Cavan camógs stage stunning comeback

Cavan produced one of their finest performances of the season as they recovered from an 11-point half-time deficit to defeat Roscommon by four points and complete a perfect group campaign in the All-Ireland Premier Junior Camogie Championship at Dr Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon.

Having won their opening four fixtures, Philip Brady's side had already secured qualification for the knockout stages, but victory guaranteed top spot and a semi-final place against the fourth placed team. It looked an unlikely outcome after a below par opening half in which Roscommon, aided by a strong breeze, dominated every aspect of the contest and built a commanding advantage through four goals.

Yet the response after the interval underlined both the character and quality within the Cavan squad. They outscored the hosts by 3-8 to 0-2 in a breathtaking second-half display that left Roscommon shell-shocked and secured a deserved victory.

With hindsight, Shanise Fitzsimons' first-half goal proved crucial. Without it, the mountain would possibly have been too steep to climb.

Roscommon made the ideal start inside two minutes when Sally Bolger's delivery from around 45 metres dropped dangerously into the square. The swirling wind caused uncertainty among players and goalkeeper Emma Mulvaney and the sliotar bounced all the way into the net.

Cavan responded immediately. From the resulting puck-out they worked the ball through the lines before captain Róisín O'Keeffe split the posts to reduce the deficit. Orla Connolly restored Roscommon's three-point advantage with an excellent free from close to the sideline, but Cavan again struck straight from the restart. O'Keeffe cleverly flicked possession into the path of Shanise Fitzsimons, who showed outstanding improvisation by directing an overhead effort beyond Michaela Finneran to level matters after just seven minutes.

It proved to be the high point of the opening half for the Breffni women. Connolly nudged Roscommon back in front before Bolger added another point as the home side began to dominate primary possession. With the aid of the breeze they consistently targeted breaking ball around the middle third, while Cavan struggled to retain possession from their own puck-outs.

Kaitlin Egan extended the lead before Roscommon almost struck for a second goal when Áine O'Meara volleyed goalwards after a dropped Connolly free, with Mulvaney closing the space to rush O’Meara’s shot.

The reprieve was short-lived. On 20 minutes Rachel Fitzmaurice blasted to the net from close range after Roscommon worked the ball patiently through the defence. Moments later Mulvaney denied Fitzmaurice a second, but the St Dominic's attacker O’Meara reacted quickest to force the rebound home.

Two minutes later O'Meara grabbed her second goal as Roscommon again punished Cavan from a puck-out, racing through before finishing clinically to leave the score at 4-4 to 1-1.

Cavan desperately needed something before the break and eventually found it when Shanise Fitzsimons converted a '45 as the end of the first-half approached, ending a scoreless spell that had lasted 22 minutes. Even so, Roscommon led by 4-4 to 1-2 at the interval.

Whatever was said in the Cavan dressing room had the desired effect. Within seconds of the restart Shanise Fitzsimons' speculative delivery dropped dangerously into the square where Róisín O'Keeffe applied the slightest touch to divert the sliotar to the net. Fitzsimons followed with an excellent point from distance before substitute Eimear Brady landed a superb long-range free to cut the deficit dramatically.

Connolly briefly steadied Roscommon with another placed ball but Cavan's confidence was growing by the minute. Half-time substitute Niamh Keenaghan made an immediate impression with her running power. One surging solo run ended with a perfectly timed pass to O'Keeffe, who finished confidently over the bar.

Brady added another free before O'Keeffe fired over again to reduce the gap to just four points entering the final quarter.

By now Cavan were completely dominating Roscommon's puck-outs. Hannah Fitzsimons and Niamh Keenaghan controlled the middle third while the half-back line repeatedly broke possession and launched wave after wave of attacks.

Another excellent move involving Brady and Tierney created the opening for Brady to close the gap to three points.

With momentum Cavan went through the gears with the finish line in sight.

Following a scramble for possession, Aideen Coyle burst through to win a the ball before releasing Aela O'Sullivan, who calmly finished to the net for her second goal in successive matches to level the contest with 11 minutes remaining.

Roscommon regained the lead when Connolly landed a superb free from almost 55 metres, but it proved to be the hosts' final score. A controversial throw-in, after Shanise Fitzsimons appeared to have been fouled, ultimately worked in Cavan's favour as they regained possession and O'Keeffe clipped over the equaliser.

The decisive moment arrived six minutes from time. Cavan again won the Roscommon puck-out and a beautifully weighted delivery sent O'Keeffe racing through on goal. Without ever taking the sliotar into her hand, she brilliantly volleyed beyond Finneran to complete a magnificent individual performance and hand Cavan the lead for the first time all afternoon.

Roscommon never recovered. Cavan won the resulting puck-out once more and Eimear Brady added her fourth point to complete a remarkable turnaround as they celebrated the continuation of their unbeaten season and passage into the Premier Junior Championship semi-finals in top spot, where Kildare now await.

Roscommon: Michaela Finneran; Michelle Rogers, Sarah Dooley, Anna Hussey; Erin McDermott, Aimee O'Connor, Sinéad Mannion; Sally Bolger (1-1), Orla Connolly (0-4, 4f); Alannah Sutton, Kaitlin Egan (0-1), Grace Geraghty; Áine O'Meara (2-0), Rachel Fitzmaurice (1-0), Oonagh Kelly

Subs used: Hannah Murray for A. Sutton; Grace Jones for K. Egan

Cavan: Emma Mulvaney; Eavan O'Sullivan, Rosie Crowe-McKeever, Ciara Shalvey; Aideen Coyle, Alannah Tierney, Rebecca Fitzsimons; Hannah Fitzsimons, Katie Tierney; Róisín O'Keeffe (2-4), Aimee McIntyre, Shanise Fitzsimons (1-2,1'45); Daria Kaledek, Aela O'Sullivan (1-0), Aoibhe Conaty

Subs used: Niamh Keenaghan for E. O'Sullivan; Eimear Brady (0-4, 2f) for A. McIntyre.