Cavan cruised to victory over 13 man Offaly to book their spot in the Tailteann Quarter Finals, topping Group 1 in style at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.

They looked the part as the opening half matured and they walked home with a swagger in the second half, 16 point winners as Offaly saw red twice in the second half to see their challenge scuppered.

It was tight for large parts but Cavan oozed class, Brandon Boylan hitting 2-2 in th game, while Raymond Galligan kicked a sensational point from a free, finishing with three for his tally.

The game got off to a brilliant start for Cavan, Raymond Galligan pointed a free and Oisin Kieran popped one over from play, a two point lead with three minutes elapsed.

Offaly replied as Nigel Dunne pointed a free to put them on the board, then a high dropping ball into the Cavan backline was not dealt with by Cian Reilly and Anton Sullivan had the goal at his mercy and he finished well to the back of the net to put Offaly ahead 1-1 to 0-2 after six minutes.

Gearoid McKiernan pointed two frees to draw Cavan level after 13 minutes, they found their feet from this point on, with Ciaran Bray and an excellent mark by Paddy Lynch putting them two ahead, 0-6 to 1-1 after 16 minutes.

Brandon Boylan kept the pressure applied on Offaly as he found the back of the net in the 23rd minute, a great move finishing up with the late change for Cavan putting five between them, as he rippled the net.

Oisin brady kept the scoring up for Cavan, Dunne pointed a second long range free for Offaly’s first score in 22 minutes of play, Nigel Bracken and Sullivan added points for the Offaly men, Sullivan could have had a goal as again Reilly was beaten by the long high ball in but his shot went over, Offaly behind 1-8 to 1-4 after 31 minutes.

Cavan finished the half strong, Jonathan McCabe, Galligan and Oisin Kiernan all adding points to put seven between them as the sides broke to the dressing rooms in a tropical Longford.

An early exchange of scores started the second half, Lynch pointed a free to put Cavan ahead by eight, but Offaly hit back, Dunne, Ruairi McNamee and Cian Farrell all put the ball over the blackspot, reducing the Cavan lead to five, 1-13 to 1-8 after 44 minutes.

Boylan and Dunne added points to put their lead back to seven, Conor Moynagh was sent to the bin for a black card, Offaly a man down but stayed composed, Lynch adding two more points either side of Oisin Brady pointing, the lead nine points, 1-17 to 1-8.

Crazy scenes would soon occur as Dylan Hyland and Jack McEvoy both were shown red cards after a melee broke out, the umpires calling in the referee and the two Offaly boys were shown their marching orders, while Conor Brady pointed to put Cavan ten clear.

Brady was scoring some beautiful points on the outside of his boot, he sent over a second after the hour mark, Cian Farrell added another score for Offaly, but Cavan were composed and hit the break again, Boylan found the net for a second time, Galligan hit a monster 45 from the sideline, Killian Clarke and McKiernan also pointed, the lead 2-22 to 1-9.

Offaly had a late consolation as Joe Maher rattled the back of the net, but McKiernan, Caoimhin McGovern and Boylan all hot a flurry of points in stoppage time to see Cavan win out by 16 in the end.