Cavan held out, despite strong Tipperary pressure; to claim the Allianz Division 4 Football League title at Croke Park this afternoon.

Both sides secured what they had set out to do at the start of the season last weekend. Promotion was demanded by the fans of the two sides but the chance of glory at Croke Park meant the two sides played out an exciitng final to kick-start the weekend of finals at HQ.

In the opening stages of the game, both sides got to grips with each other as the teams shook off any pre-match nerves they had.

Conor Moynagh got the scoreboard ticking as Cavan went in front just after three minutes before Tipperary’s Conor Sweeney got them level a few minutes later.

Mikey O’Shea got himself a couple of points before Paddy Lynch got a second point for Cavan, Gearóid McKiernan added to the Cavan total before Lynch got Cavan level.

Things would get better for Cavan when Lynch grabbed the first goal of the game when met a delicious ball on the full-forward turned and managed to finish to put Cavan four points up.

However, Tipp weren’t just going to down tools and give up. Mark Russell and Jack Kennedy kept Tipperary in contention but it was Cavan who had a one point lead at the break thanks to Raymond Galligan who has been sharp with his free all season and stepped up and delivered when his county needed him to give them a boost at half-time to cut the momentum Tipperary had generated.

The second-half was a feast for the eyes as both sides left all out on the pitch.

Sweeney and O’Shea led the charge for The Premier as they took the game to Cavan. Sweeney was having another fine day in the office and he made getting scores look so easy as Tipperary took control.

Russell was aided by Kevin Fahey and Tipperary could taste victory 20 minutes from time.

Cavan have waited a long time to lift silverware at Croke Park… too long their fans would tell you.

Their dreams were given a breath of fresh air when Stephen Smith joined the charge of the Division Four crown and Cavan dreams were not far from coming true when Lynch found himself in space and with all the time in the world to grab his and Cavan’s second seven minutes from time.

The remaining minutes were manic both sides had chances, Tipp saw attack after attack overturned but Cavan couldn’t kill the game off.

But then deep into injury-time Stephen Quirke had the Win and the Division Four title in front of him but his powerful effort from just yards out hit the underside of the bar, onto the line and away to safety.

The miss would haunt Tipperary and Quirke… who would have scored had he kept his effort low.

Cavan saw out the rest of the game and secured the Division Four title to put the icing on a very impressive league campaign.