, leaving Laragh 0-4 to 1-12 behind.

Less than 49 seconds later, Matthew Costello made Laragh’s net flutter open again.

Elsewhere, in arguably one of the more entertaining SFC games of the weekend, an opportunistic goal from strong midfielder David Wright in the 24th minute proved crucial to Castlerahan's victory (1-14 to 0-12) in the derby clash with Lavey.

Hunger was the name of the game and both sides were determined to score their first points of the season.

Ultimately, it was the only goal of the game that proved decisive for Castlerahan, extending their lead from 1-6 to 0-4 at half-time.

The tie was even closer at Kingspan Breffni, where Ramor United's poor form in this season's championship continued after they were forced to a 1-6 to 0-9 draw by the surprise package of the competition, Mullahoran.

In a thrilling game, the heavily supported Virginia team had to overcome a 4-0 to 8-0 deficit at halftime. A goal from Conor Nulty in the 50th minute was the springboard his team needed to take the lead for the first time in the game.

Predictably, however, the aforementioned O'Reilly put in a good performance, converting a free kick with seven minutes left to give Mullahoran his deserved, if surprising, share of the spoils.

Meanwhile, the Cavan Gaels side, coached by Seanie Johnston, never fell behind and collected their first points of the season with a hard-fought 1-10 to 0-10 victory over neighbours Ballinagh.

In a straightforward, hard-fought match, the team from the district town was in the lead throughout the early stages of the game except for 80 seconds, but it was Luke Molloy's beautiful goal (12th) that gave the favorites a valuable lead.

Molloy's big goal catapulted the would-be winners into a 1-3 to 0-1 lead and the Blues did not let it rest after that, keeping their opponents safely at bay despite the pushes of experienced player Niall McDermott.

Kingscourt had already started the second round matches last Friday with an easy win (2-12 to 1-11) against a troubled Killygarry side.

At half-time the former led 1-6 to 1-4, thanks in part to Sean Burke's excellent goal (14'). However, with Ben Mooney and Darragh Lovett in top form, Killygarry pushed their opponents to the limit. Odhrán Cunningham's goal (39') helped keep Killygarry at bay until the end.

Round two

Laragh 0:6 Crosserlough 2:18

Kingscourt 2-12 – Killygarry 1-11

Ballinagh – Cavan Gaels 1 – 10

Mullahoran 0-9 Ramor 1-6

Castlerahan 1-14 Lavey 0-12

Gowna 0-17 Ballyhaise 3-9

Round three

Thursday, August 29

Castlerahan vs Ballyhaise (Kingspan Breffni, 8pm)

Saturday, August 31

Killygarry v Ramor United (Lavey, 6.30pm)

Crosserlough vs Ballinagh (Lacken, 6.30pm)

Gowna vs Cavan Gaels (Kingspan Breffni, 6.45pm)

Sunday, September 1st

Mullahoran vs Kingscourt (Ramor, 14:00)

Laragh Lavey (Kingspan Breffni, 5pm)