While Cavan ladies certainly didn't finish 2010 empty-handed, they were left gutted after their All-Ireland IFC semi-final exit at the hands of a Waterford side which they had conquered twice previous during the season. The good news though is that manager Adrian McGovern has decided to give it another year as his team bid for that elusive All-Ireland crown.  

When Templeport native Adrian McGovern took over the reins of this Cavan side in December of last year he was thinking big for the future. Promotion back to Division Two of the National Football League and an All-Ireland intermediate championship title were top of the agenda, simply because he knew that he had the right ingredients in his squad to do it. 
However, for all their talent and grafting in recent years, luck has been something to have totally deserted this Cavan group, particularly when it comes to the All-Ireland championship stage, and unfortunately this past summer proved no different as a below par performance saw McGovern's charges dumped out of the series at the last four stage by Waterford at Dr Cullen Park in Carlow.
The defeat saw a year that had promised so much go up un smoke for Cavan, having won their first ten competitive outings of the season before losing the Ulster intermediate championship final by a mere point.
The first test of the year for the Breffni women came in early February against main rivals Fermanagh in Enniskillen, where the hosts would be in for a rude awakening.
"We played our local rivals Fermanagh first and beat them by seven points. The girls were all really up for that game and it was a great win for us to start off with because the games between us and them have been very close in recent years," stated McGovern.
A good start is often half the battle when it comes to a team full of potential and, to no surprise, McGovern's side wouldn't look back for the remainder of the league campaign as they chomped up another six wins on the trot to qualify for the semi-finals. Longford (0-13 to 0-3), Westmeath (2-17 to 0-2), Wexford (1-12 to 1-3) and Roscommon (5-20 to 1-6) were all put to the sword in convincing fashion by a clearly hungry Cavan outfit.
By the end of March, Cavan were closing in on promotion as goals from Aisling Doonan and Aisling Traynor saw them record a sixth win on the bounce against Wicklow on a 2-12 to 1-6 score-line. After that, all roads led to Walsh Park as Cavan took on Waterford to make sure of their place in the last four and in the end it was a grind for McGovern's charges, who were inspired by the scores of Aisling Doonan in the second-half to claim a 0-12 to 1-6 victory.
Two weeks later and a resounding 3-19 to 1-4 win over Wexford eased Cavan through to the final, where a second meeting with Waterford in the space of a month would decide which way the Division Three title was going.
Played in perfect conditions at Parnell Park, it was the Deise women that had made the better start to the game with an early goal propelling them into the lead but it seemed nothing could stop a Cavan side which were evidently up for it once the deadly Grainne Smith smashed in her team's first goal. Further majors from ace Bronagh Sheridan and Roisin O'Keefe after that had the Blues in the driving-seat by half-time, with a comfortable 3-4 to 1-5 advantage.
Once Brid Boylan plundered in a fourth goal on the three quarter mark the writing was on the wall for Cavan, as Ailish Cornyn and Rosie Crowe contributed points from outfield to go along with scores from Smith, Sheridan and O'Keefe to wrap up the win and ensure that team captain Pamela Crowe would be raising the Cup aloft much to the joy of the Breffni contingent.
Cavan (NFL Div 3 final v Waterford): Karen Baxter; Ciara Reilly, Joanne Moore, Claire Kearns; Renee Murphy, Ailish Cornyn (0-1), Catriona Smith; Rosie Crowe (0-1), Claire Murtagh; Pamela Crowe (0-1), Roisin O'Keefe (1-1), Grainne Smith (1-2); Brid Boylan (1-0), Bronagh Sheridan (1-2), Aisling Doonan. Subs: Donna English, Clara Reilly, Sharon Cassidy, Grainne McGlade.  
"We went unbeaten throughout the whole of the league and won the semi-final comfortably, so it was important that we beat Waterford in that final," McGovern explained.
"It was a good game and they really put it up to us in Parnell Park that day. Thankfully, we came through. Pamela Crowe was our captain, and a good captain she was too, and it was great for her to get a chance to lift a national title on the team's behalf."
Crowe herself dedicated the win to late Crosserlough clubman Tom Dowd, who was a pioneer of ladies football at county and national level.
