Rossies obliterate dire Cavan

Roscommon put an end to a disappointing Championship campaign for Cavan, with a resounding 0-16 to 0-5 victory at Breffni Park in Saturday's All-Ireland SFC Round 2B qualifier.

In what was an, at times, drab affair, the first score didn't come until the 16th minute when Diarmuid Murtagh clipped over for the winners. Indeed, Cavan failed to trouble the umpires until the 33rd minute when Eugene Keating finally got them off the mark.

But Roscommon took complete control after the break, kicking eight points without reply in the third quarter. Cathal Cregg was central to almost all of what Roscommon did and he helped himself to 0-3.

Diarmuid Murtagh was also prominent, finishing with 0-5. Cavan meanwhile, were struggling badly in all sectors of the field and they got their first score of the second half after 53 minutes thanks to Michael Argue.

But Murtagh and Conor Daly ensured the Breffni men would be unable to launch a comeback and from there the Rossies simply saw out the game.

After their recent under-21 successes and their promising showing last summer when they made it to the All-Ireland quarter-final, Cavan were hopeful of another extended run this year.

Instead, Terry Hyland will have to answer some hard questions about the manner of their collapse.

SLIGO LIMERICK

LIMERICK were left to rue a number of missed chances as they fell to Sligo, 0-12 to 0-10 in Round 3A of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers at Markievicz Park.

The Yeats men had super sub Stephen Coen to thank for this victory, with his two late points proving critical and finally turned the tie in their favour.

The sides were deadlocked, 0-6 each, at the break. Goalkeepers Adrian Devaney and Brian Scanlon both traded 45s early on before Adrian Marren, Pat Hughes and Mark Breheny gave Sligo the early initiative.

But Limerick's Ian Ryan scored two in a minute during first-half injury time to level matters.

The second half was a slow burner with only two points shared over the first 20 minutes before Coen and James Kilcullen edged Sligo ahead once more. But Limerick proved tough to shake and they restored parity entering the the final five minutes.

Coen though would have the final say after he set up Shane McManus before settling it with the insurance.