Back to Brewster - and you can win free tickets!

Competition

Cavan's journey in the inaugural Tailteann Cup continues this Sunday when Mickey Graham's side take on local rivals Fermanagh in the quarter-final (throw-in, 4pm, Brewster Park).

To be in with a chance of winning two free tickets to the match, simply comment wishing Cavan good luck in the comments section under this article on the Anglo-Celt Facebook page.

Cavan eased past Down with nine points to spare on Saturday in the historic first match in the competition at Kingspan Breffni, with captain Raymond Galligan turning in a superb performance.

Monday morning's draw saw Cavan in the northern section alongside Leitrim, Sligo and Fermanagh and the away draw against the Erne men is the trickiest tie Cavan could have been handed, based on league status and recent form.

Fermanagh competed well for long periods against Tyrone in the Ulster Championship this year before falling away late on and they had a good away win over Longford in the Tailteann Cup opener on Saturday last.

Graham has stated that he is not an advocate of the geographical system which has been brought into the competition, with President Larry McCarthy citing the desire to piggy-back on existing local rivalries as well as cut down on expenses for teams and supporters in terms of potentially travelling long distances.

It has led to something of a lopsided look to the draw so far, with New York, who have never won a championship match despite coming close on a few occasions, included in the southern section and handed a bye to the quarter-final, where they will meet Offaly in Tullamore this weekend.

“I think I would have liked to have seen an open draw, us northern teams are fed up of the sight of each other as I said previously. If we’re not playing challenge matches against each other, we’re playing challenge matches or McKenna Cup,” the Cavan manager said after the win over Down.

“It would be nice to play somebody different but look, that’s what the GAA decided, you just have to go with it, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The match in Enniskillen this Sunday will be the ninth meeting between Cavan and Fermanagh in league and championship alone since 2012. Cavan have won six of the last eight, including all three championship meetings, although the Erne men – under current Cavan selector Ryan McMenamin – emerged victorious by 0-15 to 0-14 at Brewster Park when the sides met in Division 3 of the National League in 2021.

Graham is likely to have a selection headache this weekend, with competition for places on the starting team and match day panel intense. While Conor Moynagh missed out through injury last weekend, Cavan were almost at full strength, with Martin Reilly, Ciaran Brady and Oisin Kiernan returning to the starting side.

A number of U20s have recently been called up and Cuchulainns' Niall Carolan was rewarded for an excellent performance in a challenge match against Mayo with an appearance off the bench.

Cavan have been installed as 11/8 favourites to win the competition outright and 1/3 to defeat Fermanagh this Sunday. However, in the eight previous meetings in the last decade, there has rarely been much in it between the local rivals, with five of those games decided by margins of five points or less.

The prize for the winners will be a semi-final at Croke Park.