Seanie Johnston made his long-awaited debut for Kildare as the cheers and boos rang out at Kingspan Breffni Park where the Lilywhites handed Cavan a 3-20 to 1-09 defeat.
The potential sight of Johnston in a Kildare jersey drew 14,558 spectators to Cavan and the inevitable finally happened in the 62nd minute when the former Breffni blue was brought on for Eoghan O’Flaherty.
The loud cheers from the huge Kildare support drowned out the boos of the smaller home crowd, but a poisonous, hostile atmosphere hung over the entire game.
By the time former Cavan forward Johnston came on, the result was academic as Kildare had crushed a naive young Cavan side long before it.
Yet the home side lifted their game after their former team-mate's introduction and he was starved of the ball for a full eight minutes, with Ronan and Fergal Flanagan intercepting passes intended for him in the full-forward line.
Finally, he got his hands on the ball and won a free after he was clattered while taking a shot. He took the free himself, with his left foot, to make his point in more ways than one.
It was the last score of the game and the player will hope the circus which has followed him for months will finally draw to a close now that he is a fully fledged Lilywhite.
As for the game itself, it was a big disappointment. Cavan started brightly and kicked the first two scores but that was as good as it got.
Kildare were definitely edgy early on amidst a strange, heavy atmosphere. Cavan were unable to capitalise on Kildare’s nerves, however, and kicked six wides inside the first 20 minutes. They also dropped two attempted points short into the goalkeeper's hands during that time.
It was not long before Kildare found their stride and they proved what an awesome sight they can be when they get on a roll.
Kildare hit 2-07 in a 20-minute spell before half-time, with Mikey Conway rattling the net for the first time in the 19th minute and Emmet Bolton scoring a fortuitous second goal seven minutes later. Cavan only scored one point during that time.
Kieran McGeeney’s men led by 2-11 to 0-04 at half-time. It was a clinical display of finishing by Kildare who, unusually, kicked as many goals as wides over the 70 minutes.
For a side criticised for kicking too many wides and not scoring enough goals, the statistic of three goals and three wides will probably please the manager most. They did not kick their first wide until the 53rd minute.
Cavan started both halves quite well and rallied a bit after the break. It was damage limitation stuff at that stage, but they managed 1-02 without reply in a three-minute spell to reduce the deficit to 2-12 to 1-06.
Kildare kicked on again, Eoghan O’Flaherty unerring from frees, most of which were won by Tomas O’Connor whom the Cavan defence struggled to handle all afternoon.
Alan Smith also caused huge damage, scoring 1-05 from play. He grabbed Kildare’s third goal in the 66th minute after James Kavanagh’s shot was blocked on the line by Joshua Hayes.
Dermot Earley came on and added his name to the scoresheet, but that uplifting point was overshadowed by the Seanie Johnston circus.
Kildare’s plan all along may well have been to bring him on once all the intensity had gone out of the game and it was long over as a contest by the time he was brought on on as part of a double-substitution along with Padraig Fogarty.
All that was left for the Cavan supporters to cling on to was the hope that their former hero would not score.
Kildare made sure he did, letting him take the last free even though it was on the wrong side of the pitch for a left-footed free-taker. Johnston duly scored to have the last word on a saga that has run for far too long.
CAVAN: J Reilly; K Clarke, P O'Reilly, D Tighe; K Meehan, D Reilly, J McLoughlin; D Givney, T Corr; N Smith, G McKiernan (0-02), R Flanagan; N McDermott (0-04, 0-04f), E Keating (1-01), J Brady (0-02, 0-02f)
Subs used: J Hayes for Reilly (34 mins), R Maloney-Derham for Givney, M McKeever for Tighe (both half-time), D McKiernan for Corr (43), F Flanagan for McLoughlin (68).
KILDARE: S Connolly; A Mac Lochlainn, M Foley, P Kelly; E Bolton (1-00), M O'Flaherty, H McGrillen; E Doyle, R Kelly; E O’Flaherty (0-08, 0-07f), M Conway (1-04, 2f), A Smith (1-05); J Doyle (0-01), T O’Connor, J Kavanagh
Subs used: O Lyons for Mac Lochlainn (42 mins), D Earley (0-01) for Foley (52), R Sweeney for Conway (56), S Johnston (0-01, 0-01f) for E O’Flaherty, P Fogarty for O’Connor (both 62).
Referee: Marty Duffy (Sligo)
