U21s fail to match earlier performances as they exit All Ireland race

Cavan U21s' dream of emulating the 2011 team and reaching the All Ireland final died today at Pearse Park, Longford as they fell to Roscommon in a poor match. Cavan never got going and looked a differwent side to the one which outfought and outplayed Tyrone, Derry and Armagh. Terry Hyland's boys were flat and made far too many simple errors against a solid Roscommon team, who had a couple of outstanding players. One of them, Donie Smith, was ironically being kept under wraps by Cavan corner-back Jason McLoughlin, before he was forced off with a hamstring injury. The loss of the Shannon Gaels man midway through the first half was a turning point but in truth - despite Meath referee Cormac Reilly enraging the huge Breffni support among the 8,000 crowd with some baffling decisions - the better team won on the day. The only real bright moments for Cavan were Kevin Tierney's two goals. The first arrived after a pinpoint pass from Chris Conroy in the tenth minute and the second came in the dying moments; Tierney buried both, left-footed, to the roof of the net. The second green flag gave Cavan - who were lucky to be only two down at the break - hope as it brought them back within a point entering injury time but a defensive error allowed Colin Compton kick a soft goal for the Rossies moments later to settle the tie. Cavan had struggled to win the ball at midfield and a tendency to make basic errors was their undoing. However, all involed can still look back with pride on an outstanding 2012 campaign. Roscommon meet Dublin in the final. SCORERS Roscommon: C Compton 1-01 (0-01f), D Smith 0-04 (0-02f), C Daly 1-00, N Kilroy, C Murtagh 0-01 each. Cavan: K Tierney 2-00, J Dillon, C Conroy 0-01 each. ROSCOMMON: T Lowe; C Cafferkey, C Duignan, D Murray; C Daly, P Brogan, R Stack; C Shine, N Daly; S Oates, N Kilroy, D Keane; C Connolly, C Compton, D Smith. Subs used: C Murtagh for Connolly, J McManus for Oates (both 47 mins), F Cregg for Keane (52), D Clabbey for Kilroy (58). CAVAN: C Gilsenan; N O'Donnell, K Brady, J McLoughlin; D Sexton, C Moynagh, M Brady; P Leddy, K Clarke; J Dillon, C Conroy, F Flanagan; J Brady, K Tierney, R Lynch. Subs used: P King for McLoughlin (25 mins), PP O'Hara for O'Donnell (half-time), S Reilly for O'Hara (42), D McVeety for Dillon (47). Referee: Cormac Reilly (Meath)