Character key to Cavan Gaels’ charge to Ulster final

By Niall Gartland

THE character embedded in the Cavan Gaels ladies team has brought them to the cusp of an Ulster Junior Championship title.

Mark Greaney’s side will take on Monaghan outfit Killeevan this Saturday for the title, but whatever happens, 2025 will live long in the memory of the club.

Cavan Gaels had lost out on county final day on three successive years before achieving sweet redemption with a resounding victory against Killinkere. They persevered and got their reward, and they decided they would put just as much effort into their provincial campaign.

Killygarry clubman Greaney, who is in his first year at the helm, said: “It shows a lot of resilence and character that they’ve kept on coming back for more. It would have been easy to duck away and to say ‘this isn’t for us.”

“I suppose when they got to their first final on this journey, they were very young.

“The vast majority were minors at the time. They’ve matured as players, then we’ve also a few girls who are a little bit older who have been very important as well.”

The Gaels qualified for the final following a rollercoaster encounter with Tyrone representatives Drumragh. The match went to extra-time and finished up 3-11 to 3-10 on the scoreboard following a last-minute free from Katie Leddy. Again, there was no shortage of heart.

“That was a brilliant game, and our girls said it was one of the hardest games we ever played. We also recently played a league final against Cornafean in Cavan, and it has to be replayed, so we’ve had two really tough games in the last couple of years.

“I keep going back to the character and the resilience in the group – we were ahead for a lot of the game but Drumragh game strong and we had to dig really deep to come through it.”

Standing in Cavan Gael’s way of a county and provincial double is Killeevan. One of the tricky thing about preparing for these matches is simply finding out information about opponents.

“It can be next to impossible,” said Greaney. “We played Teconnaught on the first day in Down and couldn’t find any footage that would give us a little bit of an insight into the way they played.

“It was similar against Drumragh, but we were able to get to their quarter-final. That was against Devenish and it was a terrible day, the weather was just atrocious so it was still hard to know what type of team they were.”

A fortnight’s lead-in to the final has also given Cavan Gaels a chance to recharge the batteries after a really busy spell.

“The Drumragh game was our sixth in seven weeks so I think this little bit of a break in between has done us the world of good.

“There were a few tired legs and niggles that needed to be sorted out. In terms of preparations, things are going well and the girls are really focused. They’re coming from college in Derry and Dublin and all sorts of places to make training which is great I have to say.”