Oisín Doherty seals Ulster U-20 semi-final spot for Derry

Oisín Doherty, younger brother of senior star Conor, hit 1-4 for the Oakleafers with his 44th-minute goal leaving Cavan no way back.

At the other end, James Murray snuffed out Breffni ace Darragh Lovett and that was Derry halfway to victory.

It was the visitors who settled first with points from Barry Donnelly and Cian Keaney before Derry got off the mark with a Doherty free after nine minutes.

When Conleth McGrogan cut in, it was Doherty who levelled matters before Derry put the squeeze on the Cavan kick-outs.

Captain Patrick McGurk, Ruairi Forbes and Niall O’Donnell (2) added scores as Derry went in 0-8 to 0-4 at half time.

Johnny McGuckian put Ryan McNicholl in for a goal before half-time but he pulled his shot wide before having another chance cleared off the line by Jensen Tynan after the break.

Daire Madden kicked a second score but it was Doherty’s goal, after sub Ciaran Chambers had hit the crossbar, that shot Derry 1-8 to 0-5 ahead.

Derry were wasteful but with Cavan unable to translate a spell of midfield dominance into scores, it was Hugh McGrath’s side who advanced.

Scorers – Derry: O Doherty 1-4 (4f), N O’Donnell, R Forbes 0-2 each, E Higgins, C Heron and P McGurk 0-1 each

Darragh Lovett C Keaney 0-3 (2f), D Madden 0-2, D Lovett (f) and B Donnelly 0-1 each.

Derry: C Armstrong; F McEldowney, J Murray, R Small; C McGrogan, P McGurk, D McDermott; R Forbes, C Heron; C Spiers, R McNicholl, J McGuckian; N O'Donnell, E Higgins, O Doherty. Subs: S Young for C Spiers (38), C Chambers for E Higgins (38) R McGill for R McNicholl (49).

Cavan: L Phillingham; J Tynan, E Crowe, K McCabe; F Shehu, O McCrystal, B McGahan; R Tobin, E Hartin; Micheál Smith, Matthew Smith, B Donnelly; C Keaney, D Lovett, D Madden. Subs: C Galligan for Matthew Smith (38), L Reilly for Michael Smith (44), J Tully for F Shehu (49) Dugdale for J Tynan (53)

Ref: N McKenna (Monaghan)