Cavan crowned Division 4 champions after edging out Tipperary

It may be 'just' a Division 4 league title, but Cavan supporters will be entitled to celebrate this one as the Breffni men picked up a first inter-county title at Croke Park since 1952 this afternoon.

A two-goal haul from young full-forward Patrick Lynch proved crucial as Cavan hung on to pick up their first National League title since winning the Division 2 version on home turf in 1977.

Both sides won their respective provincial championships in 2020 before being unexpectedly relegated to the basement the following Spring. Having achieved promotion, there was a sense that this was bonus territory but as the finish line drew near, the tempo increased and the exchanges were fiercely contested.

Tipp almost snatched it when sub Stephen Quirke smashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar in injury time, but Cavan hung on to avenge their loss at Kingspan Breffni three weeks ago.

Cavan were ahead by the minimum, 1-05 to 0-07 at the end of a slow-burner of a first half.

When the sides met in the league, Tipperary set up defensively and negated the hosts. This time, the sides mirrored each other to an extent, with the result that defences were on top for long spells.

Cavan hit the jackpot with a superb Lynch goal on 24 minutes which opened a four-point gap but Tipp then strung together four points in succession, three of them spectacular efforts from the right wing by Mark Russell, before a Ray Galligan '45' with the final play of the first half left Cavan ahead.

Conor Moynagh, who played the ‘quarter-back’ role for Cavan, opened the scoring but Tipp were soon ahead through Conor Sweeney (free) and Mikey O’Shea.

Lynch, whose movement was excellent, gathered a Jason McLoughlin pass and converted a mark but Tipperary nudged in front