Cavan 0-13 Cork 0-12

Seanie Johnston took centre stage at Kingspan Breffni Park tonight as he drove Cavan to their first win in Allianz NFL Division 2.

The DCU student scored nine points as the Breffni men overcame an 0-08 to 0-07 half-time deficit and a combative Cork side.

Johnston was off the mark early but Daniel Goulding's fourth point edged the Rebels into the lead at the break.

Goulding and Donnacha O'Connor kept Cork ticking with scores but two late points from Johnston saw the home side triumph.

Both sides lined out as selected during the week, with Cork drafting in Stephen O'Donoghue and Goold for Noel O'Leary and Michael Cussen.

Cavan, losers a fortnight ago to Meath, introduced John McCutcheon, John Cunningham, Ronan Flanagan and Eddie O'Reilly into their starting line-up.

Cavan, London and Kilkenny were the only teams before this weekend's NFL fare not to have picked up a league point to date, so Donal Keoghan's men were under a good deal of pressure.

They were first off the mark with Johnston dummying his marker and firing over a second-minute point. Johnston doubled his and the home side's tally soon after, but Cork muscled their way into contention with three successive points.

Donnacha O'Connor opened Cork's account in the tenth-minute and Goulding and O'Connor tagged on further points as the Rebels, with Nicholas Murphy beginning to get a grip on midfield, moved into a 0-03 to 0-02 lead.

Ger Pierson and Goold then swapped points before Johnston grabbed a quick brace, the second from a place kick.

Goulding increased his influence with a pointed free and when Kevin O'Sullivan succeeded in fisting over, Conor Counihan's men were beginning to purr.

Imposing Cavan midfielder Dermot McCabe, who was an influence throughout the 70 minutes, brought Cork back down to earth with a booming score.

But the visitors managed to squeeze back in front by half-time as two more points from Goulding sandwiched a Ronan Flanagan effort from play.

Flanagan's point had levelled the tie for the sixth time and the nip-and-tuck nature of the game continued into the second half.

Johnston bagged his fifth point from a free and Cork replied moments later when Goold rammed a left-footed shot through the posts.

Johnston picked off a free to square up the game at 0-09 apiece and Cavan had a short of dominance as McCabe and Johnston, who pointed when a goal looked on, fired the hosts two points clear.

As the rain began to fall heavily, Cork dug deep and tagged on a brace of points through Goulding (free) and O'Connor before the latter nudged his side into a 0-12 to 0-11 lead.

That was as good as it got for the men from Munster as, in a thrilling finish, Johnston equalised with a superb point before sending over a towering score in injury-time.

The result, a timely one for Cavan with the prospect of relegation hanging over them, moves them off the bottom of the Division 2 table and above Roscommon with two games to go.