McGourty has the gall to claim win
Cavan Gaels 1-10 St. Gall’s 1-12 AET
Antrim ace CJ McGourty top scored with 1-4 as St. Gall's edged out Cavan Gaels in an extra-time thriller at Kingspan Breffni Park this afternoon.
The Gaels lost Anthony Forde, goal scorer Nicholas Walsh and Karl Crotty to extra-time red cards in this hard-fought Ulster SFC first round clash.
Using their numerical advantage, Gall's pulled clear in extra-time but it was far from easy.
Niall Murray initially put the Cavan champions ahead in the first period of extra-time, before the introduction of Darren O'Hare at full-forward and points from McGourty and Karl Stewart copperfastened the win.
The Belfast outfit, who lost to the Gaels in last year's Ulster Championship, will move on to face Armagh champions Pearse Og at the quarter-final stage.
Employing a direct style, Cavan Gaels moved 0-3 to 0-1 ahead early on, with Seanie Johnston, Dominic Reilly and Walsh each splitting the posts.
Walsh then found the net on 26 minutes, profiting from some good approach work by Johnston and Michael Lyng as the Gaels built a 1-3 to 0-2 interval lead.
Their Antrim opponents had points from Terry O'Neill and Sean Kelly in the opening half-hour, yet Gall's fell six points behind on the restart as Johnston and Cathal Collins added to the Gaels' tally.
Gall's dug deep though and successive points from Rory Gallagher, McGourty and Kelly made a real game of it.
An error by Gaels goalkeeper Eoin Elliott, who was penalised for over-carrying in his square, presented McGourty with a penalty chance and he duly rippled the net to tie up the game.
Tempers flared in the aftermath of that goal and a mass brawl broke out with the match officials doing well to calm things down. Cavan Gaels' Eamon Reilly was sent-off for his part in it, receiving a straight red card.
Gall's nudged themselves ahead in injury-time until Johnston and Padraig Smith levelled for the Gaels and sent an intriguing encounter into extra-time.
As Gall's made it 1-10 to 1-9 by the end of the first period of extra-time, Forde was dismissed for backchat which was his second bookable offence.
And after the Cavan side hit the woodwork in the second period, frustration got the better of Walsh and Crotty as they both received their second yellow cards.
