Big players make big plays.
Twice, in this Ulster Championship preliminary quarter-final, Cavan players stepped up with incredible individual scores right at the death, to turn this game on its head.
First, to cap off a seven point comeback in normal time, wing back Gerard Smith lashed one off the outside of his right boot to level the game up and to send it to extra-time.
By that stage, a rejuvenated Cavan side had the momentum on side and with Monaghan beating themselves, the Breffni men took the opportunity to reel them in and eventually, to knock them out of the Championship.
In the end, with the clock ticking into injury time of the second half of extra-time, the Galligan cousins Thomas and Raymond combined for a score that would have had Clones shaking in any normal year.
First, the midfielder Thomas caught a sky-scraping kick-out and despite being fouled, he hared into Monaghan territory. Eventually, referee Ciaran Branagan called it back for the free and from there, from all of 55 metres and with the aid of the wind, Raymond Galligan did the rest.
From 55 metres out, Raymond Galligan wins it for Cavanpic.twitter.com/3EPVrhooT5
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) October 31, 2020
All over Cavan, they were roaring into their television screams. In Monaghan, it would have been a very different story as their team went from a winning position, into a shell.
Their tendency to play risk-averse keep-ball really came back to bite them in the second half with Cavan punishing them for the second year in a row, with a number of long-range scores. From that perspective, the powerful Gearoid McKiernan and the brilliant Luke Fortune did the damage but we’ll save the best ’til last, with this brilliant game-saving intervention from Gerard Smith.
Epic from Gerard Smith who didn't feel the pressure 🌡️pic.twitter.com/pKHy4qBiel
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) October 31, 2020
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