Another narrow loss for Cavan as Meath snatch it at the death

NFL Division 2 Round 2

Meath 2-17

Cavan 1-18

Paul Fitzpatrick at Kingspan Breffni

Three points in the final minute – a two-pointer from Jack Flynn and a single from Man of the Match Jordan Morris – saw Meath claim victory after a brilliant match before 6,883 supporters at Kingspan Breffni.

The Royals seemed dead and buried with time almost up but summoned up a fitting finale to an enthralling contest, Flynn curling over a monster score from the right before Morris, Cavan’s tormentor-in-chief, tacked on the insurance point with the final play.

It was cruel on Cavan, who battled manfully throughout, but Meath, despite finishing with 12 wides, found the composure and precision when it mattered most.

At half-time, the chatter among the Cavan supporters sounded like a chorus.

“How,” each seemed to be asking another, “are we level?” It was a fair question. The answer lay in Cavan’s efficiency and Meath’s wastefulness. Cavan scored from most chances they created and grabbed the only two-pointer of the half, while Meath missed 14 scoring chances and Cavan spurned just four.

In the second half, Meath’s profligacy continued but Cavan upped their game and, with a minute to go, led by a point – and then came the late salvo which consigned the Breffnimen to another narrow defeat.

The game burst into life immediately, Dara McVeety curling in well with his first touch for the opening score.

Meath responded when Morris played in Sean Coffey who dinked over to level matters at inside two minutes. Meath created the first of several goal chances when Morris slipped Flynn in, only for Liam Brady to save smartly.

Matthew Costello sold a dummy and curled over from the right to make it 0-2 to 0-1 on nine minutes. Moments later Oisin Brady, who played the quarter-back role at times with a licence to dart forward if he spotted a gap, accelerated through and clipped over with his left to level the game on ten minutes.

Ryan Brady was then turned over on the half-back line and Meath broke with lightning speed, Caulfield – who caused Cavan a lot of trouble - feeding Morris who side-stepped a tackle and pointed for 0-3 to 0-2. A big fetch by Cian McBride was worked to Kinsella, who sold a nice dummy and curled over to stretch it further.

Worse followed for Cavan when Morris dropped short, Oisin Brady was turned over coming out, Kinsella grabbed possession and lobbed Liam Brady with a superb finish. It was calamitous play by Cavan and suddenly it was 1-4 to 0-2 after 13 minutes.

Gearoid McKiernan steadied things with a free after Ryan Brady was fouled and Kinsella then kicked a poor wide after Meath cut Cavan open again.

When McVeety was fouled, McKiernan landed a 44-metre free from the hands for two points, bringing it back to 1-4 to 0-5 on 18 minutes.

Morris continued to torment Cavan, playing one-twos and taking the ball on the loop, and he landed another created by the marauding Caulfield, to make it 1-5 to 0-5. Meath kicked another wide but McBride then made a massive catch, sent a quick ball to Kinsella and an easy point followed for 1-6 to 0-5 on 21 minutes.

At this stage, Meath looked on a different level but they were sloppy at times, as was exemplified when Tiarnan Madden was turned over and Meath tried to walk it in, somehow spurning what looked a certain goal by overplaying it.

McVeety kicked wide, then Caulfield again found himself unmarked, Morris picking him out and Duke fisting over as the Cavan defence . At 1-7 to 0-5 after 25 minutes, Meath were blitzing Cavan and should have been further ahead. Their movement was bamboozling the Cavan defence but shooting was letting the Royals down, Flynn kicking their fifth wide on 27 minutes.

Cavan crept closer when another super individual point from Oisin Brady made it 1-7 to 0-6 and Meath then kicked another wide, a hint of complacency creeping in. Cavan took full advantage. McVeety fed Cormac O’Reilly - a quick offload to Corrigan and, against the run of play, the Kingscourt man bustled through and planted a low shot to the net.

Another lovely move saw Jason McLoughlin, who was excellent at times, find McKiernan powering through the middle and he finished; implausibly, Cavan were level.

Frayne replied instantly with a point, but Cavan captain Ciaran Brady was coming into it, finding McVeety who was fouled, took it quickly and pointed as the Cavan crowd came alive. Morris then delivered a huge ball in, McBride rising to palm it onto the post as the sides went in level at the break after a full-blooded first half.

Morris, showing acceleration off the ball, fisted over Meath’s opening score of the second half before Cavan missed three decent chances, McKiernan eventually converting a free to tie the game with half an hour remaining.

The next score felt huge. A foul on Carolan saw Oisin Brady convert from just inside the arc to edge Cavan in front at 1-10 to 1-9 as the visitors’ misses continued to pile up.

Then came a key moment when McBride was taken down by Cormac Brady and Morris’s penalty was perfect, clipping the butt of the post on the way in to make it 2-9 to 1-10.

Oisin Brady (free) and lively sub James Conlon traded scores before Morris set Caulfield up for the Royals’ second white flag in a minute. With 20 minutes to go, Meath led by a goal but Cavan weren’t going away and got the score they needed, Oisin Brady releasing Cormac O’Reilly who pointed with his left.

Morris again instigated the next move, Conlon the finisher, before a foul on Cormac O’Reilly allowed McKiernan to convert. Ryan Donohoe, who played well when introduced, won the break, Cormac O’Reilly released McKiernan who fisted over, and when Gerry Smith was stood off, he pointed off the left to level it at 2-12 to 1-15. Cavan had momentum and the home crowd were in full voice.

Both sides missed chances; Morris scored again but a McKiernan free cancelled that one out.

A rare mistake from veteran Donal Keogan allowed McKiernan to fist over and when sub Caoimhan McGovern split the posts, Dermot McCabe’s men looked set for their first victory of the season.

But then came Flynn’s intervention as the Ratoath man drilled over a huge kick to win it. Cavan had to get their hands on the resulting kick-out as the clock ticked down but Meath broke it and that man Morris got on the end to complete a stirring comeback.

Cavan: Liam Brady, Jason McLoughlin, Paddy Meade, Cormac Brady, Ciaran Brady (Arva), Niall Carolan, Gerry Smith (0-1), Ryan Brady, Conor Brady, Cormac O’Reilly (0-1), Dara McVeety (0-2), Tiarnan Madden, Oisin Brady (0-4, 2f), Gearoid McKiernan (0-9, 4f, 2ptf) , Peter Corrigan (1-0)

Subs: Ryan Donohoe for R Brady (ht), Ciaran Brady (Corofin) for P Corrigan (48), Caoimhan McGovern (0-1) for Cormac O’Reilly (65), Eoin Clarke for Cormac Brady (65), Tristan Noack Hofmann for O Brady (68)

Meath: Sean Brennan, Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O’Halloran, Donal Keogan, Sean Coffey (0-1), Ciaran Caulfield (0-1), Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn (0-2, 2pt), Conor Duke (0-1), Ruairi Kinsella (1-2), Matthew Costello (0-1), Jordan Morris (1-5, 1-0 pen), Cian McBride, Eoghan Frayne (0-1)

Subs: James Conlon (0-2) for C Duke (ht), Jason Scully for E Frayne (53), Adam O’Neill for C McBride (58), Jack O’Connor for M Costello (59), Oisin Martin for R Kinsella (68)

Ref: Kieran Eannetta (Tyrone)