This past season saw Cavan suffer league demotion and an early exit from the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers, but with a new manager in place many Breffni followers will be as optimistic as ever that their county can make that surge that would see them up there with Ulster's top dogs once more. Shane Corrigan takes a look back on 2008. In simple truth, the 2008 season unravelled as one of Cavan senior footballers' most torrid in recent times. After their promotion from Division Three in the National Football League the previous year, the Breffni boys suffered immediate relegation at the bottom of the second-tier which was to be followed by an early exit from the All-Ireland SFC, forged by Kildare in the first phase of the qualifiers. In the hours after their late defeat in Newbridge, which saw yet another season crumble in mid-July, team manager Donal Keogan put forward his resignation to the Cavan County Board, and with that another white flag had been hoisted in the attempts of a commander bringing the Breffni County back to where it truly belongs - competing at the same level of their province's elite. However, 2008 was not to be a total write-off on the senior front by all means. An encouraging win against a Cork side, who had reached the All-Ireland decider the year prior and went on to capture the Munster SFC title in June, in the NFL had the players proving many doubters wrong, in that they were capable of mixing it with one of the country's 'big guns'. An impressive tally of 1-19 chalked-up Donal Keogan's first championship win as Cavan senior boss in Casement Park, as his side overcame Antrim in the preliminary rounds of the Ulster SFC with five points to spare. By that stage if ace attacker Sean Johnston had not been a star then he simply will have never been. On the back on an impressive league campaign, the Cavan Gaels clubman contributed 0-8 in the defeat of the Saffrons, demonstrating blistering pace and stunning accuracy throughout the 70 minutes in Belfast to make sure Cavan would have their date with Armagh in the last eight of the province. Throughout the ups and downs of the summer his side endured, Johnston received the Opel Gaelic 'Player of the Month' award for the month of May, several Ulster All Star nominations and was called into training for Sean Boylan's Irish squad for October's International Rules series in Australia. If there was one positive thing to come out of a dire year for Cavan's seniors, it was the form that the 24-year-old produced to be cited as one of the country's top forwards. Following a short run in the McKenna Cup that ended in defeat to eventual champions Down, Cavan's objective road to maintaining league status in Division Two began with a trip to the home of club kingpins Crossmaglen at Oliver Plunkett Park, where they faced an Armagh side under the new reins of Mullaghbawn native Peter McDonnell. Keogan had already welcomed back Johnston to the set-up after vowing that the Gaels player, along with Paul Brady and Martin Cahill (both would also eventually return), would never play under his tenure again because of their departures from the squad in mid-championship the previous year. However, Johnston would start with number 15 on his back against the Orchard County and Keogan also handed out three debuts to Barry Watters (Drung), John McCutcheon (Cootehill) and John Cunningham (Swanlinbar). Team captain Mark McKeever would miss the game after picking up a red card in the in Newry the last day out. The visitors put in a brave first-half display to take in a 1-5 to 0-3 lead in at the interval, with the goal coming from the returning Johnston, but couldn't maintain their lead and fell victim to second-half substitute Tony Kernan's accurate frees which punished Cavan's indiscipline defending all the way to the end, where he struck the winner a minute from time to spell the side's first league defeat of the new season. An eight-point hammering at home to Monaghan, followed by further losses to Dublin and Meath, after promising first-half performances in the latter two matches, saw the Blues lose four games on the trot and plunge closer to the inevitable drop back down to Division Three. It was coming up on April before Cavan would have their first league points stored. The visit of beaten All-Ireland finalists Cork was to bring the best out of the likes of Dermot McCabe, Padraig O'Reilly and Sean Johnston, with the latter hitting an outstanding 0-9 tally on All Star full-back Graham Canty, which helped steer the Breffni men towards their first league victory of the season on one of the few nights in 2008 that home supporters could salvage some collective pride as they headed for the exit turnstiles at Breffni Park. Speaking after the match, Donal Keogan hit out at the local press for the "negativity" they had portrayed over the team's poor run of form up to the Cork game. "We've taken some stick, there was a lot of negativity in some of the papers this week, a lot of people