National Football League, Division 2, Round 2: Meath 3-21 Cavan 0-20
It’s a little early for the R-word but Cavan are in dangerous territory all the same following back-to-back Division 2 defeats.
Their latest reversal was partly of their own making with boss Raymond Galligan acknowledging they conceded three particularly soft goals.
Ronan Jones scored two of those for Meath whilst Kingscourt clubman Jordan Morris grabbed the other.
Morris finished with 1-4 and there were eight points from free-taker and captain Eoghan Frayne in a generally commanding Meath performance.
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The writing was on the wall from the moment Jones kicked to an empty Cavan net in the 19th minute, pushing hosts Meath six points clear at that early stage.
Galligan cringed as Cavan, trying to force a 12 v 11 attack with goalkeeper Gary O’Rourke in an advanced position, were forced into a turnover by Seamus Lavin and punished when the ball was quickly worked to Jones who converted from 50 metres out.
For the second Meath goal, Jones beat replacement goalkeeper Nevin O’Donnell to a 50-50 ball in the air and there was even more cringing eight minutes from time when a relatively tame kick from Morris somehow squirmed through O’Donnell’s legs.
All of which has left Cavan slumped at the foot of the Division 2 table though there were bright spots for Galligan and supporters to mull over.
Darragh Lovett had a terrific full debut for the Breffni, scoring all but seven of their eight first-half points and finishing with 0-9. He will hope to feature, ironically alongside Morris, when TU Dublin contest a Sigerson Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening.
Gearoid McKiernan also returned to action, and with a bang, as the former captain boomed over three long-range points in the second half, adding up to 0-6. He came on at half-time having not featured competitively for Cavan since 2023.
Cavan struck six two-pointers in all but it told a tale of how much pressure they were under that they still came up 10 points short overall.
There was a little needle on the sideline between Galligan and new Meath manager Robbie Brennan. They argued the toss over the implementation of the new rules, particularly whether the two teams were sticking to the 3/3 directive.
“I was just wondering was he going to send me a Valentine’s card, or would I send him one,” smiled Brennan when asked about the interaction.
“Ah look, this is all part of the rules. Is there a man over the halfway line? Have they kept three up? Like, at one stage I was calling out that that Cavan had only two back and it was actually three. It can be difficult to see and I suppose we all get hot-headed in the moment.”
It was a first win for Meath under Brennan having lost out to Cork in Round 1. They created over 40 scoring opportunities against the Rebels, despite losing, and did something similar here, overwhelming Cavan at times and leading 1-12 to 0-8 at half-time.
Two early Frayne two-pointers helped Meath establish their authority and there were single points from Shane Walsh and Eoin Harkin before Jones pounced for that important first goal, leaving Cavan chasing from then on.
Meath: B Hogan (0-2, tpf); D Keogan, S Rafferty, S Lavin; C Caulfield, E Harkin (0-1), S Coffey; J Flynn (0-1), B Menton (0-2, tp); R Jones (2-0), J Kinlough, C Duke; J Morris (1-4, 0-1f), S Walsh (0-1), E Frayne (0-8; 1tpf, 1tp, 1f, 1m)
Subs: R Kinsella (0-2) for Menton (45); J Conlon for Walsh (53); C Gray for Jones (60); C O’Sullivan for Duke (63); A Lynch for Kinlough (68).
Cavan: G O’Rourke; B O’Connell, N Carolan, C Reilly; J McLoughlin, D McVeety (0-1), O Kiernan (0-2, tp); P Faulkner, J Smith; G Smith, L Molloy, C Brady; D Lovett (0-9; 1tp, 1tpf, 4f), C Madden (0-2), S McEvoy.
Subs: G McKiernan (0-6, 2tpf, 1 tp) for Molloy (h/t); L Fortune for Faulkner (48); N O’Donnell for O’Rourke (52); R O’Neill for McEvoy (60); E Crowe for McLoughlin (61).
Ref: S Mulhare (Laois)