By Shaun Casey

SEMI-FINALS are for winning is how the old saying goes, but Cavan Gaels manager Mark Greaney believes that all games are for winning. And his side are hoping to continue their winning streak and reach an Ulster final.

Tyrone champions Drumragh are the latest opponents to cross paths with the Cavan outfit, and they clash on Saturday afternoon. Drumragh, who defeated Devenish last weekend in a game that incredibly was 0-0 to 0-0 at the break, will have home advantage.

Greaney was lucky enough to attend that game on Sunday past and got to witness first-hand the challenge his side will face this weekend.

“I always heard that phrase that semi-finals are for winning but personally, I think all matches are for winning,” he said.

“Whether you’re in a quarter-final, a semi-final or a final, if you win or lose you have a feeling of exhilaration or you’re down on yourself. When it’s knockout, it is important whether you win or you lose so I think all games are for winning.

“We’ll go up to Drumragh at the weekend and we’ll give it our best shot. We went to their game last week, so I have an idea of what they are like, but the weather was so poor, there was a gale blowing down the field through the whole game, so it was hard to get a feel.

“I don’t know if the weather done justice to either team. There were sheets of rain coming down as well but I was able to see that they have a couple of very strong players, especially down the middle so it’s good to have a little bit of a gauge before you play a team.”

It’s a quick turnaround, going from one weekend to the next, but Cavan Gaels – who can count former Armagh star Marian McGuinness amongst their numbers – have no complaints. They’re happy to keep playing matches and from their perspective, happy to keep their winning run on track.

“We have a seven-day turnaround so it’s good to keep the ball moving when it is moving and continuing with the momentum.

“We’ve only had one week in the last five or six where we had no game between championship, league semi-finals, league final.

“The league final is actually going to a replay and then it’s straight into Ulster and we’re looking forward now to next Saturday because we have momentum, so I’d like to keep it going.”

The week-by-week approach is great for momentum but with little recovery time between games, it can impact the players on the field. Greaney says they have tailored training to give his girls the best possible opportunity to perform at their maximum level.

“It’s more fatigue and a few niggles more so than any long-term injuries,” he added. “It’s tightness and soreness with games week after week so we’re just trying to manage the workload at training and what we’re doing at training.

“We have no long-term injuries thankfully, which is great, but it’s just those niggles that you have to manage and that every team has to manage.”