After a disappointing 2007, Cavan's minor side were within five minutes of booking their place in the Ulster MFC decider last year. Sadly, though, it wasn't to be for Mickey Graham's young men as Tyrone's late rally denied them a chance for provincial glory. Mickey Graham may well have hit the nail on the head in his after match comments of Cavan's heartbreaking two-point defeat at the hands of the O'Neill County when he said: "These boys will learn from this and they can keep their heads up". Indeed the Breffni boys came up against a more experienced Tyrone side at St. Tiernach's Park, Clones in the closing days of June where they were the victims of a smash and grab act by the Red Hands after Kevin Tierney's goal looked to have them on their way to an Ulster final. After leading Drumalee to the county intermediate championship title in 2006, Graham's appointment to the Cavan minor post brought about much optimism for Breffni supporters, as the Cavan Gaels clubman prepared to test his side in the Ulster Minor League before they took on Antrim in the preliminary rounds of the ESB Ulster MFC on May 18. The former county senior's installment as minor boss had almost come hand-in-hand with Sean Pierson (Gowna) and Mickey Lee (Drumalee) being brought in as his selectors along with Paul McCorey (Butlersbridge) as team trainer. The panel had its first meeting in late December and each player was given their own personal training drills to abide by if they wanted to make the cut. Needless to say some made it and some didn't, but the management team stuck with a squad of 30 odd dedicated players for the league campaign. A losing start to Meath in Kingscourt on March 15th was not the ideal start Graham and his team were looking for as they went down to the Royals by a single point with Daragh McManamon's goal spelling Cavan's first competitive defeat of the year. However the sun was on the horizon for Cavan, even if they didn't know it yet, as Graham's young men would go on to record four victories in their remaining games of their Ulster League campaign. Four points from Niall McDermott were instrumental in the Breffni County getting their first competitive win under Graham as they pipped Dublin by a point (0-10 to 0-9) in Corduff, Monaghan the following week for a coveted win over the Metropolitans. Cavan's first Ulster challenge came in the form of Armagh at the close of March and the Orchard County were put to the sword in a comprehensive 0-15 to 1-5 victory, a result that would prove to give Graham's charges needed confidence as the season transpired. In April, the young Breffni men saw off both Down (2-9 to 1-6) and Monaghan (1-12 to 1-4) to take the points from their remaining games, but a place in the league final was not to be as the first round loss to Meath proved costly to the Breffni County and it was the Royals who advanced to decider eventually losing out to Tyrone after a replay. More importantly though for Cavan their winning performances against Ulster opposition in the league would have given themselves the belief that they had every opportunity of capturing the ESB Ulster MFC title when it came around in a month's time. Cavan's defence had been impressive during the league campaign, conceding just 4-31 in five matches with the likes of Marc Leddy, Dara Tighe and Fergal Flanagan outstanding along with Bailieborough's Alan O'Mara in the last line. At the centre of the field team captain Oisin Minagh had done Trojan work and Swanlinbar ace Gearoid McKiernan had chipped in with some vital scores, while demonstrating great skill and pace on his trademark forward runs. In attack, they notched up 3-45 with two of the goals coming from the trusty boot of Robert-Maloney Derham in the closing two games while fellow Cavan Gaels man Niall Murray had got the other in the revengeful thumping of Down following last year's Championship defeat. However, central figures Niall McDermott and Kevin Tierney would no doubt be the ones looked to in the coming months if Cavan were to make their mark in the Championship. Cavan's new management had knitted together a winning side for the visit to Antrim and promising performances against Sligo and Derry post-league suggested that the Breffni boys would do the business in Belfast, but the manager put the emphasis on the performance that he hoped the team would put in against the Saffrons. Before the trip to Casement Park, Graham stated: "They're 30 honest lads and they're all on the same wavelength. I suppose you'd look at lads that were involved last year, you know, you've Niall Murray, Niall Smith and Oisin Minagh. You'd be looking for their experience to bring the rest of the lads on. Overall, I'd say as a unit we work very hard and defensively we're strong and you'd be hoping we can build from the back. The forwards are only as good as the ball you get into them and you'd be hoping that you can break even in midfield and get a good supply into them." The county's minor side travelled to Belfast on May 18 with something the senior side didn't have - a decent league campaign to look back on. Indeed their may have been twice as much pressure on Mickey Graham's lads, as they were to exit the Championship for the year if they lost to Antrim, but the confidence gained from the league stood to them and they never panicked in registering a 1-14 to 2-8 victory over the Saffrons to book their place into the quarter-finals against Armagh. Two first-half goals from Antrim saw them take in a two-point lead at half-time but Kevin Tierney's second-half goal turned the tide in Cavan's favour as Niall McDermott and Niall Murray helped point