Cavan fancied to repeat win over Down
Paul Fitzpatrick
The Cavan senior footballers’ latest step on what is hoped will be a return to Croke Park arrives tomorrow (Saturday, Brewster Park, 5pm) when they take on Down in the second round of the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Having seen his side ship 2-20 against Donegal in Ballybofey in the Ulster SFC preliminary round a month ago, Cavan manager Mattie McGleenan shored up his back-line last time out against Wicklow.
A much more defensive Cavan side helped the Garden County to just 1-5 in Aughrim while posting 2-13 themselves, 2-9 of which came in the opening half, as they eased past the challenge of John Evans’s side.
While Cavan were always going to have too much for a team who finished bottom of Division 4 of the National League, failing to win a match, the Wicklow clash provided the perfect opportunity to trial the new system.
However, Down are expected to provide much sterner opposition.
While the bookmakers have installed Cavan as 1/3 favourites, there was very little between the sides when they met in the league on March 10 in Kingspan Breffni.
Cavan rode their luck at times on that occasion, with goalkeeper Raymond Galligan pulling off a hat-trick of superb saves, as the Blues rallied late on. Down led by 0-7 to 0-6 at half-time and were level with five minutes to go before Cavan summoned up an excellent run to the finish line with points from sub Sean Johnston, Dara McVeety, Galligan (45) and sub Conor Bradley to win pulling up by 0-17 to 0-14.
Key performers on the evening for Down were full-forward Connaire Harrison and corner-forward Donal O’Hare, who landed 0-7 (4f) between them, while Gearoid McKiernan was excellent for Cavan, kicking 0-4 from play.
Both men also played quite well in Down’s recent loss to Donegal although, tactically, the Mourne men were quite inept on the day.
Even with a numerical advantage after the dismissal of Donegal’s veteran full-back Neil McGee, they continued to struggle on both their own and their opponents’ kick-outs and struggled to make inroads at midfield.
Consistency is a huge problem for Eamonn Burns’s side. They picked up three wins in the league – of those, one was against a hapless Louth (who lost all their games) while the others were over the first and third-placed teams respectively, Roscommon and Tipperary.
That trend has been prevalent for a while, not least in last year’s championship when Down beat Armagh and then stunned Monaghan with a brilliant performance to make the Ulster final.
After that, the wheels came off. Burns’s side leaked 2-17 and 1-24 respectively against Tyrone in the provincial decider and the Farney, again, in Croke Park at the last 12 stage as they bowed out.
Their defence was fairly mean during the league, with only Cavan and Roscommon, both promoted, conceding less in Division 2 – and the Rossies only shipping a solitary point less at that.
So, much depends on what Down team show up. While Cavan were desperately disappointing against Donegal, they looked much more fired up for their back door clash against Wicklow than they were at the same stage a year earlier versus Offaly and that bodes well.
A run through the back door is long overdue. Only twice, in 18 seasons, have Cavan won more than one qualifier match – 2005, when they made the last 12, and 2013 when they reached the quarter-final for the first time.
While Cavan desperately crave the affirmation that a big championship scalp would provide, it will have to wait. Down’s is not as prized as it once was – which is reflected in the bookies’ odds – but the fact that they have beaten Monaghan, Tipperary and Roscommon in competitive matches in the last 12 months proves their ability and makes them a dangerous prospect.
In Caolán Mooney, the pulse of the team, they have a real thoroughbred in the engine room and they also have a tremendous long-range freetaker in Anthony Doherty.
Cavan, though, have plenty of reasons to be confident. While losing home advantage, due to the ongoing work at Kingspan Breffni, is not ideal, Brewster Park is a home away from home for Cavan and has been a very happy hunting ground at all grades for the last eight seasons.
The tight confines of the Enniskillen venue should also suit Cavan’s new defensive style. Scores won’t be easy to come by against Down but neither should Cavan concede much - as such, it will likely come down to whatever side takes their chances.
As for the mood in the Breffni camp, manager Mattie McGleenan has been typically upbeat of late, telling The Irish News last week that he was hoping for a “long hot summer”.
The Tyrone man may have been stretching positive talk to its limits in that interview, though, when he insisted that Donegal had only beaten Cavan by “three scores” - on Saturday evening, one will do in what looks likely to be a close, typically low-scoring Ulster encounter.
With the back-line shored up, much will depend on Cavan’s counter-attacking play and if they can get the likes of trigger men Dara McVeety and Caoimhin O’Reilly on the ball, as well as McKiernan, they should have enough about them to ensure they are in the draw on Monday morning for round three.