D-Day as U21s face Donegal

Paul Fitzpatrick

Cavan U21s' date with destiny arrives tonight (Brewster Park, 8pm) when they take on hot favourites Donegal in the Ulster Championship semi-final.

Cavan defeated the men from the north-west in the Ulster semi-final in 2011 and in the finals of the following two years but Donegal turned the tables in the quarter-final in 2015 when they won by a point with a last minute goal from Ryan McHugh.
There are four survivors on the Cavan panel from that match. Caoímhín O'Reilly and Mark Fegan started on that occasion, with Cormac Daly – this year's captain – and Ryan Connolly coming on as subs.
Donegal boast six survivors from two years ago, namely goalkeeper Danny Rodgers, Tony McCleneghan, Conor Morrison, Stephen McBrearty, Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Cian Mulligan.
Declan Bonner's side came through a replay in the first round against Tyrone, impressively slaying the Red Hands second time round, with Michael Langan top-scoring with 0-7.
With a mass of senior experience including the likes of Dara Ó Baoíll, Gallagher, McBrearty and Jamie Brennan, they enter the game as strong favourites but hopes are high that Cavan will give an excellent account of themselves.
The venue certainly should hold no fears for Cavan. Brewster Park has been a happy hunting ground for the county at all levels in recent years. In fact, Cavan have not lost a game there since the 2010 Ulster U21 final against Donegal and, in the meantime, have won an All-Ireland SFC qualifier, an Ulster SFC quarter-final, a NFL match, an Ulster MFC semi-final and six Ulster U21 matches, including three finals in a 10-game unbeaten run at all levels.
Cavan have no injury worries to report, with Conor Bradley – who returned from France for the quarter-final win over Fermanagh a fortnight ago - available again.
Meanwhile, the Cavan senior team travel to Hyde Park, Roscommon this Sunday with a live outside chance of preserving their Division 1 status.
Tyrone's unexpected home loss to Mayo last Sunday – Mickey Harte's men kicked 15 wides in a 1-10 to 0-12 defeat – damaged Cavan's chances and leaves the westerners in pole position entering the last day.
Complicating matters, however, is the fact that should Cavan and Mayo win and finish level as the only two teams on six points, head-to-head comes into play and Cavan stay up.
For that to happen, though, Kerry would need to secure at least a point against Tyrone in Killarney.
Should they lose, they will also be left on six points and with three teams tied, the matter will be decided on score difference.
Cavan's score difference is -20, Mayo's is -5 and Kerry's is +6 meaning that the Kingdom should be safe barring a catastrophe.
If Cavan win – and that's far from a foregone conclusion obviously – and Kerry and Mayo lose, the Breffni men would need to turn around the 15-point gap with Mayo, which is unlikely but far from impossible.
For the record, a Cavan, Kerry and Donegal treble on Sunday is quoted at 6/1 by the bookmakers.