St Galls added fuel to Antrim's football renaissance with a gritty Ulster club SFC preliminary round win, after extra-time, over Cavan Gaels at Kingspan/Breffni Park.

The Antrim kingpins hit 20 horrendous wides over the 70 minutes but had still too much firepower for a Gaels side who self-imploded after the elapse of normal time.

The Cavan champions finished with only 12 men after Anthony Forde, Nicholas Walsh and Karl Crotty all saw red in separate incidents in a thoroughly fractious clash.

The Gaels' attackers were much less spoiled for possession but they did record four wides in the opening half and likewise under-performed with the totemic Johnston strangely operating in a withdrawn, deep role.

St Galls trailed (0-2 to 1-3) at half-time after Walsh had goaled for the blues but CJ McGourty's spot-kick (47th) and Eamon Reilly's dismissal 90 seconds served to turn the tie in the Saints' favour.

Earlier, CJ McGourty looked destined to plunder a goal in the ninth minute for the winners-elect but he slipped just as he pulled the trigger from the edge of the small square and the chance was lost.

Antrim's finest were to engage in a game of squandermania over the 70 minutes-plus but McGourty's penalty conversion — after Gaels' 'keeper Elliott was penalised for over-carrying — proved a major turning point.

The tit-for-tat nature of the game continued unabated into extra-time but Karl Stewart's 67th minute point and the dismissal, for dissent, of Forde moments later served as a double whammy for the hosts.

Worse was to follow for Mick |O'Dowd's men as they appeared to wallow in self-pity as the spoils increasingly wafted their way free of their claws.

Points from CJ McGourty and Karl Stewart sandwiched a fine Daniel Graham point (73rd) but once Conor McClarey's snap shot two minutes later ricocheted off the 'Galls' post, an air of inevitability appeared around the ground. To the Gaels' chagrin their complement of players nose-dived to 12 late on with Walsh and Crotty also seeing red as ref Martin Higgins laboured to keep a lid on matters.

To their credit, the Gaels battled hard to secure redemption in the dying minutes but St. Galls' discipline and nerve proved best see them deservedly through to a meeting with Armagh's Pearse Og.Cavan Gaels: E Elliott; K Crotty, D Rabbitte, J Gurhy; G Duffy, E Reilly, D Graham (0-1); C Collins (0-1), A Forde; D Reilly (0-1), M Lyng, S Johnston (0-3); M Dunne, C Nelligan, N Walsh (1-1). Subs; N Murray (0-1) for M Dunne; P Smith (0-1) for G Duffy; P O'Donnell (0-1) (extra-time); R Maloney-Derham for D Reilly; K Meehan for J Gurhy; D Reilly for C Nelligan; C McClarey for Maloney-Derham.

St Galls: R Gallagher; P Veronica, A McClean, C Brady; T O'Neill (0-1), A Healy, S Kelly (0-2); A Gallagher, S Burke; Kevin McGourty, R Gallagher (0-2), Kieran McGourty; C J McGourty (1-4, two frees), K Stewart (0-3), C Gallagher. Subs: M Kelly for C Gallagher; D O'Hare for K McGourty; S Burns for R Gallagher; M McGowan for S Burke; Kieran McGourty for CJ McGourty.

Referee: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh)