False dawn as Cavan run riot
Saturday as Cavan cruised into a 0-8 to 0-2 lead after just 18 minutes.
Caoimhin O’Reilly and Oisin Kiernan got Cavan motoring and while Andy McDonnell got off the mark in the fourth minute, Bryan Magee and Enda Flanagan made it 0-4 to 0-1.
Louth were surrendering possession in the final third at an alarming rate, mainly due to passing and handling errors.
Cavan were more fluent and decisive in possession and with a couple of Martin Reilly points sandwiching a brace from his namesake Caoimhin, they had soon opened that 0-8 to 0-2 cushion.
Louth fans would have been fearing the worst at that stage but their team responded - initially at least!
A free and ‘45 from Ryan Burns edged them back into the game, but it was a couple of top-class points from Jim McEneaney and Declan Byrne that closed the gap to two and provided the away team with genuine hope.
The sides traded points twice before the break as Cavan adjourned with a vastly reduced 0-10 to 0-8 cushion and it was down to the minimum within 90 seconds of the restart as Burns converted another free.
But Louth’s next score, or meaningful attack for that matter, didn’t arrive for a further 13 minutes and in the meantime Cavan pundered 1-4 with Bryan Magee netting after points from Caoimhin O’Reilly, Cian Mackey, Oisin Kiernan and Magee himself from a free.
Burns stopped the Louth rot with a free but former DkIT attacker Mackey continued his fine substitute cameo with a quick brace to make it 1-16 to 0-10 with 20 minutes still to play.
A second goal, this one from centre half back Ciaran Brady, put 12 points between the sides.
The third goal arrived with five minutes left on the clock as Niall Clerkin slapped to the net from close range, adding another layer of misery to Louth’s evening.
They did manage to avoid one unwanted accolade deep in injury-time when Ciaran Downey ensured they didn’t go though the entire second period without scoring from open play.
By the following afternoon they had another unwanted statistic to contend with as they became the only team in Division 2 with no points from their opening two games.
With even tougher assignments on the horizon, the Reds will be desperate to put that right in Pairc Ui Rinn on Sunday afternoon.