By Niall Gartland

IT’S tight at the top of the Lory Meagher competition with two rounds of group stage remaining – and the Cavan hurlers are firmly in the mix for a place in the showpiece final for the second year running.

This time last year they fell at the last hurdle against New York at Croke Park – a match defined by the controversial inclusion of New York in the first place (this time around they’re trying their hand at the Nickey Rackard Cup and again they will be parachuted into the competition at the semi-final stage, but that’s for another day).

Cavan sit third in the table heading into their penultimate round fixture against Longford this Saturday at Kingspan Breffni. Longford are second, while table-toppers Leitrim await in the final round. It’s a tough run-in then.

We’ve caught up for a chat with Cavan hurler Shane Briody ahead of this weekend’s clash against Longford. He first picked up a hurl at 28 back in 2018 but it’s safe to say he’s never looked back. Indeed, he has barely missed a single minute of action in recent years under Cavan boss Ollie Bellew. He acknowledges there’s much more intrigue about this year’s championship given New York are out of the picture.

“It’s definitely more exciting. The whole competition is wide open and hard to predict – if you look at previous rounds, Monaghan beat us convincingly and then lost to Warwickshire who we’d beaten ourselves. I think nearly every team apart from Warwickshire can still finish in the top two. It could come down to luck with injuries and things like that.

“Last year was frustrating the way it panned out with New York entering at the semi-final stage. I think there’ll be more giving out in the coming months as they could end up winning the Nickey Rackard.”

Frustration

Indeed, the frustration was so great after New York swooped in to win last year’s title that a sizable number of seasoned Cavan players opted out this year. It’s to the team’s credit that they’ve continued to produce very credible performances.

“From the final, I suppose we’re missing maybe eight or nine starters. Then a few other good lads around Cavan couldn’t commit. We’re down a lot of bodies but still managing to scrape results. If you could get everyone together on the pitch, we’d be a match for any team at the lower tiers I think.”

Briody was determined to stay on though, despite his advancing years! He struggles with groin problems but says it’s a case of managing his symptoms.

“To be fair, we’ve a couple of good young lads coming through. I’m 35 this year. I completely focus on the hurling for the first part of the year, and once that finishes up, I’m back out with the football for Ballyhaise. I’m trying to mind myself basically, I have osteoarthritis of the groin and it flares up now and again, but touch wood this year has gone well on that front. I try to keep active outside of hurling and football and that helps.”