Stunning London comeback falls short against Cavan

The hosts were seven points down entering the closing stages but narrowed the gap to one just before the final whistle

Allianz FL Division 4

Cavan 1-15 

London 2-11 

Cavan were relieved to hear the final whistle in Ruislip as they held on in a tense finale to defeat London by a point.

Cavan led by eight early on, saw the gap cut to three but seemed to have weathered the storm when they extended their lead to seven points approaching full-time. 

But the hosts finished strongly and an injury-time penalty from Christopher Farley cut the gap to the minimum and ensured a nervewracking final few moments for the large travelling Breffni contingent.

An early flurry of Cavan scores from Caoimhin and Cormac O’Reilly and Jason McLoughlin followed by a well-taken Paddy Lynch goal catapulted Cavan, playing with a strong wind, into an early 1-5 to 0-0 lead.

London trailed 1-8 to 1-2 but rallied in the second half, led by Liam Gavaghan, Henry Walsh and target man James Gallagher, and an injury-time penalty from  Farley almost sealed the upset.

LONDON: N Maher, E Walsh, C Long, N McElwaine, R Sloan, M Moynihan, C Healy, C Farley (1-1, 1-0 pen), L Gallagher, C Gallagher, L Gavaghan (0-6, 3f, 1m), E Wynne, J Hynes (0-2), J Gallagher, H Walsh (1-2) 

Subs: F McMahon for J Gallagher (49), T Lenihan for Hynes (53), C O’Neill for Wynne (60), S Hickey for McElwaine, A Kyne for C Gallagher (69) 

CAVAN: R Galligan, L Fortune, P Faulkner, K Brady, J McLoughlin (0-2), C Moynagh (0-1), B Kelly, J Smith, K Clarke (0-1m), G Smith (0-1), G McKiernan (0-5, 3f), Cian Madden, Caoimhin O’Reilly (0-1), P Lynch (1-2, 2m), Cormac O’Reilly (0-1) Subs: TE Donohoe for Caoimhin O’Reilly (ht), T Galligan for Cormac O’Reilly (50), Conor Madden (0-1) for G Smith (19), S Smith for Cian Madden (64), C Conroy for Moynagh (67) 

Referee: B Tiernan (Dublin)