Dublin captain Carla Rowe scored 3-6 as a ruthless Dublin side swept aside Cavan at Kingspan Breffni to record their first win of this year’s TG4 All-Ireland SFC. 

Rowe also missed a second half penalty after substitute Sinead Aherne was taken down in the 58th minute. 

Cavan put it up to Dublin in the early exchanges and the sides were level twice in the opening seven minutes. Points from Jennifer Dunne and Hannah Tyrrell saw Dublin go two up in the 14th minute. One minute later Aisling Gilsenan’s free hit the crossbar.  

A good move from the Dubs saw them get their first goal in the 18th minute. Tyrrell played the ball across the face of the goal and Eilish O’Dowd finished to the net. Dublin got a run on Cavan and in the 25th minute had extended their lead to seven points. 

Aishling Sheridan fired over an excellent point for Cavan in the 25th minute and minutes later her sister Geraldine played the ball to Gilsenan but she hit her effort well wide. 

Dublin were dangerous on the attack and at times opened the Cavan defence up with ease. Just before the break they got a second goal; Rowe played a one-two with Tyrrell before firing to the net to extend the lead to 12 points at 2-9 to 0-3. 

As the rain lashed down in the second half, Cavan grabbed a goal in the 32nd minute. Aishling Sheridan spotted her sister Geraldine as she took a quick free, Geraldine raced through before raising the green flag. 

Dublin’s reply was two Rowe frees before Aishling Sheridan hit a powerful effort over the bar. Mick Bohan’s charges got a third goal in the 40th minute; Rowe with an excellent shot for her second of the game. 

Niamh Hetherton scored a fantastic fourth goal for Dublin as they were clinical in front of the posts. Right at the end Rowe grabbed her third of the game and Dublin’s fifth as they ran out comfortable winners. 

Emma Morrissey scored 2-4 including the winning penalty, deep into added-time, to seal Tipperary’s place in the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship for 2023, with Cavan heading for the relegation play-off instead.

Morrissey found the top-corner with aplomb after her teammate Angela McGuigan was fouled in the penalty area in the 62nd minute at Kingspan Breffni.

Cavan were left shell-shocked at the death and now face a relegation decider to see if they too can avoid the drop to the intermediate ranks.

In what was a free-flowing Round 3 tie, Tipperary won most of the battles and most crucially, the war itself, to take the spoils. Tipperary scored their first goal in the 14th minute when midfielder Marie Creedon combined with late call-up Róisín Howard to put the influential Morrissey through for a well-taken goal.

Morrissey’s first strike propelled the visitors into a 1-2 to 0-2 advantage and wind-backed Cavan struggled to eat into that cushion. But, thanks, in the main, to Lauren McVeety’s free-taking, the hosts hung in there.

A long-range McVeety effort helped cut Tipperary’s interval lead to a very manageable two points, when Cavan trailed by 1-4 to 0-5. The majority of the play remained around the middle third of the field.

Poor shooting, a difficult to judge wind and a greasy sod conspired to produce a dogged duel seemingly beset with nerves and tension. The game seemed to be Tipperary’s to lose but six wides by the visitors in the third quarter had Cavan breathing a huge sigh of relief.

The Ulster outfit nabbed a lifeline in the 48th minute when Geraldine Sheridan was fouled but Lauren McVeety’s penalty was saved by Tipperary goalkeeper Lauren Fitzpatrick, before being hacked clear. But McVeety made up for her miss in the 51st minute when she fired home low past the advancing goalkeeper, following a storming run by Geraldine Sheridan through the heart of the visitors’ defence.

However, Tipperary had a sting in their tail, saving their best until last with Morrissey scoring the resulting penalty and Cavan left to dwell over a relegation play-off.