Cavan manager Terry Hyland addresses the team after Sunday’s promotion clinching win over Galway

CAVAN will return to the top flight in 2017 after a 15-year absence and the Breffni faithful are starting to buy into the hype.

Terry Hyland’s side prevailed in a win or bust clash against Galway in front of a huge attendance at Breffni Park on Sunday, securing promotion and a place in the Division Two final against Tyrone in a fortnight’s time.

And in our own unscientific poll, nearly two-thirds of respondents agreed that Cavan would win a first Ulster Championship title since 1997 in the next three years.

Cavan are on a winning streak of five games and Hyland admits the county are delighted with their early-season exploits.

“It means a lot to the players who worked hard in the last number of years to try to achieved this. I know the county and supporters are delighted – we can only judge it within our own group but in fairness there’s been a lot of goodwill among the supporters.

“It was a championship type of game [against Galway]. From that point of view it was knock out, both teams went at it so the fans got value for money.”

With so much at stake, Cavan got off to a slow start against the Tribesmen. Asked whether it was a nerve-racking experience, Hyland said:

“Not really to be honest with you. It might’ve been the belief factor, I thought the lads could always react to whatever was going to happen. We felt we were in a good place coming into the game and from that point of view it wasn’t really (nerve-wracking).”