Allianz Football League Division 2

CAVAN 1-17 WESTMEATH 1-13

By Kevin Carney

Cavan collected their first NFL Division Two points of the season by putting a dismal first half behind them at Kingspan Breffni.

The blues trailed by 0-3 to 0-8 at the interval but ignited a brave comeback with a five point unanswered tally at the start of the second half.

Searching for their first points of the season, the Lazarus-like blues sealed an unlikely victory when Christopher Conroy’s fisted effort found the Westmeath net in the 72nd minute.

The visitors were left simply shell-shocked at the death having enjoyed a numerical advantage from the 25th minute to the 66th minute.

Neighbourly relations went out the window in the first half as three black cards (two to Westmeath) and a red card (Cavan’s Paddy Meade) were dished out by referee Sean Laverty (Antrim).

Fluid football was as scarce as the sound of the corncrake in Cavan but in open play Westmeath were the more cohesive, hungrier and purposeful crew.

Cavan were dismal early on and it wasn’t until the 22nd minute that they scored their second point with Oisín Pierson converted a free to make it 0-2 to 0-6.

Things went from bad to worse for the blues when corner-back Paddy Meade received a straight red card for an off-the-ball tackle on Westmeath’s Callum McCormack in the 25th minute.

Cavan owed much to their amazing comeback to the introduction of half-time subs Thomas Galligan and Stephen Murray who both pointed to level matters, 0-8 apiece, after 42 minutes.

Westmeath hit back with interest though with sub Luke Loughlin goaling in the 43rd minute with his first touch of the ball at the end of Westmeath’s first attack of the second half.

In the 71st minute it was 14 men apiece when John Heslin received a red card and suddenly the wheels could be heard coming off the visitors’ wagon.

One minute later, Cavan sub. Christopher Conroy helped to break the visitors’ hearts when his attempt at fisting the ball across the square deflected off luckless Westmeath ‘keeper Carberry.

For good measure, man of the match Ciaran Brady put the final nail in Westmeath’s coffin with another gem in the dregs of injury time.

Scorers for Cavan: C Brady 0-4, C Conroy 1-0, T Galligan 0-2, R Galligan (0-2, 2 '65s), K Brady 0-1, O Kiernan 0-1, G McKiernan 0-1, E Doughty 0-1, O Pierson 0-1, J Smith 0-1, S Murray 0-1, R Connolly 0-1, P Faulkner 0-1

Scorers for Westmeath: L Loughlin 1-3, J Heslin 0-4 (4f), R Connellan 0-2, R O'Toole 0-1, C McCormack 0-1, J Smith 0-1, L Dolan 0-1

Cavan: R Galligan; P Meade, P Faulkner, K Brady; G Smith, C Brady, O Kiernan; B Kelly, G McKiernan; S Smith, M Reilly, E Doughty; O Pierson, B Magee, J Smith. Subs: T Galligan for B Kelly (h-t); S Murray for S Smith (h-t); L Fortune for J Smith (50); R Connolly for B Magee; C Conroy for P Faulkner (68).

R Galligan (0-2, two ’65): P Meade, P Faulkner (0-1), K Brady (0-1); G Smith, C Brady (0-4), O Kiernan (0-1); B Kelly, G McKiernan (0-1); S Smith, M Reilly, E Doughty (0-1); O Pierson (0-1), B Magee, J Smith (0-1).
Subs: T Galligan (0-2) for B Kelly (h-t); S Murray (0-1) for S Smith (h-t); L Fortune for J Smith (50); R Connolly (0-1) for B Magee (66); C Conroy (1-0) for P Faulkner (68).

Westmeath: E Carberry; J Smith (0-1), R Wallace, B Sayeh; P Holloway, K Maguire, J Dolan; D Corroon, R Connellan (0-2); A McGivney, R O’Toole (0-1), D Lynch; C McCormack (0-1), J Heslin (0-4, 4f), L Dolan (0-1). Subs: L Loughlin (1-3) for L Dolan (42); N Mulligan for P Holloway (50); J Halligan for C McCormack (63).

Ref: S Laverty (Antrim)