Mulvaney: "There’s no better feeling"

Cavan camógs heading to Croke Park

Cavan goalkeeper Emma Mulvaney described the prospect of playing at Croke Park as “the best feeling” after the Breffni women defeated Kildare to qualify for the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Premier Junior Camogie Championship final.

Cavan secured their seventh consecutive victory of an unbeaten campaign with a 2-12 to 1-9 win at Glenisk O’Connor Park in Tullamore. They will now face pre-competition favourites Armagh in the All-Ireland decider on August 8.

“There’s no better feeling,” Mulvaney said after the final whistle. “We knew coming up here to Tullamore that Kildare were going to give us a battle. We knew we had to go out and give it our all, and now all roads lead to Croke Park.”

Cavan had been slow starters in some of their earlier championship outings but quickly addressed that problem in Saturday’s semi-final. A blistering opening quarter saw them establish a commanding 1-5 to 0-1 advantage.

“We always think to ourselves, and we always say, that we’re a second-half team,” Mulvaney explained. “But coming up here today, we knew we had to go hell for leather in the first half and try to get on top of Kildare. They came back into it and had their purple patch, but we got there in the end. We kept the scoreboard ticking over when we needed to.”

Kildare recovered impressively during the second quarter and led by two points at half-time, but Cavan responded with an outstanding second-half display. They restricted the Lilywhites to a solitary point after the restart while registering 1-6 at the other end.

Mulvaney felt the impact of Cavan’s substitutes was crucial as the game became a battle for possession in the intense Tullamore heat. “You had the likes of Tomo (Orla Flynn) coming off the bench, along with Emma Plunkett and Katie Tierney,” she said.

“All those girls came in and put in tackles. They helped us to slow the game down a bit, get ourselves re-centred and allow everyone to get back into their positions. It was really good.”

Mulvaney also played an important role in relieving the pressure on the Cavan defence. Her ability to send frees and puck-outs deep into Kildare territory allowed her teammates to push up the field and reset their shape.

“With that distance, it gives everyone time,” she explained. “Especially if I’m coming out to take one from far away, it gives everyone a chance to reset, get back into their positions and become calm and collected again before the next ball comes.”

Cavan now have just under three weeks to prepare for an All-Ireland final against an Armagh team they have already encountered this season.

“Armagh will be a battle,” Mulvaney acknowledged. “We’ve played them before and it was tough going, but hopefully we’ll stay calm and collected when we get to Croke Park. Not all of us have played there before, so it will be a brilliant experience for everyone.”