“The Ulster SFC kicked off with a bang for Cavan as they hit three second-half goals to see off neighbours Monaghan in Clones.”

So began the RTÉ match report for Cavan’s rather unexpected Ulster Championship preliminary victory over Monaghan at Clones in 2024. How they’d love for more of the same when they lock swords on Sunday week at Kingspan Breffni.

Division Two in the first year operating under Dermot McCabe turned out to be something of an endurance test. They managed to stay up – probably the main thing given the calibre of opposition – though four points was a miserly enough return from seven matches and in many other years wouldn’t have sufficed.

There were plus points for sure – they really should’ve sealed the deal in their opening two matches against Meath and Cork, who ended up being promoted, as well as powerhouse performances from the usual suspects: Dara McVeety, Ciaran ‘Holla’ Brady and Jason McLoughlin never fail to put in a shift. They’ll be at the coalface of their efforts against the Farney, no doubt.

There’s signs of the hard work on the training field coming to fruition on the field of play – they scored three two-pointers on their final day out against Derry, an improvement on previous matches, and there’s promising news on the injury front as well.

Longer-term absentees Cian Reilly, Evan Rowe and Barry Donnelly are edging closer to a return, while Ryan Brady and Paddy Meade, who missed a chunk of the league, are also on the road to recovery.

Their seventh and final league game against Derry also saw the return of key defender Niall Carolan from a knee injury.

Cavan loiter in that awkward limbo where they’ve avoided the Tailteann Cup, but aren’t strong enough to make a serious dent in the All-Ireland race.

They do find themselves in the ‘weaker’ (well, the ‘less strong’) half of the draw in the Ulster Championship and they have a real chance of deposing their neighbours in the first round, after which they’ll in all likelihood face Derry for a place in the Ulster final.

It’s not a bad pathway, and Cavan fans – who haven’t been coming out in force thus far this year – will be disappointed if they don’t record a repeat of their 2024 victory over the Farney.

There are areas of big concern, though – for example Gearoid McKiernan, now 35 years of age, didn’t get anywhere near enough help in the battle for primary possession in that aforementioned match against Derry. Paddy Lynch, who was in sensational form before wrecking his ACL two years ago this summer, is back on the field of play but is struggling to hit his pre-injury heights.

They really need him to get up to speed again. Barring their win over Kildare in the league, they’re coughing up big scores and aren’t wreaking havoc down the other end – though in Oisin Brady. Paddy Lynch, Ryan Donohoe and others, they do carry a scoring threat.

Anyway, for now, all that really matters is their upcoming game with Monaghan. They’ve met a total of 59 times in the championship, Cavan on top with 30 wins, though most pertinently, their recent record over their near neighbours is a strong one.

Their three most recent provincial championship meetings – 2019, 2020 and 2024 – have all gone the way of the Breffni, and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if they make it four in-a-row given Monaghan’s confidence must be at a fairly low ebb following a very difficult Division One campaign.

Roll of honour:

40 (1891, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1997, 2020).

Memorable Ulster Championship match:

Sunday, July 20, 1997

Cavan 1-14 Derry 0-16

CAVAN went into the 1997 Ulster final as underdogs against a Derry team that featured nine of the 15 who’d won the All-Ireland title in 1993, but they did enough on the day to end a 28-year wait for an Ulster title. Young sub Jason O’Reilly got the decisive goal while Ronan Carolan was top scorer with six points and having the honour of raising the famous Anglo Celt Cup was their legendary midfielder Stephen King, who had soldiered for 17 years for the county.

Wild Card:

Oisin Brady

The name Oisin Brady mightn’t register much on the national consciousness, but the Killygarry clubman is a really important footballer for Cavan. A reliable score-getter, full of running and so tidy in possession, his versatility is an underappreciated element of his game and he’s played just about everywhere for his club.

Captain

Ciarán Brady

IN 2024 and 2025, Brady shared captaincy duties with Padraig Faulkner, though this time he’s going it alone with the Kingscourt man away on his travels. Brady memorably led his club Arva to All-Ireland Intermediate honours in the 2023/24 season and has been a mainstay of the Cavan team for years. A model of consistency who was one of the leading lights in Cavan’s run to Ulster Championship honours in 2020, receiving an All-Star nomination later that year.

Manager

Dermot McCabe

A FAMILAR name to GAA fans for decades, McCabe is widely recognised as one of the best players to emerge from Cavan in the last half-century. This is his first year in charge of the Cavan senior footballers after a stint in Westmeath, while he also led his club Gowna to Cavan Senior Championship honours in 2022 and 2023. Before that, he was part of the backroom team that guided Cavan to an Ulster minor success in 2011. And then in 2020, he assisted Mickey Graham as the Breffnimen ended a 23-year wait for a provincial senior title.