2014 to date
Cavan will be playing in Division 2 of the national football league in 2015, they won each of their 8 league games in Division 3 before losing a high-scoring final to Roscommon in Croke Park. Their u21 side won their fourth Ulster title in-a-row and lead Dublin the whole way through their All-Ireland semi-final before falling behind in injury time to lose by 0-11 to 0-10.
Armagh were relegated from Division 2, despite finishing level with Galway on 5 points they had an inferior head-to-head losing by four points in Round 6. It’s been a poor couple of years in the Orchard County, they’ve won just two Ulster Championship games since beating Fermanagh in the Ulster final of 2008 after a replay. With Kieran McGeeney involved with the backroom team now, will they be more tactically astute?
2014 League Stats
2013 Championship
These two met last year and set the tone for their respective seasons; Armagh produced perhaps the most tactically inept performance in Breffni, allowing debutant Martin Dunne the freedom of the forward line to kick nine points. Cian Mackey ran 45 yards unopposed before scoring the crucial goal in that game and another debutant Jason McLoughlin kept Jamie Clarke scoreless, albeit with a little help from his captain Alan Clarke.
Cavan went on to beat Fermanagh and lose to Monaghan by just a point in the Ulster semi-finals. They beat Derry at the death in Round 3 of the qualifiers, got by London in Croke Park before falling to Kerry at the quarter-final stage.
After losing to Cavan, Armagh racked up big wins against Wicklow (+25) and Leitrim (+27), before bowing up to Galway who had scraped by Tipperary and Waterford.
Cavan won four Championship games last year, you’d have to go back 6 years to have seen their previous four Championship triumphs; vs. Antrim 2008, vs. Fermanagh 2009, vs. Wicklow 2010 and vs. Fermanagh in 2012.
Armagh - Played 4 - W2 D0 L2
- Ulster SFC preliminary round - Armagh 1-11 1-15 Cavan
- AIQ Round 1 - Armagh 2-21 0-02 Wicklow
- AIQ Round 2 - Armagh 8-13 0-10 Leitrim
- AIQ Round 3 - Armagh 0-09 1-11 Galway
Cavan - Played 6 - W4 D0 L2
- Ulster SFC preliminary round - Cavan 1-15 1-11 Armagh
- Ulster SFC quarter-final - Cavan 0-13 0-11 Fermanagh
- Ulster SFC semi-final - Cavan 0-12 1-10 Monaghan
- AIQ round 3 - Cavan 1-22 0-20 Derry
- AIQ round 4 - Cavan 1-17 1-08 London
- All-Ireland quarter-finals - Cavan 0-09 0-15 Kerry
- Team News
There are no debutants in the Cavan side to play Armagh this Sunday. Terry Hyland handed Championship debuts to 14 players in 2011 and 2012. 12 of the team who started last year’s opening round victory over Armagh start once again. An all-star nominee last year, Killian Clarke has left the panel for the summer to play football in the States.
Gearoid McKiernan plays his first Championship game in two years following cruciate injuries, and he partners David Givney in midfield. Jack Brady and Martin Reilly also come into the fifteen.
Just six of the Armagh team who started last year’s Ulster opener against Cavan are named to start on Sunday. Aaron Kernan is the most high-profile absentee as he hasn’t returned from injury in time. Aaron Findon, an u21, makes his debut at midfield.
Cavan: Conor Gilsenan; Jason McLoughlin, Rory Dunne, Fergal Flanagan; James McEnroe, Alan Clarke (capt), Damien O'Reilly; David Givney, Gearoid McKiernan; Cian Mackey, Niall McDermott, Martin Reilly; Eugene Keating, Martin Dunne, Jack Brady.
Armagh: Philip McEvoy; James Morgan, Charlie Vernon, Andy Mallon; Mark Shields, Brendan Donaghy, Ciaran McKeever; Kieran Toner, Aaron Findon; Eugene McVerry, Kevin Dyas, Caolan Rafferty; Jamie Clarke, Ethan Rafferty, Stefan Campbell.
Talking Points
1) Much like Roscommon, the question remains whether Cavan can transform their underage dominance into silverware at senior level; A minor and four u21 Ulster Championships in four years shows the strides the county are making. Last year’s Championship was promising, but they’ll have envisaged themselves in Monaghan’s shoes last year and ending their Ulster Senior Football Championship drought (1997). Can they do it this year?
2) Everyone are writing off Armagh, and going by recent records, probably rightly so. They can’t have gone that bad though, can they? Surely with McGeeney involved now they can turn it around and produce a big performance at home to beat this Cavan side who are on the rise?
The winners will face Monaghan/Tyrone on June 28th in the Ulster SFC semi-final
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