Agonising late wide saves Cavan and leaves Down looking doomed

Cavan were by far the better side in the first half with Down lucky to trail by just three at the break. But the Mournemen battled back and almost squared the match at the death.

CLOSE CALL: Pat Havern of Down almost levelled it at the death. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile

Allianz NFL Division 2: Cavan 1-20 Down 1-18 

Another tight Division 2 finish under the lights at Kingspan Breffni Park saw Cavan claim the win over Down, who now look doomed for relegation with just one win from five games.

Cavan were by far the better side in the first half with Down lucky to stay on their coattails trailing by just three points at the break. But the Mournemen battled back in the second half and they almost squared the match at the death.

A monster two-point effort by Pat Havern that would have given them a share of the spoils was called wide but a few beauties before that from Gearoid McKiernan earned the Breffni men their two-point victory.

Cavan got off the mark swiftly, leading by three before Ceilum Doherty got the board moving for Conor Laverty's side. The hosts were quickly back in charge with Oisin Brady kicking over the bar but Down earned themselves a lifeline with a good burst forward that ended with Danny Magill offloading to Miceal Rooney who fired into the net.

That was on 15 minutes and while Down improved somewhat in the second quarter, Cavan remained the better side. It was level 0-9 to 1-6 as half-time approached but Cavan scored the last three points of the half to lead 0-12 to 1-6 at the break.

Down cut that to one shortly after the restart when Havern sent the first two-pointer between the sticks. Down keeper Ronan Burns levelled from a '45 after Rooney was denied a second goal with a brilliant block by Jason McLoughlin and they went two in front with points from Oisin Savage and Daniel Guinness.

The turnaround was soon halted though when Luke Fortune set up Padraig Faulkner for a low drive to the net on 46 minutes and Cavan were back in front. The last 10 minutes were frantic but two massive scores from McKiernan one the second two-pointer of the game nudged Cavan into a 1-18 to 1-17 lead. Ryan McEvoy levelled again. but a brace of frees from Oisin Brady made it 1-20 to 1-18 as Down defended desperately and the aforementioned two-point effort by Havern that looked to have curled over the bar was called wide and Cavan claimed the win.

Scorers for Cavan: O Brady (0-7, 3f), G McKiernan (0-5, 1tp, 2f), P Faulkner (1-0), C Madden (0-2), B Donnelly (0-2) , C O'Reilly (0-1), G O'Rourke (0-1,1'45), O Kiernan (0-1),C Brady (0-1)

Scorers for Down: M Rooney (1-1), P Havern (0-5, 1tp, 2f), O Savage (0-3,2f), D Magill (0-2), D Guinness (0-2), O Murdock (0-1), R McEvoy (0-1),R Burns (0-1,1'45), C Doherty (0-1), J Guinness (0-1) 

Cavan: G O'Rourke; N Carolan, B O'Connell, J McLoughlin; P Faulkner, C Brady, L Fortune; J Smith, Cian Madden; G Smith, B Donnelly, O Kiernan; C O'Reilly, G McKiernan, O Brady. Subs: D Lovett for O'Reilly (44), Conor Madden for Cian Madden (51), K Clarke for O'Connell (58), S McEvoy for Donnelly (68) 

Down: R Burns; P Fegan, P Laverty, C Doherty; R Magill, D Guinness, P McCarthy; M Rooney, R McEvoy; D Magill, O Murdock, J Guinness; O Savage, P Havern, C McCrickard. Subs: A McClements for McCrickard (h-t), E Branagan for R Magill (h-t), C Francis for J Guinness (51), A Crimmins for D Magill (58), D Scullion for Savage (65) 

Referee: James Molloy (Galway)