Bellew: Cavan can only control the controllables

By Shaun Casey

IT’S all fine margins at the top of the Lory Meagher Cup table but Cavan will be focusing on controlling the controllables and hope that by the end of proceedings on the final day of the group games, they’ve secured their own fate.

Fermanagh are out in front on seven points and their opponents this weekend Longford are in second place on six. Cavan are next in line with five, so a win against Leitrim, currently on four points, will leave the Breffni Blues in with a chance of reaching the decider.

Now for the complicated stuff. Should Fermanagh beat Longford and Cavan win their game, Ollie Bellew’s side will qualify, but should Fermanagh lose and Cavan come out on top, then it’ll come down to score difference between the Ulster foes.

A draw between the two league leaders, as well as a Cavan win, would see Cavan and Longford tied on seven points apiece and Longford have the upper hand having beat Cavan by three the last day out.

All in all, Cavan need to win to be in with a chance of reaching the final. “It’s not in our hands, it’ll depend on what happens in Longford,” said Breffni boss Ollie Bellew, who led Cavan to a third place finish in Division 3A.

“If Longford win, we’ll need a 28-point swing to then eliminate Fermanagh but if Fermanagh win, we just need to win in Leitrim and that’s it.”

That Longford defeat last weekend was a tough pill to swallow for Cavan, but they won’t be short on motivation ahead of the final round.

“We were absolutely furious,” added Bellew of last week’s defeat.

“There were different factors that played a part on Saturday to make sure that we didn’t get something from the game. Some of that’s down to ourselves and we need to look at ourselves closely.

“Truth be told, we haven’t shown anywhere near close to our capability or our league form at any stage in this championship. So that’s been a disappointing thing, but we’re still in it and the one thing since Tom (Mannon) and I took over five years ago, is if there’s any sort of challenge at all, these boys will rise to it every time.

“I think we could produce a massive performance on Saturday, but the downside is that we’re just waiting to see what happens elsewhere. The devastation coming off the park there on Saturday was clear to see.

“They’re an incredibly committed and dedicated group of men and they’re hurt very badly after what happened.

“Never in the five years have we ever felt a low quite like we felt at the weekend.

“We’ve had bad days before; we’ve faced big challenges and we always come out fighting. There’s never more than a point or two between us and Leitrim, I don’t think the weekend will be any different.

“One thing’s for sure, we’ll come out fighting and we’ll fight for our lives.”