talking but saying nothing constructive," said the Cavan boss. "It was all negative and you know it gets to the players, it gets to the management, it gets to people and I thought today that we answered the critics and we're very relived to get the two points." A rousing win against the Rebels looked to be just what the team needed in order to avoid the drop, with two visits to Mullingar and Roscommon in the wait to save them from relegation down to the third tier. Firstly, Westmeath, a side bidding for promotion, would take priority as both points were needed foremost to leap out of the bottom two. An astonishing 18 wides from Cavan's front players saw the team notch up just six points over the 70 minutes at Cusack Park, allowing the Lake County to gather up both points and all but condemn Cavan to Division Three football for 2009. By the time Cavan paid their visit to Dr Hyde Park on April 20 to take on the Rossies, both sides' fate had already been confirmed as third-tier competitors in the NFL for the following season. With under a month left to get their final preparations right for the Ulster SFC opener against Antrim, Keogan's squad would have to put the pain of relegation firmly behind them and focus on the provincial championship front and their crucial trip to Belfast on May 18. In the weeks leading up to the Saffrons clash, both Martin Cahill and Paul Brady were welcomed back to the fold and a call-up for Michael McDonald to the squad was accepted by the Drumgoon midfielder. Both Cahill and McDonald would start against the Ulster minnows, with McDonald filling in for the team's absent skipper Mark McKeever, who had been sent off in the closing stages of the defeat to Roscommon, at centre-field to receive an unexpected championship start alongside three other young SFC debutants in Rory Dunne (full-back), Dermot Sheridan (right half-back) and Barry Watters (left half-forward). Early from the throw-in at Casement Park the visitors took the lead through their midfielder-come-full-forward Dermot McCabe that they wouldn't relinquish throughout the 70 minutes, despite Jody Gormley's men hitting the net midway through the first-half. The points of Jason O'Reilly, Martin Reilly and Sean Johnston helped the Blues cancel out Conor McGourty's major, which exposed the Breffni defence, before McCabe rattled the hosts' net for a 1-9 to 1-7 lead at the break. Johnston continued to display his outstanding form in the second-half, which earned him the 'Man of the Match' award, as Cahill, McDonald and Ronan Flanagan got in on the act of raising white flags that saw the Breffni men come away from the match encouraged by seven different scorers and a place in the quarter-finals of the Ulster SFC against Armagh with home advantage. Cavan (Ulster SFC v Antrim): James Reilly; Michael Hannon, Rory Dunne, Michael Brides; Dermot Sheridan, Anthony Forde, Martin Cahill (0-1); Michael McDonald (0-2), Dermot McCabe (1-1); Martin Reilly (0-3), Ronan Flanagan (0-2), Barry Watters; Cian Mackey, Sean Johnston (0-8), Jason O'Reilly (0-2). Subs - Padraig Reilly for Brides, Lorcan Mulvey for Sheridan, Paul Brady for Dunne, Eddie O'Reilly for O'Reilly. Cavan would welcome Armagh to Kingspan Breffni Park on June 15 with a much needed win under their belts, but were certain to be up against it as they faced a team that were bidding for a seventh Ulster title in the space of a decade. Keogan made two switches in personnel for the Orchard clash, with Padraig O'Reilly coming back into defence and Mark McKeever retaking his place at centre-field with Dermot McCabe starting at number 14. Killygarry youngster Martin Reilly got Cavan off to a comfortable start after three minutes with a sweet point, which was met five minutes later by Stephen Kernan splitting the posts for the visitors. Cian Mackey, Mark McKeever and Sean Johnston registered the rest of their side's scores for the half with singles, but Armagh had taken control and never lost their lead after the opening quarter as Paddy McKeever, Aaron Kernan and the lethal pairing of Ronan Clarke and Steven McDonnell all pointed the way to a 0-9 to 0-4 half-time lead for the Orchard County. Dermot McCabe had shot the difference down to four moments within the restart, after a fine one-handed take on the edge of the square, to give the 22,000-strong gathering at Breffni Park reason to believe, and a fantastic string of saves from Drung net-minder James Reilly off both Clarke and Stephen Kernan kept Keogan's troops in with a genuine chance. With 20 minutes remaining in the match Johnston had the gap down to two with his third free of the afternoon, but Armagh's ability to keep the score-board ticking over so frequently throughout the 70 minutes devastated the Blues' defence. McDonnell continued to lead the charge as he finished the game with a 0-6 tally only matched by Johnston, but the visitors' other seven scorers throughout their starting 15 proved the ultimate undoing of Cavan as they entered the All-Ireland qualifiers