All-Ireland Senior Championship Group A Round 2

Cavan v Mayo

Sunday, Pearse Park, 1:45pm

By Shaun Casey

AFTER a difficult opening day defeat to Dublin, Cavan are hoping to bounce back on Sunday when they take on Mayo.

Breffni centre half forward Lauren McVeety, who scored 1-2 of her sides 2-4 last weekend, was injured when Mayo defeated Cavan 1-18 to 0-15 in last year’s All-Ireland series, and the Crosserlough native is under no illusions of the task her side face this weekend.

“I think they built up a bit of a lead and it was maybe a bit too much for us to claw back (against Mayo last year),” said McVeety.

“I think we’ll all be looking forward to it and we know we’re not a million miles away if we get our structure right and get a good performance overall, we know we’re as good as teams like Mayo and we’re really looking forward to it.

“Mayo are a very experienced team, they’ve been there or there abouts and they’re in Division One and know what it’s like to play against the bigger teams and the bigger names so we’re up against it.

“We’re under no illusions it’ll be an absolutely massive task but look, we’re hoping to take the positives out of our performance and just build on them.

“If we can get a good performance, I’m sure it’ll be a good game.”

Cavan survived in an All-Ulster section of Division Two, finishing third in a group consisting of Armagh, Tyrone and Monaghan. McVeety believes that playing against teams from a higher grade such as 2020 All-Ireland champions Dublin and Mayo will demonstrate to Gerry Moane’s side the standard they want to reach.

“I suppose we knew going into that game against Dublin they’re, if not the best, then one of the best in the country in the last couple of years.

“They’re a savage outfit and they have a great setup, and we knew we were up against it coming into it.

“I think there were lots of things you could take out of the game. We played well in parts, and I think we just need to build on the positive things that we did during the game.

“We won’t be looking backwards anyway, we’ll be looking forward to the game next weekend.”

“When you’re in Division Two you’re against teams of a similar standard but coming up against Dublin you definitely see where you want to be.

“I think that was great for us and definitely a good learning experience for us. It’s something that we would really like to get to that you’d be playing teams like that more often.

“Division Two, it’s a tough one to get out of, there’s such a high standard to try and get out of it.

“It’s definitely something we’re aiming for in the next year, you can only ensure progression when you’re playing the best teams in the country week in, week out.”