"It's a massive honour to captain this team and lift the Division Three Cup," Crowe said after the 4-13 to 1-10 win over Waterford.
"We've wanted this from the start of the season and we have done it in memory of Tom Dowd. The girls truly deserve this win today. They have put everything into being here, and this is certainly not the end." 
It certainly wasn't "the end" for Cavan as come the start of July they would be back into another final after defeating Antrim in the last four of the Ulster intermediate championship to set-up a showdown with Donegal in Clones.
In a riveting clash, between two evenly matches sides, Cavan, who would be without the services of Killygarry ace Grainne Smith for the remainder of the season through a hip problem, came back from a six-point deficit to storm into the lead only to be denied the title by a late Donegal goal which saw the Breffni women miss out by a single point.
"It was a tough defeat to take," admitted McGovern. "After falling six or seven points behind, the girls did brilliant to overturn it and go in front but it was that goal that really killed us and they ended up winning by a point.
"Donegal are a strong side and by the end of that game we believed that we were just as strong as they after only losing to them by one.
"We played them a week later in the first round of the All-Ireland championship up in Donegal and they beat us by five or six points and it left us needing to win the rest of our games in the group to get through to the semi-finals."
After their first two defeats of the season had come on the bounce, Cavan were in bad need of victory to salvage their season. They made the short journey to Enniskillen once more on July 17 and put forth a first-class performance to end Fermanagh's All-Ireland IFC hopes on a 3-17 to 1-11 score-line.
McGovern's team still had it all to do though, as the win meant that their remaining group game against Westmeath became 'make-or-break' if they were to progress to the semi-finals. When the two sides had met earlier on in the league, it was the Blues that came away with a 21-point victory from Mullahoran.
However, McGovern's charges couldn't afford to be complacent against their Leinster opponents with so much at stake.
The two teams collided at St Aidan's Park in Bawnboy and played-out a well-balanced first-half which saw Cavan lead by 2-6 to 1-8 at the break thanks to the goals of Lacken duo Rosie Crowe and Roisin O'Keefe. Claragh Reilly (free) and Bronagh Sheridan stretched the hosts' advantage to three points. Westmeath hit back, but scores from Renee Murphy and Aisling Doonan made sure Cavan would finish four-point victors (2-14 to 1-13) to make their way into the semi-finals of the All-Ireland intermediate series along with Waterford, Donegal and Longford.
After that, all roads led to Dr Cullen Park on August 28 as Cavan bidded to reach a long-awaited All-Ireland IFC final at Waterford's expense.
An early goal from Elaine Power wasn't the start that Cavan desired but they managed to narrow their deficit down to two points at the break thanks to scores from Bronagh Sheridan, Claragh O'Reilly and Aisling Doonan, who had been leading the way in the scoring stakes for her county all season long. The Templeport ace edged Cavan closer to levelling the game in the second-half, before Bronagh Sheridan finally did when her effort at an open goal ended up flashing over the bar to put the teams even on 1-6 to 0-9.
The Ulster side looked well-positioned to take their first lead in the game, but instead it was Waterford that upped the ante considerably, scoring seven unanswered points as Cavan heads dropped after watching their chances come off the upright or drift wide. By the time the long whistle had sounded it was the Deise women that had a 1-14 to 1-10 victory to celebrate.
McGovern was as disappointed as any of the Breffni contingent with the result.
 "It's hard to tell whether it was complacency or just a poor performance that let us down that day," he said, "but it just seemed like no matter what we done we were never going to win that game. We hit the post and the crossbar and missed a lot of chances and there was huge disappointment after that game because we still could have won it, even after playing so badly."
The defeat saw another chance slip away for the Cavan ladies and another season end on a low-note, but McGovern is optimistic for the team in 2011.
"It will be the same management team again next year, with myself, Sean Feeney (Killeshandra), Caroline Crowe (Cornafean) and Lily Reilly (Lacken)," McGovern confirmed.
"We're hoping to have Grainne Smith back from a hip injury - she was brilliant throughout the league and was a huge blow for us in the championship - and we have a couple of good minors coming through.
"Hopefully, next year we can step it up again and push for a Division Two semi-final and that All-Ireland championship title. We've played challenge matches against the likes of Monaghan and Galway and with a full squad we're capable of putting it up to the best." Tweet

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