Cian Madden's late free saved Gowna a point and denied Cavan Gaels their first victory in this year's championship as it finished 0-14 to 1-11 between the sides in Lacken.

Paul O'Connor's 54th minute goal looked to have pair of points within the defending champions' grasp but Madden sailed over back-to-back frees in the late stages to ensure Gowna a share of the spoils.

It was points from O'Connor, Micheál Lyng and Seanie Johnston that helped send the Gaels in ahead 0-7 to 0-6 at the half at Crowe Park, but Gowna were level after four minutes of the restart thanks the scores of Ciaran Fitzpatrick and Robbie Fitzpatrick which erased Martin Dunne's early over.

A Ciaran Flynn '45' put the holders back into the ascendancy and they upped their lead through another Johnston free but their Longford border counterparts simply weren't going away.

TJ Fitzpatrick and Ciaran Brady helped move Gowna into the lead on 53 minutes but O'Connor hit their net in the very next attack which required Madden to save the day for them when the chips were down.

There was also no separating Killygarry and Lavey after Martin Reilly's late free saw it finish 1-11 apiece at Dolan Park in Virginia.

The Crubany men were forced to come from behind in this one after Gerry Smith's goal had saw Lavey into a commanding 1-4 to 0-2 lead just nine minutes in.

What was worse for Declan Sheridan's side was the loss of star forward Conor Smith to a serious knee injury, causing a long delay to proceedings as the ex-Cavan U21 had to be removed from the field via ambulance.

Nonethless, Killygarry seemed reinvigorated after the young attacker's loss as they took over from the restart and goaled through Martin Reilly (penalty) to lead by 1-8 to 1-6 at the half.

Lavey eventually plugged the gap in the 53rd minute with a point from Paul Gilcreest and looked to have it won when Oliver Smith sailed over two minutes later but Cavan ace Reilly held his nerve when presented the opportunity.

In Ballymachugh, Crosserlough took the derby spoils against Ballinagh with a 3-16 to 3-11 victory after a pulsating Round 3 encounter.

Crosserlough had mounted up a massive 10-point lead after the opening 24 minutes before Sean Keating's goal threw their neighbours a lifeline and another excellent major from Thomas Moore on the eve of half-time left it at 1-11 to 2-7 for the break.

Castlerahan's Sean Brady with Matthew Magee of Ramor United

Moore's second goal gave Ollie Fay's team the lead within six minutes of the resumption but it was quickly wiped out once Stephen Smith set-up Patrick Lynch to take full profit at the other end.

Smith landed a point to up Crosserlough's advantage to 2-14 to 3-8 heading into the final quarter and the Kilnaleck men were able to keep their rivals at bay until Peter Smith grabbed them an injury-time goal off the back of excellent work from Dara McVeety to cap off the victory.

The excitement in Ballymachugh just wouldn't be the same earlier in the day in Ballyhaise, where Lacken edged a drab encounter against Cootehill by 0-7 to 0-4.

This one was 0-2 apiece at half-time folks and despite points from Dermie Connolly and Shane Sexton putting Cootehill in front after 43 minutes, they wouldn't raise another single flag for the remainder.

Niall McKiernan's free levelled things up for the last quarter and points from McKiernan, Craig Lanouze and Thomas Galligan were enough to see Lacken claim their second win and remain unbeaten three games in with Cavan Gaels, whom need a result to secure a place in the last eight, to come next weekend.

In Crosskeys, Castlerahan came through a repeat of the 2016 decider against Ramor United by 2-16 to 3-9 to cement their place in the quarter-finals.

Donal Keogan's team could even afford to ship early goals from Ado Cole and Killian Brady as they went on a point-scoring spree which saw them 0-10 to 2-2 ahead prior to Enda Flanagan crashing home their first goal from the penalty spot.

That helped last year's beaten finalists to lead by 1-11 to 2-4 at the half and things stayed tight with county duo Cian Mackey and Conor Bradley swapping points back and forth.

However, the seal was put on the Ballyjamesduff men's victory once Oisin O'Connell ripped through the Ramor defence for their second goal on a minute from the hour mark.

Yesterday saw Kingscourt Stars making their goals count as one in each half from Padraig Faulkner and Kevin Curtis returned them to winning ways against Shercock in Mullagh, where it finished 2-9 to 0-8 in their favour.

SFC Round 4 draws:

Killygarry v Cootehill
Gowna v Ramor United
Kingscourt v Crosserlough
Shercock v Lavey
Cavan Gaels v Lacken
Castlerahan v Ballinagh

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