There was no mincing of words from Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath last night as he saw his side exit the McKenna Cup at the semi-final stage, Fermanagh losing out by a point to Cavan in Kingspan Breffni Park.

Fermanagh had been the better side in the first half as they went in at the break with a two point advantage.

However, it was Cavan who dominated matters in the second half as they hit four points in a row to move into a two point lead with ten minutes to go.

Indeed, it took Fermanagh until the 29th minute of the second period to register their first score of the half but when Cavan then gifted Marty O'Brien a goal it put Fermanagh two ahead with the game about to enter added on time.

McGrath though was left angered that his side went on to throw the win away as first goalkeeper Chris Snow and then captain Eoin Donnelly both failed to clear their lines with Donnelly dispossessed before the ball was played to Cavan substitute Phillip Tinnelly who palmed the ball to the net with his first touch.

“I'm very angry because, despite not playing very 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, and 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,” said McGrath.

“At the end of the day, Fermanagh don't get to too many finals and we were within three or four minutes of getting to a final and we messed it up. The goal chance that Cavan got was given to them.” He added: “If you're in doubt, the one place you don't want the ball to be is in there, you kick it.” McGrath accepted that, like Sunday's clash with Donegal, it was a mixed performance with a good first half followed by a poor second.

“We put in a very good first half and should have been further ahead at half time but we definitely lost our way in the second half. For long periods of the second half Cavan were the dominant team and the fact that it took us 25 minutes in the second half to score shows that.

“If we are being honest, we hit 18 wides against Donegal on Sunday and somewhere down the line it comes back haunt you if you don't put it right, and tonight we didn't put it right; scoring opportunities were missed, too many balls lost in the tackle and at times too many balls given away. There was a lot to be happy about but there was also a lot to be unhappy about, particularly the manner in which we lost the game,” he said.