Cavan’s Greene eyes an All-Ireland improvement

By Michael McMullan

ULSTER intermediate champions Cavan have their eyes on improvement from last season’s All-Ireland run.

That’s the view of Sinéad Greene ahead of Sunday’s visit of Roscommon to Kingspan Breffni Park.

It’s exciting times for ladies football in Cavan. Retaining their Ulster title can inspire the successful swathe of underage players across the county.

“Getting up to Division One is probably the most exciting thing, it’s something that we’ve never actually managed to achieve before,” added Greene, a key player as they now take aim at the All-Ireland series.

“It was very, very satisfying to be part of the team who did manage to finally get up to the top flight.

“We were in two Division Two finals in 2017 and 2018, but, back then, you had to win it to go up.”

Cavan captain Lynch relieved to get over the line

Greene is fully aware of the potential within Cavan but was beginning to question when, as a senior group, they’d push on towards a place at the top table.

Within a few seasons of winning the 2013 All-Ireland intermediate title, it was a constant battle in relegation play-offs to stay up.

“I did wonder why it wasn’t clicking at senior level, when you have all that success and girls who know how to win,” Greene points out.

“At the minute, it’s coming good. For the first time in a long time, there’s several girls who’ve stepped straight up from minor.

“They are starting, and coming on and playing big roles on the senior team, which probably hasn’t happened before.”

It comes from school and club efforts that then grew into the underage ranks before knocking at the door at senior level.

“I can’t describe how nice it is to be experiencing a little bit of success again,” Greene said of the current footballing experience in the county.

With the promotion and Ulster Championship boxes ticked, the icing on the cake would be going up the Hogan Stand steps to lift another piece of silverware.

Greene doesn’t go there. That’s a goal they can only look if it comes around the corner at them.

For now, they’ve Roscommon this weekend before a second group game against Down.

Regret

The regret of not pushing on as Ulster champions last year is fresh in the mind and has been mentioned ahead of this weekend’s game.

“We were saying the other night at training that we won the league last year and then we won the Ulster title,” Greene explains.

“After that, we actually only managed to win one more game, which was a group game against Wicklow. That was really disappointing for us.

“We want to try and make sure that something similar doesn’t happen this year.

“We know that the talent is there but at the same time we know talent doesn’t win anything for you, there are a lot of other factors. All eyes are on Roscommon, then it’ll be all eyes on Down.

“Fingers crossed, then we can be looking at an All-Ireland quarter-final. We fell at that hurdle last year, so were really hoping this year that we can push on beyond that stage.”

The other Ulster team in All-Ireland intermediate action this weekend is Monaghan. They’ll be hoping to put the recent Ulster final disappointment behind them when they face Westmeath on Sunday in Mullingar.

Ulster junior champions Antrim begin their All-Ireland campaign on Sunday when they entertain Offaly.

The Saffrons were promoted to Division Two ahead of next season but they still have the desire at national level after coming up short in last season’s All-Ireland final.