By Niall Gartland

CORNAFEAN boss Martin Cahill is preparing for his third match of the season against his native Denn in Friday night’s Intermediate Championship round two clash.

They won both their previous matches, including the Division Three final which was held on the mouth of the championship, but the Cornafean manager is expecting to see the ‘real Denn’ this weekend.

“Denn is my home club and it’s the third time we’re playing this year. You just have to get on with it, don’t you?

“The first day we played them was a shocking wet day. The game probably shouldn’t have gone ahead, but it did. We came out on the right side of it, but it wasn’t much of a day for football and you couldn’t really read too much into it.

“The last day, Denn were understrength in the Division Three final, so it wasn’t a true reflection either. You’ll get more of an idea of where things stand this weekend.”

Cahill, a former Cavan captain, is in his second season overseeing matters at Cornafean, and they’re bidding to take a sizeable step towards the knock-out rounds following their round one win over Cootehill.

“Last year we didn’t really push for promotion because we wanted to be ready for championship. Then they ended up changing the league structures, and anyone who wasn’t in the top positions dropped down to Division Three. We won the league and got promoted.

“We then played Cootehill at the weekend in our first championship outing. They had been playing in Division Two and finished high enough up in it, so that was probably the first real test we had.”

Last year’s Cavan Intermediate champions Cuchulainns have stepped it up another gear and recently claimed the Division One title for the first time with a one-point victory over Gowna. Cahill believes a whole host of teams can harbour aspirations of winning this year’s championship title.

“It’s as open a championship as it’s ever been at Intermediate. There’s eight or nine teams, who if they get on a run, could contest for the title. There’s a few teams who have come down from the senior league and you’d imagine they’ll be in the hunt.”