their side to the finish line as Cavan ran out four-point winners at Casement Park. Afterwards Graham praised his players for keeping their nerve in the second-half, by saying: "We went in at half-time and talked about the opening half. We urged our players not to panic and to continue playing to the game plan. They held their composure and really came good in the second-half." The county's senior side followed suit later that evening, registering a five-point victory over Jody Gormley's charges to setup a double-bill clash that saw the Breffni County take on Armagh in the Ulster MFC and SFC quarter-finals at Kingspan Breffni Park. Having already defeated them in the league Cavan would have been confident of seeing off Paul McShane's troops on their home patch, but Graham was wary of what he described as "the strong physical challenge" that the Orchard County would possess going into the game. Cavan would once again get off to a shaky start with Armagh netting the first score of the game through Robbie Tasker inside four minutes to establish an early lead for the young Orchard men. The visitors tagged on two quick points moments later, but Cavan didn't panic, and through the likes of Gearoid McKiernan, Niall Murray and Robert Maloney-Derham they trailed by just one point at the interval., with the scores at 1-3 to 0-5. McKiernan pointed early on in the restart to level as well as set the tone for the Breffni County, which was backed up by Murray giving Cavan the lead for the first time in the match on 35 minutes. Three white flags from the superb Niall McDermott followed over the next ten minutes before Graham introduced Conor McClarey to the match who made an impact after carving out an early goal chance. Armagh got one score back off a stern Cavan defence, but the Breffni attack began to run riot with McKiernan, McClarey, Murray and team captain Oisin Minagh all pointing the way to a semi-final meeting with Tyrone as Graham's side deservedly came through with seven points to spare. Cavan now came up against a Tyrone side heavily fancied for provincial success with their talismanic attacker Kyle Coney, seemingly bound for the AFL down under, the biggest threat of denying the Breffni County an Ulster final berth. The ability of Graham's side to hold their nerve seemed to be a key ingredient to pulling them through matches thus far, while allowing them to play the attractive football they're are capable of on the playing field when given the opportunity. If the former Cavan attacking star were to reach a provincial final with this Cavan outfit it would surely cast away any doubts of whether or not he is one of the outstanding coaches the Breffni County has to offer. Unfortunately for Graham, this time Cavan could not make up for a poor first-half display against Tyrone in Clones and went down to the Red Hands by two points with late scores from Kyle Coney and Ronan Tierney spelling the end of a rollercoaster Championship campaign for the Blues. All of Cavan's good work in the early stages was cancelled out by Coney's penalty 22 minutes into the match, which setup Tyrone to take a 1-6 to 0-3 lead in at the with them break. The introduction of Barry Reilly, Mark Kelly and Redhills stalwart Packie Leddy, who was a late addition to the Cavan panel, all paid dividends for Graham as they all got on the scoresheet, with the latter pointing twice to cut the deficit down to just two points for the Breffni County. When Tyrone centre-back Gavin Teague saw red for a second caution things began to look promising for Cavan as they created chance after chance before Niall Smith fed Kevin Tierney with a ball for the Ballyhaise man to beat off his marker and find the back of the Tyrone net, setting off ecstatic celebrations throughout the Breffni contingent. With under five minutes remaining in the match, Graham's team needed to hold their composure in the similar fashion to that of the wins over Antrim and Armagh if they were to book a final place. However Tyrone, being Tyrone, were ruthless in response as a Paddy McNiece free and a solo effort from Kyle Coney, who saw red soon after, put Raymond Munroe's side right back in front. Sadly from a Breffni prospective, Cavan had nothing in reply and Ronan Tierney's point two minutes into the added on time sealed the fate of the county minor side for another year. After the defeat, Graham paid tribute to his team by saying: "We came here today as underdogs, but I think we showed that we are as good as anyone as anyone else in the province, it's just that Tyrone were that wee bit more experienced. But these boys will learn from this and they can keep their heads up." With Kevin Tierney, Barry Reilly and Packie Leddy all underage again for next term, the Cavan faithful will be hoping that the experience gained from the crushing defeat to Tyrone will stand them in good stead come next year's Championship. This year's panel will also be called upon by Graham, assuming the former Drumalee boss and his selectors stay on another season, and hopefully they can go one better than their predecessors come Championship 2009 and end the long wait that seems to have been a burden of young Cavan shoulders for too long now The Cavan side that lined out against Tyrone in the Ulster semi-final was: A O'Meara; D Barkey, M Leddy, D Tighe; K Meehan, F Flanagan, C Smith; G McKiernan, O Minagh; N Murray, N McDermott (0-3), N Smith; C McClarey, K Tierney (1-1), R Maloney-Derham. Subs: P Leddy (0-2) for K Meehan, B Reilly (0-1) for F Flanagan, M Kelly (0-1) for C McClarey, F Flanagan for O Minagh. Tweet

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