Cavan shock Royals

Meath 1-6 Cavan 1-8

The standard may have been poor but it mattered little to the watching Breffni hordes today as Cavan, in a revival of the great derby clashes of the 1950s, edged neighbours Meath for a coveted spot in the fourth round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

The Royals roared back into contention thanks to a 71st-minute penalty from Graham Geraghty, but Finbarr O'Reilly had the final word, arching over a free 50 seconds later to confirm the Breffni men's passage through.

The penalty award - for a Michael Lyng foul on Meath sub Brian Farrell - was preceded by 35 minutes of dour second half football, where the standard was notably dropped by both sides in front of 18,143 at St Tiarnach's Park.

Joe Sheridan had kicked Meath's only two points of the second half before Geraghty rattled home the penalty, and in truth, Marty McElkennon's side merited their win.

When the Breffni men stepped on the gas, they were good and they lorded it at midfield in the early exchanges. Pierce McKenna, buoyed by his wedding yesterday afternoon, rampaged forward at every opportunity and his centre-field partner Dermot McCabe dumped a flurry of long balls onto the Meath backs.

One such McCabe delivery on 22 minutes was plucked from the sky by Cavan skipper Jason O’Reilly - the full-forward turned his marker and the Meath net was bulged emphatically. That strike put McElkennon’s men 1-3 to 0-2 in front, after early points from McCabe and Seanie Johnston (0-2).

Meath, who were missing the steadying hands of Trevor Giles and Ollie Murphy, were struggling, as evidenced by a wide tally of eight inside the first 30 minutes.

Ray Magee, Peadar Byrne and Graham Geraghty did clip over points, after a Stephen Bray opener, and facing into the breeze on the restart, the Royals trailed by only a goal – 0-4 to 1-04.

Sean Boylan’s side would have chalked up a goal of their own, perhaps two, had Cavan ‘keeper James Reilly not parried away two Sheridan goal shots in the opening half.

Four minutes into the second half, two points from McCabe, an excellent fisted score, and Johnston pushed Cavan further in front. Meath, though, were beginning to play more football – Sheridan banged over his second point on 43 minutes.

Boylan sprung Murphy from the bench, as he did against Leitrim in the second round, and the two-time All-star combined with Geraghty to set up corner forward Sheridan’s third point on 55 minutes.

Larry Reilly steadied Cavan nerves for a 1-7 to 0-6 lead and despite the crescendo of a finish from Meath, McElkennon's charges held on to join Monaghan in the fourth round and put a question mark over the future of Dunboyne herbalist Boylan, who saw his 23rd season in charge of Meath come to a close.