Cavan 1-17 Laois 0-15
Cavan made it four wins in succession in Division 2 of the Allianz League with a 1-17 to 0-15 win over Laois and go into the last round knowing they will secure promotion if they avoid defeat at home to Galway.
A well-worked goal, expertly finished by Seanie Johnston on the quarter-hour mark, was the difference between the sides in the first half.
To that point, Cavan, playing against a stiff breeze, led by 0-5 to 0-3 but Laois would rue some dreadful shooting which saw them register nine first-half wides and drop four further efforts into the grateful hands of Cavan goalkeeper Ray Galligan.
A free from Johnston and a super point from midfielder Tomás Corr helped Cavan into an early lead and although John O'Loughlin replied, a good effort from Ciaran Brady made it 0-3 to 0-1 in favour of the hosts after six minutes.
The towering Michael Argue and O'Loughlin traded scores but a brilliant point from Cavan captain Gearoid McKiernan saw them move 0-5 to 0-2 ahead with a dozen minutes on the clock.
A great strike from Conor Meredith dragged Laois closer but Cavan put some daylight between them when a great ball from Liam Buchanan opened up the Laois defence and Johnston tucked away from 10 yards.
To their credit, though, Laois hung tough and refused to go away. A great strike from Kevin Meaney – who was later black-carded just before half-time – brought them closer.
McKiernan responded with a trademark gallop up the left wing and curled point for Cavan and defender Conor Moynagh added another but three frees from Donie Kingston, with a fisted Liam Buchanan point at the other end, cut the gap to four on the half-hour mark.
And that was the margin that remained at half-time after Evan O'Carroll and Johnston (free) raised white flags in the dregs of the first half.
The third quarter was a war of attrition. The zip seemed to be gone out of the Cavan players' legs and they struggled to inject the same pace into their counter-attacks as Laois stuck to their task.
An early free from Evan O'Carroll was cancelled out by a David Givney point from play and a Johnston free but moments later, the hosts lost the Cavan Gaels man to a hamstring injury.
Donie Kingston and sub Jamie Farrell registered scores for the O'Moore men, with Martin Reilly hitting back for Cavan and Argue quickly adding another.
Laois, though, carved the Blues open with their next attack and Galligan was called into action to save smartly from Kingston, whose battle with Killian Clarke was worth the admission fee alone.
O'Loughlin and sub Ross Munnelly (free) added two more to cut the gap to a goal but the arrival of Cavan reinforcements would swing things their way in the closing stages.
McKiernan ended a 15-minute drought with a super point and two excellent points from Jack Brady, who made an eye-catching cameo from the bench, made it 1-16 to 0-13.
Laois tacked on a point from Colm Begley and pressed hard for a goal late on, with Kingston causing all sorts of problems, but Cavan, who themselves had 10 wides in the second half, deservedly held on.
Cavan: R Galligan (0-1, 45), P Faulkner, K Clarke, J McLoughlin, C Brady (0-1), C Moynagh (0-1), K Brady, T Corr (0-1), L Buchanan (0-1), D McVeety, G McKiernan (0-3), M Reilly (0-1), D Givney (0-1), M Argue (0-2), S Johnston (1-3, 3f)
Subs: E Keating for Johnston (47 mins), C Mackey for Argue (51 mins), N Murray for Moynagh (47 mins), J Brady (0-2) for Buchanan (58 mins), J Hayes for K Brady (66 mins), R Dunne for Givney (69 mins)
Laois: G Brody, C Begley (0-2), D O'Reilly, D Strong, G Dillon, S Attride, M Timmons, B Quigley, C Meredith (0-1), K Meaney, J O'Loughlin (0-3), N Donoher, E O'Carroll (0-3, 1 45, 1f), D Kingston (0-4f), P Kingston
Subs: J Farrell for Meaney (30 mins, BC), A Farrell for Dillon (HT), R Munnelly (0-2, 1f) for P Kingston (51 mins), D O'Reilly for Meredith (55 mins), N Murphy for O'Carroll
Referee: P O'Sullivan (Kerry)
