'Real buzz' in Meath as three soft goals see them past Cavan
WORK IN PROGRESS: Meath manager Robbie Brennan said his team are just starting to work on the defensive side of the game. Pic: Tyler Miller, Sportsfile
A week after leaving Cork feeling shortchanged, Meath were gifted far more than they could have hoped for by Cavan.
The Royal County cruised past their neighbours with two goals from ex-captain Ronan Jones and another from Jordan Morris, all of which were of the soft variety.
In fact, after racking up over 40 scoring opportunities against Cork, registering 21 points and still losing to the miserly Rebels, they couldn't have expected Cavan to lay three goals on a plate for them.
Eoghan Frayne was on fire too with eight points while Jack Flynn lorded it at midfield in a strong overall performance.
But it was the goals that stood between the teams and all three of them were nightmares from Cavan's perspective.
Jones, recalled after the Cork loss, booted the first of them into an empty net midway through the first-half following a turnover out the field.
He beat the goalkeeper in the air for his second and Morris was almost holding his hand up in apology when his relatively tame soccer style shot squirmed through Nevin O'Donnell's legs late on.
Cavan actually shot six two-pointers overall, including three from returning talisman Gearoid McKiernan, but the goal concessions killed any momentum they gathered.
"We had a real buzz going on, out on the pitch and even in the buildup," said new Meath manager Robbie Brennan. "I thought it showed in the players and I thought it showed in the crowd as well. Let's try to keep that going for as long as we can.
"But it's only the second round and we've got a couple of weeks break now so it's back to work really. Obviously the attacking stuff has been worked on from the start and you can probably see that in our play. The defensive stuff we're just starting to touch on now, kick-outs and all of that."
Brennan said Meath will be without former AFL player Cian McBride for several weeks after breaking a bone in his hand. Mathew Costello is undergoing scans too on 'a niggle'.
But James McEntee, who hasn't been available so far due to injury, could make it back for the Round 3 trip to Down on Saturday week.
Cavan, who will host Louth a day later, can take some positives from the defeat which has left them slumped at the foot of Division 2. Darragh Lovett scored nine points on his full NFL debut and will hope to feature on Wednesday night, ironically alongside Meath's Morris, when TU Dublin contest a Sigerson Cup semi-final.
McKiernan's return is huge for them too. The former captain is back after missing the 2024 season and came on at half-time for his first activity of the year.
He made an immediate impact and swung over three two-pointers. The teams shared 10 two-pointers between them in all with Frayne notching two-in-a-row early on to get the Royals up and running.
Meath had nine different scorers and were already eyeing victory at half-time when leading 1-12 to 0-8.
One of Frayne's two-pointers came from a free after Cavan had apparently breached the 3/3 rule. Brennan and Cavan boss Ray Galligan exchanged words on the sideline over that one.
"Ah look, this is all part of the rules," said Brennan. "Is there a man over the half-way line? Have they kept three up? Like, at one stage I was calling out 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."
Jones got through a tonne of work overall and added a second goal in the 58th minute.
Sub James Conlon dropped a point attempt short and Jones beat Cavan's replacement goalkeeper O'Donnell to the 50-50 ball.
That was a frustrating one for Cavan to concede but it got worse as O'Donnell failed to prevent a relatively tame Morris shot along the ground from going in.
E Frayne 0-8 (1 2pt, 1 2ptf, 1f, 1 mark); R Jones 2-0; J Morris 1-4 (1f); B Hogan (1 tpf), R Kinsella, B Menton (1 tp) 0-2 each; J Flynn, E Harkin, S Walsh 0-1 each.
D Lovett 0-9 (4f, 1 tp, 1 tpf); G McKiernan 0-6 (2 tpf, 1 tp); O Kiernan (1 tp), C Madden 0-2 each; D McVeety 0-1.
B Hogan; D Keogan, S Rafferty, S Lavin; C Caulfield, E Harkin, S Coffey; J Flynn, B Menton; R Jones, J Kinlough, C Duke; J Morris, S Walsh, E Frayne.
R Kinsella for Menton (45); J Conlon for Walsh (53); C Gray for Jones (60); C O'Sullivan for Duke (63); A Lynch for Kinlough (68).
G O'Rourke; B O'Connell, N Carolan, C Reilly; J McLoughlin, D McVeety, O Kiernan; P Faulkner, J Smith; G Smith, L Molloy, C Brady; D Lovett, C Madden, S McEvoy.
G McKiernan 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).
S Mulhare (Laois).
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