Cavan see off dogged London to continue winning ways

Cavan made it two wins from two with a hard-earned victory over London at a blustery McGovern Park in Ruislip.

The Division 3 champions, who opened their Tailteann campaign with a nine-point win over Laois, came into the match as red-hot favourites against a London side who seeking their first victory of the year in league or championship.

However, the visitors were made to work hard for the win, with Michael Maher's charges turning in their best performance since the early rounds of the league.

The Exiles have lost momentum since last year, with a lengthy injury list not helping, but their counter-attacking game was impressive here and they certainly kept Cavan honest, creating five goal chances over the 70 minutes.

At half-time, Cavan were ahead by 0-8 to 1-4, having played against a very strong breeze.

The home side fell behind by two early on but rallied well and were more than a match for Mickey Graham’s men for the remainder of the half, the highlight of which was a well-taken breakaway goal finished by Liam Gallagher 20 minutes in.

Cavan started on the front foot and eased into a two-point lead with scores from Paddy Lynch (free) and Tiarnan Madden, after good work from his brother Cian and Ryan O’Neill.

London responded with a long-range, wind-assisted free from the lively Liam Gavaghan and a mark from Joshua Obahar.

James Smith and Gavaghan, with another free from distance, traded scores and although frees from Lynch and Gearoid McKiernan put two between them, London hit the front for the first time when a perfectly-placed handpass from Gavaghan released Liam Gallagher, who blasted to the net.

A textbook dispossession from Oisin Kiernan, one of Cavan’s stand-out players alongside Killian Clarke, denied another goal and