ULSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL

MONAGHAN V CAVAN

Sunday, Clones, 3pm

By Niall Gartland

HERE’S a quote to whet the appetite. The late, great Nudie Hughes, Monaghan to the bone, giving his take on their ever-combustible rivalry with Cavan.

“The goading is relentless. “When we were going well in the ’80s and winning a first Ulster title for 41 years, all you heard from Cavan people was their glory years. You’re never let forget it. You’re standing up one end of the pitch waiting on the ball to come down to you and all you’re hearing is, ‘How many All-Irelands have you?’

“This was from boys who weren’t even born when Cavan were winning All-Irelands. They mightn’t even have been born the last time they won Ulster. But that glory years stuff is in their DNA. Those Cavan people will always have that over Monaghan people until Monaghan win an All-Ireland. Even though it’s all past tense, their ancestors have five All-Irelands and that’s the beginning and end of all conversations as far as they’re concerned.”

That particular offering, in case you were wondering, was part of a feature piece by Irish Times writer Malachy Clerkin that set the backdrop for their 2015 Ulster Championship encounter. Monaghan won by a point and there was a similar outcome when they met again two years later.

Since then though, Cavan have had the whip hand – they’ve come out on top of their provincial showdowns in 2019, 2020 and 2024 and they’ll be hoping to maintain their winning streak in Sunday’s first-round encounter at Clones. And to cut to the chase, it’s a toss of a coin.

Psychologically (oh dear, here comes the armchair psychologist…), Cavan be may the more settled camp heading into the championship area. Monaghan have been gutted by injuries, and worse, their league campaign was characterised by defeat. One after another.

Gabriel Bannigan’s men didn’t register a single positive result from day one (a hammering job against Armagh) to the final weekend, where they lost a high-scoring duel with Donegal by 3-20 to 3-15.

They had some poor outings but can take heart from their showing against Donegal – three goals, including a superb individual effort from Stephen O’Hanlon, though the defence was rocky enough down the other end. Still, it was a stressful campaign and their final points difference of -67 says it all about their travails.

The Oriel have been desperately unlucky on the injury front with Ryan McAnespie, Conor McCarthy and Gary Mohan among the walking wounded (and that’s not an exhaustive list – Killian Lavelle, Dylan Byrne, Stephen Mooney and Michael Hamill have also been sidelined). It’ll be interesting to see who among them, if any, will see action on Sunday though Hamill definitely isn’t in line for a return.

Cavan’s season thus far has been a curate’s egg. A couple of wins, near-misses against Cork and Meath, and a few bad enough defeats. Still, they avoided the relegation backdoor and enter this season’s championship on the back of a promising display against Derry on the final day of the league, even if that game ended in defeat.

For example, they scored three two-pointers against the Oak Leafers, an improvement on previous matches, and there’s promising news on the injury front as well.

Longer-term absentees Cian Reilly, Evan Rowe and Barry Donnelly are edging closer to a return, while Ryan Brady and Paddy Meade, who missed a chunk of the league, are also on the road to recovery. Niall Carolan is back, meanwhile, after picking up a knock. Old reliables like Dara McVeety, Ciaran ‘Holla’ Brady and Jason McLoughlin have also been in a rich vein of form, as they usually are. They’ll be at the coalface of their efforts against the Farney, no doubt.

On a less positive note, Paddy Lynch, who was outstanding on the edge of the square before wrecking his ACL two years ago, is struggling for form, while they seemed far too reliant on Gearoid McKiernan – now in his mid-thirties and with a lot of football behind him – in the middle in that outing against Derry. A concession rate of 23 points a game in the the league doesn’t make for great reading either.

So, the million dollar question – who’s it going to be? It’s difficult to make for a concrete prediction. Defeat would represent a stinging disappointment for either team – whatever about the rivalry, it’s an eminently winnable tie. Monaghan’s injury-list though – it’s a real headache for Gabriel Bannigan and maybe, just maybe, it could swing the tie in Cavan’s favour.

Verdict: Cavan