Cavan pick up steam

THERE’S nothing like a few wins to satiate supporters and Cavan have certainly turned things around in the space of a few short weeks.

After back-to-back defeats to Monaghan and Meath, Raymond Galligan’s team had nothing to show for their efforts heading into their round three match against Louth.

But they won that and it was the same again against Westmeath, recovering from a 12-point deficit at half-time to claim a 1-22 to 0-21 in an incident-packed match.

The subplot to that match was the man at the Westmeath helm – Cavan legend Dermot McCabe, employed as full time Games Development Officer by the Cavan County Board – but really, what was of the most highest priority was getting another two precious league points and they’ve taken a big step towards staying up by overcoming the Lake County.

So where now? They still sit in sixth place, which isn’t particularly healthy-sounding on paper, but Division Two is ferociously competitive this year with league leaders Monaghan and Meath on six points each. The margins are wafer thin and Cavan could still feasibly push for promotion if they pick up a head of steam in the coming weeks.

It’s another big tie this Saturday as they get set to host Conor Laverty’s Down, who were unfortunate to lose by a single point to Louth at the weekend.

They may only have one win under their belts, but they’ve been very competitive and are in desperate need of a positive result so they’ll be primed for battle.

The last time they met in the National League was in a Division Three encounter in 2023, two goals from Paddy Lynch (still working his way back from an ACL injury) propelling Cavan to a 2-14 to 1-10 victory.

There were plenty of plus points from Cavan’s win in Westmeath; they stitched together some brilliant attacking moves after the break, played with serious heart and endeavour and had big individual performances from team leaders like Padraig Faulkner and Gearóid McKiernan.

Speaking after the game, manager Galligan said there had been a lot of ‘soul searching’ at half-time, but weather conditions certainly factored into their 12-point deficit and they narrowed the gap to three points by the 45-minute mark.

It’s hard to avoid the positive conclusion that they’ve turned a corner, and they’ll go into Saturday’s game against the Mourne men with a renewed sense of confidence. Win and they’ll definitely avoid relegation, and what’s more, they can turn their attention to a tilt at possible promotion, though that still looks like an unlikely enough outcome to their campaign.