Cavan win with 18-point turnaround

NFL Division 2 Round 4

Westmeath 0-20

Cavan 1-21

Raymond Galligan’s Cavan senior side recorded a second victory in a row on Sunday afternoon in Mullingar after a rollercoaster performance that saw Cavan trail by 14 points with 29 minutes played, only to turn it around into a four-point victory.

Cavan struggled badly in the first half when playing against a very strong wind, but their discipline was also an issue as they saw the ball moved forward on six occasions for dissent. Westmeath punished Cavan with two two-pointers in the first half after a 50-metre dissent penalty and once when they were caught with only three players in the correct half of the field.

Trailing by 12 points at half-time, Cavan had to produce a sparkling second-half performance to salvage something for the journey home. Hitting five two-pointers in the second half from McKiernan, McVeety, Brady, and Lovett was crucial in Cavan’s comeback, but Gerard Smith's brilliantly finished goal eight minutes from the end was possibly the most important score of the second half.

For the first time this year, Cian Madden was introduced, and his impact, with two points, was also telling. Westmeath’s discipline cost them more than Cavan’s, as they lost Jack Geoghegan to a second yellow card before half-time and Jamie Gonoud to a black card in the same incident. Gonoud was later shown a yellow card, which saw him sent to the sideline with eight minutes to go in the game, with just two points between the sides.

Cavan opened the scoring in the first minute with what proved, in hindsight, to be a marvelous score from James Smith from just inside the two-point arc. Brían Cooney replied with an equalizing point for Westmeath before Danny McCartan opted to take a free that was brought forward 50 meters, just outside the two-point arc, and tapped it over the bar with ease.

Corner-back Conor Dillon ventured up the field to extend the Westmeath lead to three points before Luke Loughlin sent over Westmeath’s second two-pointer after a 3v3 infraction by Cavan. A minute later, Loughlin added a second two-pointer, this time from open play on his left foot, to put Cavan seven points behind with 12 minutes played.

Matthew Whittaker broke through the Cavan defence, but his shot on goal was well saved by Gary O'Rourke, only for Kevin O'Sullivan to salvage a point from the rebound. On the quarter-hour mark, Brandon Kelly ghosted through the Cavan defence to easily slot over the bar with his right foot.

Cavan, at sixes and sevens, were penalised again for dissent, and Danny McCartan converted his second two-pointer of the game to leave the score 0-12 to 0-1. Cavan needed a score badly, and once again, James Smith gathered a difficult pass and, on pure instinct and class, with three Westmeath players around him, managed to punt the ball over the bar from 35 meters. Westmeath replied with their fourth two-pointer of the game, coming from centre-back Ronan Wallace.

A foul on Oisín Brady 20 metres from the Westmeath goal gave Gearóid McKiernan the opportunity to open his account with a tap-over free, which he delivered. Westmeath, now in control of the kick-out battle, then managed to add another point from Kevin O'Sullivan when going short.

Lorcan Dolan and Matthew Whittaker made it a 14-point game with two white flags as the clock read 29 minutes. A dropped short shot by McKiernan exposed Ciaran Brady's desire to rage against the tide as he broke the ball back to Oisín Kiernan, who sent over Cavan's fourth point of the game.

After the red and black cards handed out to Westmeath, Evan Crowe was fouled, and McKiernan sent over the final score of the first half with a free, leaving Cavan trailing by 12 points at the break.

Cavan wasted no time after the break in getting the scoreboard ticking over, as Gerard Smith sent over his first point of the game from close range.

Two minutes later, Danny McCartan added a 20-metre free for Westmeath to restore their 12-point advantage, but it was to kickstart a spell of dominance for the boys in blue.

Less than 60 seconds later, Dara McVeety sent over the first of his two two-pointers from the 45-metre line. A foul on Oisín Brady allowed McKiernan to add another two-pointer from where the 20-metre line meets the two-point arc.

Oisín Brady, now growing into the game, cut into the right corner, and when crossing the 20-metre line, clipped the ball over the bar to reduce the deficit to seven points.

As Westmeath’s corner-back Jamie Gonoud returned from the sin bin, Brady sent over a free to keep Cavan chipping away. Padraig Faulkner, showing all his experience and desire, began to dominate the midfield battle, and a foul on him, followed by dissent, allowed the lively Brady to send over a two-point free, leaving just four points between the sides with 44 minutes on the clock.

Half-time substitute Cian Madden benefited from a tap-and-go by Ciaran Brady as he sent over the first of his two points. Luke metre replied with a 20-meter free at the other end, and Danny McCartan looked to steady the Westmeath ship with his first point from open play with 18 minutes remaining.

Now five points behind, Cavan needed to swing momentum back their way, and a powerful run by James Smith, followed by his third point of the game, did just that.

Tenacious work by Jason McLoughlin saw Cavan win possession back from Westmeath on their 45-metre line. A swift counter-attack forced the Westmeath defenders to retreat off Gerard Smith, and Smith met the opportunity with a superb finish, low to the bottom corner of the net.

Now down by just one point, Cavan saw second-half substitute Killian Clarke sent to the sin bin for a marginally late tackle on Luke Loughlin. With both sides now playing with 14 players, Dara McVeety once again stepped up and curled a 46-metre shot over the bar to give Cavan the lead for the first time since the second minute of the game.

Excellent work by James Smith and Ciaran Brady set up Madden for his second point before Jamie Gonoud was shown a yellow card, which accumulated to a red card and reduced Westmeath to 13 players. With five minutes remaining on the clock, McKiernan added his fourth point of the game with a free, bringing his tally to five.

Loughlin sent over a close-range free for Westmeath’s fourth point of the second half, leaving just two points between the sides. With his first attempt on goal, Darragh Lovett judged the wind perfectly to send over Cavan's fifth two-pointer and seal a valuable four-point win for Raymond Galligan’s side.

Westmeath: Conor McCormack; Jamie Gonoud, Charlie Drumm, Jack Geoghegan; Ronan Wallace (0-2, tp), Conor Dillon (0-1), Matthew Whittaker (0-1); Sam McCartan, Ray Connellan; Danny McCartan (0-6, 2 tpf), Brían Cooney (0-1), Kevin O’Sullivan (0-2); Lorcan Dolan (0-1), Luke Loughlin (0-6, 2 tpf, tp, 2f), Brandon Kelly (0-1)

Subs: Kieran Martin for B Cooney (h-t), Enda Gaffney for B Kelly (42), Daniel Scahill for L Dolan (53), Robbie Forde for K Martin (62), Stephen Smith for R Whittaker (67)

Cavan: Gary O’Rourke; Niall Carolan, Brian O’Connell, Jason McLoughlin; Padraig Faulkner, Ciarán Brady, Luke Fortune; James Smith (0-3), Evan Crowe; Gerard Smith (1-1), Dara McVeety (0-4, 2 tp), Oisín Kiernan (0-1); Ryan O’Neill, Gearóid McKiernan (0-5 tpf, 3f), Oisin Brady (0-4, tpf, 1f)

Subs: Cian Madden (0-2) for R O’Neill (h-t), Conor Madden for L Fortune (h-t), Killian Clarke for E Crowe (45), Darragh Lovett (0-2, tp) for O Kiernan (56), Sean McEvoy for O Brady (69).

Ref: Derek O’Mahony