A poorly conceded goal in the 70th minute cost Fermanagh as they went down by a point to Cavan in the Dr. McKenna Cup semi-final at Breffni Park tonight.

Pete McGrath's side had produced a disciplined first half performance and held a two point advantage at half time but they struggled to make an impact on proceedings after the break as Cavan rattled over four points in a row to put them two up with ten minutes to go.

However, there was to be no shortage of drama in the final stages as Fermanagh finally came to life.

Sean Quigley clipped over a free, Fermanagh's first score of the half, before Marty O'Brien capitalised on a mistake by Cavan goalkeeper Conor Gilsenan to fire into an empty net to put Fermanagh two up with four minutes left on the clock.

However, Fermanagh then gave away a soft goal at the other end. Chris Snow had the chance to clear but dwelt on the ball before passing to Eoin Donnelly who got caught in possession close to his own goal and Fermanagh were severely punished as substitute Philip Tinnelly palmed to the net for Cavan to put the home side a point to the good.

Back came Fermanagh and Sean Quigley thought he had levelled things from a free only for it to bounce off the crossbar and away, while deep in injury time they were then awarded a '45 but Quigley's effort tailed wide as Cavan progressed to a final meeting with Tyrone.

Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath was angry to have lost the game.

"I'm angry because despite the fact we didn't do particularly well in the second half we were gifted a goal three or four minutes from the end and couldn't hold on to win the match. At this level of football, if you don't know how to win matches when they are there in front of you then you are never going to achieve anything. We put in a very good first half and could have been further ahead at half time but we definitely lost our way in the second half. For long periods Cavan were the dominant side in the second half and the fact that it took us 25 minutes in the second half shows that. There was a lot to be happy about and a lot to be unhappy about particularly the manner in which we lost the game," he said Fermanagh enjoyed the better of things in the first half and started the brighter of the sides as they got on early grip on matters in the middle third.

However, they kicked three wides before they eventually opened the scoring with Sean Quigley slotting over are being picked out with a good ball from Paul McCusker.

A fine Barry Mulrone point from distance then doubled the advantage for McGrath's side before Cavan got off the mark in the 13th minute when Martin Reilly drilled over a superb free kick off the floor.

Chances were hard earned at either end with both sides playing sweeper systems but Cavan went on to level things for the first time in the contest as Dara McVeety drove over.

Fermanagh regained the lead with a huge Quigley free and a Ryan Jones point from play although the Breffni defence were dealing capably with the long ball into Quigley, getting men around the Fermanagh full forward.

Cavan were to answer Fermanagh's two points with a brace of their own from a point from play from Tom Hayes and a close in free from Niall McDermott to make it 0-04 apiece but as the half drew to a close Fermanagh reasserted themselves on the contest.

Declan McCusker rifled over to nudge them back in front before Quigley clipped over a terrific effort from the left hand side to make it 0-06 to 0-04 at the interval.

Quigley saw a free come back off the upright as Fermanagh looked to increase their lead but it was soon a one point game as McDermott converted a free for the home side.

And Cavan were to dictate the opening 30 minutes of the second half as they got a stranglehold in the middle third with Killian Clarke and Martin Reilly prominent while Fermanagh became ragged in possession.

Conor Maynagh equalised before Reilly raced through to put Cavan ahead for the first time in the game midway through the second half.

When Michael Lyng landed an excellent point Cavan looked to be cruising to the win but then followed the late drama.

Quigley made it a one point game from a free before both sides coughed up cheap goals as Cavan went on to book their place in the final with one point dividing the sides in the second half.

Cavan C. Gilsenan; K. Brady, R. Dunne, J. McLoughlin; F. Flanagan, C. Moynagh (0-01), M. Reilly (0-02, 1f); D. O'Reilly, K. Clarke; D. Veety (0-01), C. Conroy, M. McKeever; N. McDermott (0-02, 2f), T. Hayes (0-01), J. Brady.

M. Lyng (0-01) for McVeety, E. Hessin for Conroy, B. Reilly for J. Brady, J. Hayes for K. Brady, M. Dunne for Hayes, P. Tinnelly (1-00) for Moynagh Fermanagh C. Snow; M. Jones, J. Allen, N. Cassidy; D. McCusker (0-01), R. McCluskey, M. O'Brien (1-00); E. Donnelly, R. O'Callaghan; B. Mulrone (0-01), R. Jones (0-01), P. McCusker; R. Corrigan, S. Quigley (0-04, 2f), E. McManus.

D. Kelly for O'Callaghan, T. Corrigan for P. McCusker, J. McMahon for E. McManus, D. McQuade for Kelly, C. Flaherty for R. Corrigan