It's hard to pick a winner, but Denn again...

Ahead of the final round of Cavan's Intermediate Football Championship this weekend, Paul Fitzpatrick reflects on what we've learned from the first three weeks of action.

Stand out young players to impress?

Cian McConnell, who was rested in round three due to commitments with the minor final on Sunday last, went very well for Butlersbridge earlier. A goalkeeper with county underage sides in recent years, he has always combined that with playing outfield and his 0-8 haul in the opening win over Bailieborough stood out.

Two-year county minor Nathan Quigley has also impressed at corner-forward for Denn, scoring 2-10, almost all from play, in two matches and one cameo off the bench. Caolán McAnenna (Drumlane), Colin Hill (Shercock), Kyle McCabe (Knockbride) and Mark Reilly (Denn) are others to catch the eye.

Tightest defence in the grade?

The stats say it’s Butlersbridge and Lavey, both having conceded the equivalent of 39 points, although the Bridge have leaked four goals with Lavey only shipping one.

Managed by former Fermanagh star Tony Collins, the New Inns men were permanent fixtures in senior ranks for 15 years before being demoted and they will take a lot of beating. Their mean rearguard including the likes of Danny Cusack, James McBreen, Oran Daly and David Conroy has a formidable combination of robustness and ball-playing ability.

Who is proving a threat from two point range?

Ryan Connolly. The Drumlane marksman scored 0-15 the opening day against Ballymachugh, 0-12 in round two and 0-6 last time out. His haul thus far includes seven two-pointers.

Goalkeeper of note?

Twenty-year-old Adam Gaynor has done well for Ballinagh. Harry Clarke is back between the sticks for Drumlane after some time away and going well, as are Aaron Smith from Shercock and Corey Smith of Drumgoon, both of whom are excellent place-kickers.

Stand out match?

Denn versus Knockbride (2-17 to 1-19) in round three was a cracker, with Ballinagh v Cornafean, a long-awaited local derby played in Lacken, not far behind in terms of drama.

Any players who deserve a second look for the county team?

A number of those mentioned above could be in the reckoning for a trial at least. Cavan are short of cover in the midfield and full-back line departments in particular so there is an opportunity there but the step-up from intermediate club football to senior county, at Division 2 level in Cavan’s case, is massive, especially in the new game.

We will reserve judgement until the real stuff starts at the quarter-final stage; the pressure should bring out the best in the better players.

What’s the atmosphere been like?

The Intermediate Championship, by its nature, is hotly contested. It is the middle tier of three and as such, houses a lot of teams of similar ability, with the only real gap between the very best and very worst. The interesting thing is deciding who those sides are – and interesting it has certainly been this year.

What also adds to the general buzz around the Intermediate Championship is that it also doubles as an unofficial regional championship.

The 14 teams in the competition are mostly clustered in one admittedly sizeable region of the county, which means derbies are guaranteed. Remarkably, the only clubs in the competition who don’t border another in it are Munterconnaught and Ballymachugh while Knockbride borders four others in Drumgoon, Shercock, Bailieborough and Killinkere.

A player you’d pay to see in this grade?

This is obviously a subjective question; every football follower has their own type of player they like to watch.

For us, Shane Tynan from Ballymachugh is a gifted ball-player. A left-sided forward, he is a very stylish striker of the ball and particularly dangerous cutting in from the right wing. He has had some injuries to contend with in his career but he’s playing good football in this campaign and is a joy to watch.

Which team has the most room to improve?

Obviously those at the bottom end of the table tick this box but a number of them are already out of the running with one round remaining.

Denn have scope to improve, as have Ballinagh who possess vast experience.

Your prediction for last eight?

This is something of a fool’s errand but we’ll go with it anyway! Butlersbridge, Knockbride, Lavey, Drumlane, Ballinagh, Denn, Cornafean and Shercock are our picks to advance to the quarter-finals.

Prediction for champions?

We went for Denn from the outset, a prediction which is aging like milk at present given they sit in eighth place with one win from three but there is more to it than that. Their minors won the Division 1 Championship for the first time on Sunday which was a magnificent achievement and will energise the senior squad, with a number of those U18s part of it.

One black mark against the Crosskeys-based side is that their record in tight matches is patchy, with several one-point losses in the last three years.

Cornafean slipped up last time out against Ballinagh, having been in a commanding position and leading by 10 points at one stage, but it shouldn’t stop them advancing to the quarters. It’s worth noting that the current championship structure was initiated in 2016 and Cuchulainns last year were the first team to win all seven matches so a draw or a loss (in the group stage obviously) along the way is not necessarily a bad thing. The Reds will hope that is the case anyway but a reversal against a high-flying Knockbride this weekend would not be good.

The championship starts properly at the knock-out stage and in all honesty, a case can be made for each of the eight teams we listed above. Shercock won an Intermediate title from off the pace in 2017 (having finished ninth in the table and stumbled into the final to some extent) and they will be dangerous.

Lavey have a nice blend of youth and experience, Butlersbridge have won over 25 matches in the IFC since 2020 and will take a lot of beating too.

Drumlane are finally starting to push on having idled after making the Ulster Club Junior final a few years ago; Knockbride are similar in that they were trapped in a turbo-charged Junior Championship for too long but have finally started to beat good teams in the Intermediate.

It’s truly wide open at this point in time but we’ll stick with Denn, who were in the final three years ago, lost the semi by a point in 2025 and ran into Cuchulainns in the quarter-final last year.