Chastening loss for Cavan as Meath far too strong in Navan
NFL Division 2 round 2
Meath 3-21
Cavan 0-20
Paul Fitzpatrick at Páirc Tailteann
After an eight-point home defeat to Monaghan in round one, Cavan were under pressure to come back down the M3 with two points from Navan but this chastening loss has all but extinguished any chance of promotion – and relegation is now a real possibility.
While there were genuine positives to be taken from the Monaghan game, as the stats subsequently showed, it was hard to find any here as Cavan were wiped out at midfield, wasteful in attack and, most alarmingly, wide open at the back.
At half-time, Meath deservedly led by 1-12 to 0-8, with Cavan scoring just twice from play – one-pointers from Dara McVeety and Daragh Lovett, the young Killygarry man, on his starting debut, contributing the rest of the first-half total from frees.
All involved are still finding their feet with the new rules and whether or not they all ‘enhance’ the game, as billed, is debatable at this juncture – but they certainly encourage more attacking play, and, at this point, it would have to be said that Cavan have not adapted well.
Meath’s powerful runners from deep – the likes of Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton and Ronan Jones – caused Cavan a lot of problems. Flynn opened the scoring before Lovett tied it up from a free after a foul on Conor Madden, who was Cavan’s main ball-winning outlet up front.
A pair of two-pointers from Meath captain Eoghan Frayne (the second, presumably, after Cavan didn’t hand the ball back to an opponent) sandwiched a Lovett free, awarded because Meath didn’t leave three players in the Cavan half.
A free from the lively Jordan Morris made it 0-6 to 0-2 with 12 minutes played and although Lovett send over a two-pointer (free), Shane Walsh soon hit back for the hosts.
From the resulting kick-out, Cavan put together one of their best moves, Padraig Faulkner, Gerry Smith and Luke Molloy combining to release Dara McVeety for a well-taken point which cut the gap to two – but that was as good as it got for the visitors as the second quarter, and the second half, was all about Meath.
After Conor Madden’s 45-metre attempt at an unmanned Meath goal was cleared by Donal Keogan, the home side added a point from Eoin Harkin and then a 50-metre goal from Ronan Jones as the Breffni defence back-tracked desperately; in the new dispensations, such farce is commonplace.
Lovett won and converted a free but Bryan Mention, Frayne and Morris all registered on the run-in to half-time, with Lovett scoring twice for Cavan (one free), to leave seven between them at half-time.
In 2016, Cavan were seven down at half-time at the same venue at half-time and won by the same margin but lightning didn’t strike twice; the second half would produce a calamity of Cavan errors, including a very soft goal conceded by replacement goalkeeper Nevin O’Donnell and two almost unmissable goal chances fluffed.
The only bright spot for the away side was the return of Gearoid McKiernan, who scored three second-half two-pointers, but other than that, it was one of the poorest showings in recent years.
Morris and Frayne were both on target, with Oisin Kiernan, who battled well, landing a two-pointer in reply.
McKiernan (two-pointer, moved forward) and Frayne traded scores, with Kinsella and Frayne adding more as Meath moved through the gears and left Cavan in their wake.
Lovett (two-pointer) and Madden did manage to cut the gap to five with 20 minutes left but once Jones palmed in a goal, it was a 10-point game and there was no way back.
Ruairi Kinsella added a point, McKiernan pulled back a double and then came a bad error from O’Donnell, with Morris’s shot trickling under his body and into the net.
The sides exchanges scores on the run-in, Cavan missing straightforward goal chances when Lovett and Ciaran Brady tangled and then when Ryan O’Neill was off target.
Some of the visiting supporters were streaming out long before the final whistle; for Cavan, this was a very bad day at the office and the indicators are that this could be a painful campaign unless they can improve beyond recognition in the remaining games.
Cavan: Gary O’Rourke, Niall Carolan, Brían O’Connell, Jason McLoughlin, Padraig Faulkner, Dara McVeety, Oisin Kiernan, Darragh Lovett, Cian Reilly, Ciaran Brady, Gerard Smith, Luke Molloy, Conor Madden, James Smith, Sean McEvoy
Subs: Gearoid McKiernan for L Molloy (ht), Luke Fortune for P Faulkner (46), Nevin O’Donnell for G O’Rourke (51), Ryan O’Neill for S McEvoy (57), Evan Crowe for J McLoughlin (59)
Meath: Billy Hogan, Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Eoin Harkin, Sean Coffey, Donal Keogan, Ciaran Caulfield, Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton, Ronan Jones, Shane Walsh, Jack Kinlough, Jordan Morris, Conor Duke, Eoghan Frayne
Subs: Ruairi Kinsella for B Menton (43), James Conlon for S Walsh (52), Conor Gray for R Jones (57), Cillian O’Sullivan for C Duke (62), Aaron Lynch for J Kinlough (67)
Ref: Seamus Mulhaire (Laois)
See this week's print edition for full report, reaction and analysis.