Allianz Football League: Cavan promoted despite defeat as Fermanagh edge win
- Published
Odhran Eastwood hit 0-6 for Antrim as they held on to shock Division Three leaders Cavan at Corrigan Park
Cavan have been promoted to Division Two of the Allianz Football League despite a surprise 1-17 to 2-12 defeat by Antrim as Fermanagh kept their hopes alive by beating Westmeath 0-15 to 2-8.
Fermanagh join Cavan on 10 points at the top of the table but the Breffnimen can now not be denied promotion.
Their head-to-head record means they will finish ahead of Offaly or Down.
Fermanagh can be pipped on the head-to-head by Offaly while Down's hopes are over despite their win over Longford.
Down defeated relegated Longford 1-19 to 1-14 on Saturday evening but if even the Mournemen move to 10 points by beating Offaly in Tullamore next weekend, they will miss out on the head-to-head having lost against both Fermanagh and Cavan, who meet in round seven at Kingspan Breffni.
Offaly moved to eight points - two behind Cavan and Fermanagh - after they defeated Tipperary 2-14 to 0-13 on Saturday in an emotionally-charged game following last weekend's death of Offaly manager Liam Kearns, whose managerial career had also included a spell in charge of the Premier County.
Antrim are now safe from the drop following their win over Cavan with Tipperary joining Longford in sliding down to Division Four.
Promotion permutations
With Cavan having beaten Offaly in round round four, the Breffnimen will edge out the Faithful County on the head-to-head if they are beaten by Fermanagh.
However, Cavan and Offaly wins next weekend will see the midlanders joining the Breffni County in securing promotion as they would pip Fermanagh on the head-to-head having edged out the Ernemen in round two at Tullamore.
At Corrigan Park, Aghagallon man Ruairi McCann's goal helped the Saffrons lead by 10 after 39 minutes.
A Conor Madden goal cut Antrim's lead to two after 66 minutes and it was only one when Paddy Lynch netted on 74.
But Patrick McBride's fifth point for Antrim helped them complete a vital win in their battle to avoid the drop.
McBride's crucial 75th-minute free came after he had been reintroduced by Antrim manager Andy McEntee as the Saffrons threatened to throw away another seemingly certain winning position following their late collapse against Down in round two.
At Ederney, Fermanagh led 0-9 to 0-4 against Westmeath at half-time and while two goals in a minute from Luke Loughlin and David Lynch saw the visitors cut the margin to only one, a late Che Cullen point helped the Ernemen hold for a 0-15 to 2-8 victory.
Marc Jordan got on the scoresheet for Antrim in the opening period as they led 1-7 to 0-4 at half-time
Cavan unhappy about McBride's closing free
There was an element of controversy about McBride's concluding point with Cavan feeling they had legally turned the ball over but instead Tyrone referee Kieran Eannetta called an Antrim free.
McBride had been outstanding prior to being replaced in the 56 minutes but he wasn't Antrim top scorer at St Enda's man Odhran Eastwood kicked 0-6 - including four from play - in a sensational display.
After five straight wins, Cavan went into the game just needing to avoid defeat to guarantee promotion to Division Two but their performance levels were way off in the opening 50 minutes before their late revival almost stole victory against the wobbling Saffrons.
With Antrim once again including two Ruairi McCanns in their attack as they played with the wind in the opening period, the Aghagallon version netted their opening goal in the sixth minute as he latched on to a high ball into the Cavan defence before blasting past Raymond Galligan.
Initially, Cavan seemed to have steadied as scores from Lynch and Cian Madden cut Antrim's lead to only one and they were still only two down after 19 minutes, but the Saffrons hit four straight points before the interval, with the inform attacking duo of McBride and Eastwood notching two apiece.
Antrim hold on despite Cavan fightback
Despite the half-time introductions of Gearoid McKiernan and James Smith, Cavan's performance didn't initially get any better following the restart as two more McBride points started a sequence of four more unanswered Antrim scores to put the Saffrons 10 ahead by the 39th minute.
A Galligan 45 finally ended 29-minute Cavan scoring drought but Antrim still looked in total control with 10 minutes remaining as they led 1-14 to 0-8.
However, Cavan suddenly cut the deficit to only three after 64 minutes when points from McKiernan and Galligan were followed by Conor Madden notching 1-1 in 60 seconds.
A Conor Smith point then further reduced Antrim's lead before two Eastwood points seemed to have the Saffrons in a degree of control again as they re-established a four-point advantage as the game went into injury-time.
However, six added minutes were signalled and after Antrim had a lucky escape when James Smith just failed to get a touch to a goal chance, Lynch did blast to the net in the 74th minute to cut the margin to the minimum.
Cavan thought they had forced a turnover in the fifth minute of injury-time as Killian Brady appeared to have dispossessed Antrim substitute Seamus McGarry but the Saffrons were awarded a free which McBride slotted to complete their vital win.
Down miss out on promotion despite win
After Saturday's earlier results, Down's hopes of promotion were already over but their win over Longford did confirm the Leinster county's relegation after eight seasons in Division Three.
The first half was delayed by over 10 minutes by an injury to Down midfielder Mark Walsh.
Dessie Reynolds' goal just before the break helped Longford go in level 1-6 to 0-9 at the interval.
However, Down took control after the break and Liam Kerr finished with 1-5 - which included his late penalty after Joe Hagan's black card for a deliberate pull down on the Mourne goalscorer.
The impressive Pat Havern notched 0-5 for Conor Laverty's side.