Greene and Cavan looked forward to shot at provincial glory

By Shaun Casey

AFTER the heartache of losing the Division Two league final just a month ago, Cavan are hoping to make amends in this weekend’s provincial decider, according to wing-back Sinead Greene.

The Breffni side are the defending Ulster Intermediate champions and face an old adversary Monaghan in Saturday’s showpiece at Brewster Park, Enniskillen.

Cavan gained the upper hand when the sides met in the league on their way to securing promotion to Division One, but they came up short against Donegal in the decider.

“It’s very exciting for us. It comes hot and heavy after the league and we were lucky enough to go to the league final,” Greene said ahead of the Ulster final.

“We’ve been having competitive matches very frequently and the Ulster Championship came around quickly. It was great to get over Fermanagh in the semi-final and it’s exciting to have another final to look forward to so soon after the league final.

“We were disappointed with that so we’ll be hoping that this weekend will go a little bit more our way. When there’s silverware on the line, you always want to try your best to go and get it.”

While they were disappointed to lose out in the Division Two final, promotion was the primary objective and it had already been secured ahead of the final.

“The big thing for us (in the league) was to get promotion. I was on the team in 2017 and 2018 when we were in the Division Two finals those two years consecutively and for whatever reason, we couldn’t seem to win it.

“We lost both years and back then, you had to win it to get promoted so that was really disappointing. As a county and a team, we were absolutely delighted to finally get promoted.

On their defeat to Donegal, Greene added: “They were the better team on the day, but we’ll take the learnings and take whatever bits and pieces from it and hopefully we can use it to help us come championship.”

Form goes out the window of course when rivals lock horns and Greene doesn’t expect this weekend to be any different. Cavan will know exactly what to expect when they line up beside Monaghan on Saturday.

“Cavan and Monaghan down the years, no matter what code, there’s always that added bit of rivalry which adds to the occasion,” Greene continued.

“They’re going into it hoping for victory and they have a strong Cavan contingent in their management team so there’s that added bit to it as well. It’s a big challenge for us. Monaghan are an excellent team, so we’ll have to be at the top of our game.”

Cavan are the defending champions, but 2026 is a new season and Greene insists they’re looking forward rather than reflecting back.

“While we won it last year, it was a long time since Cavan had won it. We were senior for a long time, and we didn’t have much success. We were relegated and last year was the first year that we managed to win it.

“That was huge for the county, but it hasn’t been mentioned at all that we’re the reigning champions. It’s another game and a competitive task. We’d love to win it but we’re not focusing on the pressure of being the reigning champions at all.”