Cavan's hopes of promotion come to an end

Allianz League Division 2 Round 6: Cavan 0-12; Armagh 2-21

Cavan fell to there second defeat of this year’s league and in doing so brought their hopes of promotion to an end. Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh played a level above the boys in blue in a performance that was physically, technically and tactically better than anything Cavan have faced so far this year.

After 15 minutes Raymond Galligan’s side only trailed by two points but by the 29th minute Armagh had opened a gap of ten points with corner back Peter McGrane’s goal providing the knock-out blow. Cavan playing against the wind in the first half which allowed Armagh to implement a heavy press on the Cavan kick-out and they took full advantage of the opportunities that presented.

It was in the final 25 minutes (including injury-time) of the first half where the home side put the game to bed as they kept Cavan to a single point while adding two goals and seven points to their tally. Three minutes into first half injury-time Killian Brady was shown a black card but the damage was doubled when referee Liam Devenney decided the foul denied a definite goal scoring opportunity and awarded a penalty which was converted by Conor Turbitt.

In the second half coming to the final seconds of Brady’s time in the sinbin, Cian Reilly was shown a black card meaning Cavan spent just short of 20 minutes of the second half a man down. With ten minutes remaining in the game Armagh had worked themselves into an 18 point lead.

Cavan’s best spell in the game came between the 25th and 30th minutes when they hit four points on the bounce with Ryan O’Neill and Paddy Lynch sending over two each. Armagh introduced Rian O’Neill off the bench to a huge applause as they ran out with a 15 point advantage securing a swift return to division one for 2025.