Gaelic Games

Roscommon finish strongly to beat Cavan, again

Hosts have now played Cavan nine times since 2012, and Cavan have won only once

Roscommon’s Ciarain Murtagh impressed as his team beat Cavan. Photograph: Tommy Grealy/Inpho

Sun Mar 18 2018 - 18:38

Roscommon 0-15 Cavan 0-13

Roscommon are on the brink of promotion to Division One after Ciaran Murtagh reeled off three late points to overcome Cavan in a pulsating match before 4,500 fans at Hyde Park.

Cavan were left to rue some crucial missed chances while manager Mattie McGleenan also questioned a number of decisions by match referee Cormac Reilly. However, Roscommon - who kicked just one wide - stayed in contention in the third quarter when the visitors threatened to pull away.

The home team regained the initiative to finish strongly. They outscored Cavan by 0-5 to 0-1 in the last 15 minutes with their substitutes bench making a notable impact.

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Seanie Johnston edged the visitors ahead again with eight minutes left but Murtagh then took over. He equalised from a difficult 30-metre free on the left wing before clinching victory with points in the 69th and 71st minute.

Team manager Kevin McStay hailed the wing-forward’s contribution. “Ciaran Murtagh was man of the match by a mile. I’m thrilled, this was a big match for the development of our squad. It was a battling win, we showed a lot of character and our body language was great in the last 15 minutes. The impact of the subs was great, this is the strongest subs bench we’ve had in our time in Roscommon,” McStay said.

Cavan manager Mattie McGleenan took positives from Cavan’s first defeat of this Division Two campaign. “Last year we came down here and played poorly, but this year we gave a much better performance. There was a penalty shout we should have got and we should have got a goal when had a two-on-one situation. Roscommon dug in and kicked some wonderful points to win the game,” McGleenan said.

“I felt the referee gave the home team a few questionable decisions. We allowed the referee to have an impact, we had the chance to finish the game and we didn’t take it.”

ROSCOMMON: J Featherston; D Murray, P Domican, F Lennon (0-1); R Daly, B Stack, N Daly; T O'Rourke, C Compton; C Murtagh (0-5, 3f), N Kilroy, C Devaney (0-1); D Smith (0-2), C Lennon (0-1), D Murtagh (0-3). Subs: E Smith (0-1) for O'Rourke (43), C Daly for R Daly (43), C Cregg (0-1) for C Lennon (52), U Harney for C Daly (bc) (58), F Cregg for D Murtagh (65).

CAVAN: R Galligan (0-1, 45); J McLoughlin, P Faulkner, C Bradley; M Reilly (0-1), C Brady (0-2), E Flanagan; K Clarke, B Magee; D McVeety, C Moynagh, O Kiernan; A Cole (0-1), G McKiernan (0-3), C O'Reilly (0-3, 3f). Subs: C Mackey (0-1) for Moynagh (26), D Brady for Cole (46), S Johnston (0-1) for O'Reilly (58), N Clerkin for Bradley (65), S Murray for Magee (71).

Referee: C Reilly (Meath).

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