WHERE were you when Conor Madden slammed home the winning goal in last year’s Ulster Championship final? Okay, on the couch probably, but there’s no doubt it was one of the most memorable moments in recent GAA history.

They had done it; they had driven a stake through the heart of Declan Bonner’s Donegal after 70 minutes of high-octane, fearless football and in doing so brought the Anglo Celt back to Cavan for the first time in 23 years.

It was the climax of a thrilling Ulster Championship campaign, putting their relegation to Division Three temporarily to one side as they overcame their fiercest rivals Monaghan in the preliminary round before accounting for Antrim and Down en-route to the final.

Their dramatic turnaround in fortunes is somewhat hard to believe as they were fairly average throughout the league, and they slipped through the relegation trapdoor with a narrow defeat to Roscommon in the penultimate round.

Moreover, they were missing some of their key men heading into the championship. Cian Mackey had called it a day while Dara McVeety and Conor Moynagh decided to go travelling, so nobody but the most optimistic Cavan fan would’ve anticipated they’d go one better than in 2019, when they were well beaten in the Ulster final by Donegal.

But Mickey Graham seems to have the midas touch, and they pulled off an unbelievable comeback against Monaghan in the preliminary round, with Raymond Galligan pointing an awe-inspiring free to win the game deep into extra-time.

They were choppy enough the next day out against Antrim, and then, in their fifth match in as many weeks, they fought their way back into the game once again to claim a victory against Paddy Tally’s Down.

The Breffni  county tore into Donegal from the opening whistle in the final at the Athletic Grounds, inspired by a sensational performance from Thomas Galligan, who seemed to play with no regard to his own health and safety. They really went for broke, largely nullifying the considerable threat of Michael Murphy and Ryan McHugh, and got their just rewards when Conor Madden hit that late goal to see them across the line.

The celebrations after the game will live long in the memory, even though there were no fans there to witness it in person, and in fairness they didn’t lose the run of themselves and gave a stellar performance against Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final (the Dubs still won fairly handily, but sure isn’t that always the way?)

The season ended on another high note as the two Galligans and Padraig Faulkner won All-Stars, and it’s fair to say that Cavan won’t forget 2020 in a hurry.

Championship is king but Graham will want promotion 

THINGS can change very suddenly in football, and while there’s no pressure on Mickey Graham as we write this, a poor league campaign could change all that.

But even if they do struggle in their Division Three North group against Derry, Longford and Fermanagh, it would be silly to jump to any sort of conclusions.

It seems fairly evident from Graham’s first two seasons in charge that the championship takes major precedence in his thinking, with the league a mere warm-up act.

His affable exterior belies a keen tactical mind, and there’s no logical reason why Cavan can’t be just as good as last year under his watch.

Starting spots up for grabs 

THERE won’t be wholesale changes in the Cavan panel in 2021. Mickey Graham confirmed a number of new additions when speaking on the We Are Cavan podcast last week, namely Sean McEvoy, Caoimhin McGovern and Brian O’Connell, and there’s talk that talented forward Caoimhin O’Reilly is back after a sabbatical as well.

That’s pretty much your lot – Dara McVeety and Conor Moynagh aren’t expected to be involved with the intercounty set-up this season, but that’s not to say that places aren’t up for grabs in the starting 15.

Conor Madden had to be content with a place on the sub’s bench for much of the championship as he was only coming back from injury.

He made a serious impact when he was brought into the action, and actually started their semi-final against Dublin.

Even All-Star Thomas Galligan was a sub in the early rounds of Ulster, but it’s a safe bet that’ll be on the starting 15 this year as long as he keeps his form, while stalwarts like Gearoid McKiernan and Martin Reilly are likely to hold onto their starting jerseys.

In terms of room for improvement, their inside forward line didn’t tend to shoot the lights out, though Madden’s return to fitness is a big boost.

Mickey Graham is a shrewd operator and will have learnt a lot from their defeat to Dublin, but the most important thing is that the team is psychologically clued in.

They may have won the Ulster title, but they won’t want it to be considered a fluke, so it’ll be fascinating to see how they get on