for another year and the Orchard men went onto capture their 14th Anglo-Celt Cup. Cavan (Ulster SFC v Armagh): James Reilly; Michael Hannon, Rory Dunne, Padraig O'Reilly; Barry Watters, Anthony Forde, Martin Cahill; Michael McDonald, Mark McKeever (0-1); Martin Reilly (0-1), Ronan Flanagan, Cian Mackey (0-2); Sean Johnston (0-6) (3f), Dermot McCabe (0-3), Jason O'Reilly. Subs - Lorcan Mulvey for McDonald, Sean Brady for J O'Reilly, Eddie O'Reilly for M Reilly, M McDonald for Mulvey, Dermot Sheridan for Dunne. Out of the Ulster Championship before supporters could even ponder over becoming genuine contenders as the competition played out to its climax, Cavan had to sit by and watch as their victorious opponents came close letting the whole thing slip before seeing off their neighbours Fermanagh with a replay a Clones. However, the day before the two sides played out that dramatic Ulster final that finished all square on 2-8 apiece, Cavan were in action at Newbridge where they faced a different kind of Orchard proposition in Kieran McGeeney, who was searching desperately to rectify his season with Kildare, after the Lilywhites had been humiliated in the first round of their Leinster SFC with defeat to Wicklow. The two teams last meet in the same venue at the same stage of the All-Ireland qualifiers back in 2006, where Kildare had come away with the win and many of the Cavan players travelling south for this trip would have an incentive for revenge on their minds. Mullahoran pair Paul Brady and Eddie O'Reilly made their first championship starts of the year for this encounter, while the real surprise was the inclusion of Cuchullains youngster Eugene Keating to partner Dermot McCabe at centre-field. The talented 18-year-old had not started any games as a Cavan senior to the date and would be thrown in at the deep end to make his debut in the All-Ireland SFC in Newbridge. After an under par first-half performance that left them trailing by four at the interval, Cavan prospered in the second-half with Paul Brady's fisted goal minutes into the restart signaling their intent. Kildare's ace Johnny Doyle was a menace to the Cavan defence throughout the evening, but Sean Johnston helped cancel out his scores with another starring performance in the Breffni colours that saw his side eventually draw level. The frees of Dermot McCabe and Johnston saw the visitors into a distinct two-point lead into the added on minutes, and what would have been an ideal second round meeting with Limerick, but when the hosts' centre-back Mick Foley roamed forward he found Dermot Early, who in turn found James Kavanagh in space and the half-forward put a swift end to Cavan's season with a low finish to the net past James Reilly. Cavan (SFC v Kildare): James Reilly; Martin Cahill, Michael Hannon, Dermot Sheridan; Anthony Forde, Mark McKeever, Barry Watters; Eugene Keating, Dermot McCabe (0-4); Paul Brady (1-0), Ronan Flanagan (0-1), Martin Reilly (0-1); Sean Johnston (0-6), Eddie O'Reilly (0-2), Cian Mackey (0-1). Subs: Padraig O'Reilly for M. Reilly, Nicholas Walsh for Keating. The ravage loss had put a truly abysmal season into perspective for Cavan, and with it the team management's departure soon followed. In the hours after the defeat, Keogan had made his resignation known to the County Board, and in the days after his backroom staff followed. With the aid of recruitment firm Sportstracker, the Board appointed former Dublin and Roscommon manager Tommy Carr as Keogan's successor by September, with a three-year term handed to the Tipperary native, bringing in a fresh new approach. In the weeks after his appointment the former Dublin All Star brought in Virginia College's All-Ireland winning coach Niall Lynch and ex-Cavan football star Peter Reilly to his backroom team. After witnessing the club county finals, attending regional games and holding several county trials, Carr picked his provisional panel for the new season in mid-December. Having impressed over the course of the season several new additions were made within the 43-man panel. Castlerahan goalkeeper Brian Coleman, Drumalee pair Enda McCormack and Gary Ferncombe, Kildallan sharpshooter Ronan O'Reilly and Drumlane's Dane O'Dowd were all new faces to come into the senior fold. All in all, 26 clubs are represented across the panel, with senior champions Cavan Gaels boasting the most with five members, one of which being their captain Eamonn Reilly, who was mysteriously left out of the panel last season. Other returns to the squad include Gowna ace Gerald Pierson and former county underage star John Tierney. Following impressive championship campaigns with their clubs, attackers David Givney and Paddy Gumley also made Carr's provisional selections for the Dr McKenna Cup, where each looked to try and woo the Tipperary native so as they can make the cut for the National Football League, which kicked off for the Breffni men away to Longford on February 1. Tweet

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