Cavan hoping to end their Red Hand hoodoo

By Niall Gartland

RECORDS are there to be broken and all that but Cavan fans may feel squeamish enough about the prospect of facing Tyrone given their miserly record against the Red Hands over the course of the last four decades.

You have to spool the tape all the way back to 1983 for the last time they bettered Tyrone in championship football – a 0-11 to 0-10 victory on a searing hot day in Breffni Park in the first round of the Ulster Championship.

In the meantime, it’s been one-way traffic as far as results are concerned, barring two drawn encounters in 2005 and 2016 (Tyrone set the record straight in both replays)

This time last year, at least, they weren’t too far away. They reeled in an eight-point deficit to bring an Ulster Championship quarter-final showdown to extra-time, but still, they couldn’t finish the deal and Tyrone marched on.

So that’s the challenge facing Raymond Galligan’s side on Sunday week at O’Neill’s Healy Park with a place in the last four of the Ulster Championship up for grabs.

They’ve cause for optimism after a worrying start to the year, losing their opening two Division encounters by a cumulative 18 points, prompting a certain amount of fretting – understandably – among Cavan supporters and media.

Whatever the reason behind their slow start, it wasn’t tailspin territory and they embarked on a winning streak of four successive matches before dropping the ball at their unexpected shot at promotion with a narrow defeat to Cork on the final day. On the whole, however, it was a productive and encouraging league campaign.

On the personnel front, they’ve a strong core of players who led their charge to Ulster Championship honours in 2020. Jason McLoughlin and Padraig Faulkner remain key, while Dara McVeety – who missed their 2020 adventure – is equally revered among the Breffni faithful. There’s Gerard Smith, Ciarán Brady, James Smith, Killian Clarke, and the man himself, Gearoid McKiernan, who has been in tremendous form since deciding to return to the intercounty scene. Not too surprisingly, he’s made hay with the new two-pointer rule. Other lads who impressed at various junctures of their league campaign included Cian Madden, Sean McEvoy, Cormac O’Reilly up front and Brian O’Connell, Oisin Kiernan and Niall Carolan at the back, while newcomer Barry Donnelly has also done well.

It’s not all sunshine and lollipops: they could have no complaints about their defeat to Cork on the final day of the league, producing a fairly underpar performance, and they’re also sweating on the fitness of a number of key men who sat out their final league matches.

The majority should make a hasty return, though manager Raymond Galligan has reported that Oisin Brady, who has a hamstring injury, will be doing well to play any part against Tyrone, while long-term absentee Paddy Lynch, who received a setback in his recovery from an ACL injury earlier in the year, is also unlikely to feature. If Cavan progress, which is a big enough if, he may be in contention to line out in the Ulster Championship semi-final against either Armagh or Antrim.

In last year’s championship, Cavan flattered to deceive. They had a genuinely impressive win over Monaghan before giving it plenty, but they were pitted in a tough group stage of the All-Ireland (Dublin, Mayo and Roscommon) and their campaign fizzled out. Next Sunday’s game against Tyrone won’t define their year, but put it this way: if they do end their hoodoo against the Red Hands, it will be remembered for quite some time in the Breffni County.

Roll of honour:
40 (1891, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1997, 2020).

Memorable Ulster Championship match:
Sunday, July 20, 1997
Cavan 1-14 Derry 0-16
CAVAN went into the 1997 Ulster final as underdogs against a Derry team that featured nine of the 15 who’d won the All-Ireland title in 1993, but they did enough on the day to end a 28-year wait for an Ulster title. Young sub Jason O’Reilly got the decisive goal while Ronan Carolan was top scorer with six points and having the honour of raising the famous Anglo Celt Cup was their legendary midfielder Stephen King, who had soldiered for 17 years for the county.

Wild card: Sean McEvoy
FORMER Cavan minor and u-20 footballer Sean McEvoy spent three years in Baltimore on a soccer scholarship but he’s back on home turf and has made a strong impression since being drafted into the senior inter-county set-up. Scored three points off the bench in a badly needed win over Roscommon in mid-March and has talent to burn – is two-footed and has the ability to take on and beat defenders.

Captains: Padraig Faulkner and Ciarán Brady
FOR the second year running, Padraig Faulkner and Ciarán Brady share the captaincy. Two vastly experienced campaigners, Brady memorably led his club Arva to All-Ireland Intermediate honours in the 2023/24 season and has been playing some great stuff for Cavan this year. Versatile Kingscourt Stars footballer Padraig Faulkner likewise has been a central figure for club and county for years.

Manager: Raymond Galligan
LACKEN man Raymond Galligan is in his second year donning the bainisteoir bib, but he’s been part of the Cavan set-up for a lot longer than that. Galligan was renowed as one of the very best goalkeepers in the country for years and captained the team to their long-awaited provincial triumph in 2020. When Mickey Graham stepped down as manager following their 2024 championship exit, few would’ve anticipated that Galligan would be next in line but he threw his name into the hat and was appointed to the role. While there’s been a few low points, he’s done a good job and they came close to promotion to the top-flight this year.