Cavan relegated after Roscommon defeat

National Football League Round 7

Roscommon 1-12

Cavan 0-13

Cavan will start next season in Division 3 for the first time since 2014 after suffering yet another defeat at the hands of old rivals Roscommon.

Cavan kicked 16 wides in total and never lead in this game but still looked to be safe as Fermanagh eased into a five-point lead against Laois in Brewster Park – but two late goals saw the O’Moore men grab a win there and Cavan’s defeat saw them slip through the relegation trap door.

In truth, while Cavan were very wasteful, they didn’t deserve to win this game. Roscommon, missing eight of their starting team from last week’s win over Armagh and 13 of the panel and manager Anthony Cunningham due to a Covid scare, crowded out the Breffni attack and were very impressive on the break, with Donie Smith outstanding.

By the time the first water break arrived, the sides were deadlocked at 0-3 apiece.

The Rossies opened the scoring five minutes in through a sweetly-struck 45 from Donie Smith, which was the first of his five first-half points.

Diarmuid Murtagh and Smith (free) were also on the mark in this quarter, with Cavan, despite playing with a strong wind, struggling to break the visitors down and reduced to long-range pot shots.

They converted three points from over 40 metres via Martin Reilly, Chris Conroy and Cormac O’Reilly but the second quarter was dominated by the Connacht men, who built up a useful 0-7 to 0-4 half-time lead.

After a great run from Cian McKeon, Fintan Cregg drove over from close range and two well-taken frees from the in-form Smith made it 0-6 to 0-3 on 26 minutes.

Rookie Cormac O’Reilly, son of Breffni great Damien, kicked a wonderful point from the right wing but a fisted point from Donie Smith, who was also denied a goal by a terrific Ray Galligan save, saw Roscommon go in at half-time three to the good.

They extended that lead to four on the restart with a quick point from Ciarain Murtagh and although Cavan hit back through Gearoid McKiernan, Murtagh and Cathal Cregg registered to make it double scores, 0-10 to 0-5.

Sub Oisin Pierson knocked over a free and then Cavan strung together their best move of the match, with Luke Fortune finishing it with a point to leave three between them.

But Roscommon’s response was immediate as they exploited a mix-up at midfield by Cavan and streamed forward, with Enda Smith arriving late to palm to the net.

With sub Thomas Galligan making a difference on kick-outs, Cavan upped their game and pulled back three good points, two from Ciaran Brady and one for Oisin Kiernan.

But Roscommon always seemed to be able to find space at the other end and the excellent Donie Smith curled in a beautiful score to get them going again.

Ray Galligan and Pierson added frees for Cavan but Smith curled in another high-quality score. Cavan pressed hard but Roscommon, who had kept five clean sheets in succession coming into this game, didn’t look like wobbling and all the Blues could muster was a James Smith point, with a succession of poor shots and weak execution of skills costing them dearly in the closing stages.

Cavan: Raymond Galligan (0-1f), Jason McLoughlin, Killian Brady, Killian Clarke, Gerard Smith, Chris Conroy (0-1), Ciaran Brady (0-2), Gearoid McKiernan (0-1), Padraig Faulkner, Oisin Kiernan (0-1), Martin Reilly (0-1), Cormac O’Reilly (0-2), James Smith (0-1), Conor Madden, Niall Murray

Subs: Oisin Pierson (0-2f) for Murray (29 mins), Luke Fortune (0-1) for K Brady (ht), Stephen Smith for Conroy (42), Thomas Galligan for Madden (47), Oisin Brady for C O’Reilly (60)

Roscommon: Colm Lavin, Fergal Lennon, Sean Mullooly, David Neary, Padraig Scott, Cathal Cregg (0-1), Conor Devaney, Enda Smith (1-0), Tadhg O’Rourke, Niall Kilroy, Cian McKeon, Finbar Cregg (0-1), Donie Smith (0-7, 3f, 45), Diarmuid Murtagh (0-1), Ciarain Murtagh (0-2, 1f)

Subs: Hubert Darcy for F Cregg (45 mins), Ultan Harney for McKeon (47), Henry Walsh for Devaney (47), Andrew Glennon for D Murtagh (60), Jack Casey for C Cregg (68)