Shot at redemption

Cavan's hopes of salvaging something from this season rest on whether they buck the trend of not taking the qualifiers seriously, writes Paul Fitzpatrick. Cast your minds back 11 and a half months and to Aughrim on the worst evening of an awful summer; a fitting place to end what had been a forgettable few months for Cavan footballers. The body language of the visiting players in the second half of Cavan's defeat to Wicklow suggested that some thought as much themselves. There were no tears, no recriminations with the officials (who, if you remember, made some baffling decisions), no punching the ground in anger and frustration. It was a sad day to be a travelling Cavan fan for the handful who made the trek in what was a biblical deluge en route to the the mountain-side and Aughrim. A year later and here we go again. Plus ce change and all that... "In a surreal twist," we wrote at the time, "the theme tune from Rocky greeted the Wicklow team as they ran on out to the field. With the rain swirling around above their heads and swishing under their feet, Micko's men thus warmed up to the strains of the familiar 'da da da, da-da da' while the Cavan team, for some reason unknown to their 100 or so drenched supporters, chose to wait until closer to the throw-in before emerging to warm up. "When the show started, it very soon became clear that Cavan, lacking a lead conductor or any virtuoso players, just weren't up to it. In the championship symphony, we struck all the bum notes again." And so we did. A year later, the nature of the defeat to Fermanagh has supporters and officials scratching their heads and wondering if we're any better or - dare we say it - actually worse than this time last year. Last July, on that rainy night in Wicklow, Cavan were humbled by a side who had never before seen the dawn break on the morning of a fifth championship match. They were beaten in their provincial championship but unlike Cavan, they chose to grasp the opportunity presented by the qualifers and went on to enjoy the best season in their history, defeating Fermanagh, Cavan and Down in the backdoor before going down narrowly to Kildare. If ever there was an advertisement for the benefits of taking the qualifiers seriously, Wicklow were it. There's a lesson there for counties looking to build, a category to which we surely belong. Cavan's record in the qualifiers (see panel below) is atrocious. In an era where football is, relatively speaking, more democratic than it ever has been precisely because of the backdoor, Cavan have, to paraphrase cult movie Trainspotting, chosen something else. A county of Cavan's current standing in the game - that is, a low third tier side in what is essentially a four-tier system - should be grabbing the qualifiers with both hands. Forget the excuses about being trapped in the claustrophobic confines of the toughest province in the country; when you're in the backdoor, it's knock-out and you can draw anyone. Get a nice draw, pick up a victory, gather some confidence and who knows where the momentum will carry you... Home draws are hugely beneficial in first round qualifiers, with the records showing that three-quarters of home sides go through, which hands Cavan an advantage against Wicklow straight off. Cavan's draws have never been all that bad, either, and isn't this year. The Garden men, as expected, improved dramatically once the Kingdom's emmissary to the so-called weaker counties (a term so patronising that football's PC brigade may soon be alter it to "the so-called, so-called weaker counties") arrived, but there is a real sense that their progress has levelled out. Just once, in 2005, did Cavan put together a run, defeating Meath and Donegal before succumbing to Mayo at the last 12 stage. However, it's worth bearing in mind that in the decade just passed only three counties (Carlow, Waterford and Kilkenny) failed to reach the last 12 of the All Ireland football series. Cavan have reached it once and were it not for that solitary effort, we would be grouped in the bottom four with the three accepted weakest footballing counties on the island. A scary thought, for sure. While Cavan have a couple of absentees (see right), Wicklow too are without long-serving goalkeeper Mervyn Travers and defender Pat McWalter. They will come prepared, though, and with Leighton Glynn and freetaker JP Dalton in fine form last time out, they will expect to put up a decent score in the wide spaces of Breffni Park. Tommy Carr will be desperate to get something from this season and should have his side primed and ready - the qualifiers are not to be sneezed at and Carr will know that a few wins will placate calls for his removal as manager. Cavan's performances are almost impossible to predict from match to match, however. Can they win this match? Of course. Will they, though? Who knows.