Published: Wednesday, 30th June, 2010 5:00pm

Tough task against All-Ireland champions

Cavan Minor manager Mickey Graham... "We're going to give it our best shot and we'll see what happens on the day."

Cavan's last remaining hope of an Ulster championship title for this year rests with the minor team who play reigning All-Ireland champions Armagh in the provincial semi-final at St Tiarnach's Park, Clones on Sunday evening at 7pm.

Armagh have won the provincial title eleven times between 1930 and 2009 and went on to capture All-Ireland honours last year against Mayo and claimed the Tom Markham Cup for the first time since 1949. In the process the Oak Leaf side went 17 games without defeat and lifted three trophies, the Ulster minor league, the Ulster championship and All-Ireland honours.

Cavan have just two All-Ireland titles under their belt, 1937'38 and four Ulster titles, the last success being in 1974 and previous to that 1959. The other successes were in 1952, the same year as the seniors last captured the Sam Maguire Cup, and 1959 and 1974.

It is often the case that temperament rather than the skills off the game play a major part in the winning of games especially at this level. If the players go into the game in a relaxed frame of mind and forget about the pre-match hype then team manager Mickey Graham and his selectors would be hoping for a keen, competitive encounter. Although Cavan go into the game as the underdogs, the pressure will be on Armagh to maintain their high profile title hopes and hold on to their Ulster and All-Ireland crowns.

Fermanagh game

Cavan got over the first hurdle of the competition at the expense of Fermanagh in Clones and produced an impressive scoreline of 2-16 to 1-10. Cavan were never under any real threat and when the scoring became too close for comfort, the team had the ability to pull away when danger threatened.

There were a number of impressive performances in that game, notably Jack Brady (Ramor Utd) who took his eighth minute goal in some style. Emmett Fitzsimons (Killinkere) a late replacement in attack for Enda O'Reilly shot three valuable points over the hour. By that time the Fermanagh defence had been breached for the second time by Cavan Gaels player Paul O'Connor, who lined out at full-forward.

A late first-half sub Neven O'Donnell (Shannon Gaels) and a student at St Clare's Secondary School, Manorhamilton, got on target and as the game entered its closing stages, Cavan's pressure grew stronger and the game was wrapped up with further scores from Turloc Mooney (Redhills), Neven O'Donnell, Jack Brady and Emmett Fitzsimons.

Armagh Monaghan

There was no likelihood of a local derby in the semi-final when Armagh defeated Monaghan by five points at Pairc Esler, Newry.

Ahead by 1-10 to 0-5 early in the second-half, Armagh withstood a spirited fight-back when Monaghan reduced an eight minute deficit down to two but then failed to register a score for the remainder of the game.

Cavan manager's views

Cavan manager Mickey Graham said the panel of players had worked well as a unit throughout the Ulster league and the championship game against Fermanagh. He was looking forward to the game: "We have been preparing hard for the last four weeks with a break for those involved in examinations.

Since the completion of the Leaving Cert exams we have been putting in a good bit of work. We have no major injury worries with just the usual knocks but everyone should be fully fit for the game".

Going back to the win over Fermanagh - was he satisfied with that performance and had he learned anything from that game that would need to improve against Armagh?

"Although we worked hard and won convincingly I felt the players had a lot more to give if they had been pushed hard. Nerves got to a number of players-especially in the early stages-who were playing at this level for the first time but once the game settled down to a pattern the team played to its potential".

Another step

The Cavan manager is acutely aware that facing a team like Armagh is another step up in the quality of the opposition. "We will have to improve on our performance. Armagh have had two tough competitive games under their belt against Derry and Monaghan and even as All-Ireland champions some pundits reckon that they are a better team this year than their championship-winning side".

Mickey agrees that Cavan are up against it "but we are going to give it our best shot and we will see what happens on the day".