By Shaun Casey

A FIRST-EVER foray into Ulster awaits Munterconnaught this weekend and manager Stephen McGovern says his side are looking forward to representing their club and county as they take on Down champions Ardglass.

The Cavan club will have home advantage at Kingspan Breffni on Sunday afternoon and after ending their 31-year wait for a county championship title, they’re looking forward to their provincial voyage.

McGovern is well aware that a day out in the preliminary round of the Ulster competition will offer a step up in class, but his team are excited by the prospect of throwing off the shackles and having a real go at it.

“It’s 31 years so it’s a new venture and a new journey, and it’s a new group of players so we just want to go and play another game, it’s as simple as that. We don’t want the journey to end,” said McGovern.

“You really have to get your own ship in order because we’re going into the unknown, which is a good thing. The pedigree of the teams rises, the standards go through the roof and it’s winners playing winners.

“We just want to be ready for whatever is thrown at us on Sunday. The shackles are kind of off. Wwe came through Cavan and the semi-final and final and we didn’t play particularly well in those games.

“It’s a game of inches and all about getting over the line so if the thing opens up a bit, great. The lads love playing for their club and they want to represent Munterconnaught and Cavan with pride.”

The game of inches approach helped Munterconnaught sneak through the Breffni County, winning both their semi-final and final, against Drung and Kill Shamrocks respectively, by the minimum of margins on both outings.

Those games were all about getting across the line and the level or performance was secondary to the final result. Having lost to Swanlinbar in the second round of the group stages, Munterconnaught had to take the scenic route to claim the county title.

“We got through those games. We got beaten in a group phase game and then we got through with a big performance in the last group game and backed it up in the quarter-final with a high scoring performance,” McGovern continued.

“The semi-final and final, it was just tit-for-tat and making sure you got over the line. The occasion of the final, we just played the game, the 64 or so minutes, and we played to the last whistle.

“We had played Kill previously and there had been two draws and we won by a point, so we knew if we got our noses in front, we’d win. We left it a bit late but that’s the way it materialised.”