Cavan have fallen for too many false promises in times past to be carried away by a league win at the wrong time of the year. Yesterday at Breffni Park, however, the positives were sufficiently plentiful to indicate they are at least headed in the right direction.
That the victims on this occasion have basked in the sunlight for almost as long as the Ulstermen have been confined to the shadows only made victory all the sweeter. It certainly constituted the most significant win of manager Val Andrews' tenure, as much for their heart and resilience in the face of late and concerted pressure from Meath, a team who simply don't like to lose.
After a shaky start, during which they conceded three unanswered points Cavan laid the foundations for success in that first-half. In fact, their tight, keepball approach was well-suited to playing into the wind and, with full-forward Jason Reilly in classic poaching mood, this game plan reaped a rich reward.
His scheduled marker, Darren Fay, was forced to cry off before the throw-in after failing a fitness test on an injured thigh muscle and Reilly revelled in the type of ball played into him. He gave Richie Rennicks and later Hank Traynor a tough old time of it.
In all, Reilly scored 2-1. His first goal came in the 15th minute at a time when Cavan were very much on the back foot. Johnny Cullinane, Evan Kelly and Richie Kealy had all fired over points for Meath but, even at this stage, there were signs that many of their forwards had left their kicking boots at home, with those scores outnumbered by a succession of wides. Indeed, Meath had accumulated no less than 10 wides by half-time.
Cavan were much more economical with their chances. Reilly's opening goal came a minute after he'd kicked his side's first point. Anthony Forde, who along with fellow wing-back Peter Reilly had an excellent game, made a great run before passing to Jason Reilly, who evaded a couple of tackles to fire home.
That goal inspired Cavan's best period and the growing confidence was highlighted by a superb point by John Tierney, who collected a quite magical pass from Michael Graham, who seemed to be going nowhere in the corner until spying his team-mate on the fringe of the semi-circle.
Cavan's second goal had a touch of good fortune about it. It came in the 31st minute when Tierney attempted to fist over a point but the ball rebounded off the upright and Jason Reilly responded quicker than anyone else to punch it to the net. By half-time, Cavan, playing into the wind, had eased into 2-4 to 0-5 lead. Meath made a number of substitutions that strengthened the team in the second period. Mick O'Dowd, in particular, made a tremendous impact, not only scoring two points but also working hard to prevent Cavan's defenders launching attacks, while Dermot Kealy, although only on the pitch for 10 minutes, inspired a rally from Meath that very nearly enabled them to salvage a draw.
Indeed, Meath were pressing hard right to the end and, with just two minutes remaining, their fight back seemed to have succeeded when corner-back Mark O'Reilly was fouled on the endline. Ray Magee opted to play a quick free to Donal Curtis and he shot wide.
Cavan accepted the let-off by going down the field and, after Paul Galligan was fouled, Finbar O'Reilly tapped over the free to give them a two-points winning margin.
CAVAN: A Donohoe; G Sheridan, E Jackson, T Prior; A Forde, J Doonan, P Reilly (0-1, free); C Clarke, B McCrudden; P Galligan (0-2), J Tierney (0-1), R Cunningham; M Graham, J Reilly (2-1), F O'Reilly (0-2, one free). Subs: R Rogers for Cunningham (49 mins), B Morris for Clarke (65 mins).
MEATH: C Sullivan; M O'Reilly, R Rennicks, C Murphy; P Shankey, A Moyles, H Traynor; N Crawford, J Cullinane (0-1); E Kelly (0-2), C McCarthy, D Curtis (0-2); R Kealy (0-1, free), G Geraghty (0-1), O Murphy (0-1). Subs: M O'Dowd (0-2) for McCarthy (half-time), R Magee for Murphy (half-time), R Farrelly (0-1) for Kelly (50 mins), D Kealy for Cullinane (60 mins).
Referee: M Curley (Galway).
