The championship is the holy grail for all clubs and counties and on that basis, Cavan's record in the blue riband competition in 2005 can be considered to be bordering on the honours' mark. Nobody remembers how a team got on in the national league. Oh yeh? Tell that to the thousands of Cavan fans who live along the Meath border or who work alongside rabid Royals. The 0-17 to 0-14 defeat in the division 2B group decider in Navan last spring was a real sore one for the Breffni Blues who went into the match on ten points from six games played, one behind joint-leaders Derry and Meath. In truth, Cavan rarely looked like grabbing the win needed to overhaul their neighbours in the hunt for promotion. Meath were always one step ahead of Cavan in the game, apart from the moment when Larry Reilly notched a superb point with 15 minutes left to play which tied the scores at 0-13 apiece. But the subsequent relocation of Anthony Moyles to midfield in the closing stages to counteract influential sub. Nicholas Walsh helped work the oracle for Meath as did a couple of points from Trevor Giles which combined to seal Cavan's fate. Despite a tremendous six points tally from Gerald Pierson, including five from play, Cavan ultimately just hadn't the ammunition on the day. Eamon Coleman's men weren't helped by the loss of both their left-sided backs, Keith Fannin and Anthony Gaynor, to yellow cards inside a minute around the hour mark. Afterwards in addressing the media, Meath boss Sean Boylan generously pointed to the loss of Fannin and Gaynor as a factor in his team's eventual triumph. Cavan boss Eamon Coleman couldn't resist the window of opportunity gifted to him by the Royal County legend. "We had two men sent off - had you'uns any men sent off?" Coleman asked Boylan. "Ah, well, we wouldn't be known for that," Boylan hit back immediately. As the laughter erupted, Coleman pressed on: "Well that's why I was asking, because Meath never gets anybody sent off, I thought today there would maybe be a bit of a change!" If the colour was taken out of team-manager Coleman's cheeks and the hoardes of Cavan fans who travelled to Parc Tailteann on April 3rd, all concerned were positively ashen-faced the following May 29th when a distinctly off-colour Cavan were lucky to scrape a 0-11 to 0-11 draw with Antrim at Kingspan/Breffni Park. Cavan boss Coleman wasn't well enough to attend the game so we can presume his radio got the full blast of the Derry man's frustration. It was left to acting county manager Paddy McNamee to face the press after the game. "Absolutely relieved, that's what I feel," McNamee exclaimed. "We had three or four easy goal chances that we didn't take and we could have paid the ultimate price for that but we thankfully didn't." It should have been oh so comfortable though for Cavan as they dominated the first half in particular but eight wides wasn't good enough while their 0-7 to 0-5 interval lead was nowhere nearly as convincing as it ought to have been. Cavan missed three goal chances within the first 25 minutes. Eventually it took a 15 metre free two and a half minutes into injury time by Finbar O'Reilly to get Cavan out of jail after things looked really bleak when Karl Crotty was dismissed after 57 minutes for a second yellow card offence. The game was poor and a real messy affair and former Cavan boss and nowadays football pundit Martin McHugh pulled no punches in assessing it, claiming that the pick of Antrim and Cavan wouldn't beat their would-be opponents Tyrone. McHugh's jibe evoked a witty retort from new Cavan boss Martin McElkennon: "Maybe we should sit at home that day and watch Big Brother." The replay at Casement Park the following Saturday evening proved to be far more satisfying for Cavan all-round. The visitors were on top early on and led by 0-4 to 0-1 after 20 minutes. But three minutes later Antrim's Paul Doherty goaled to help cut Cavan's lead at the interval by 0-8 to 1-1. The second half was barely three minutes old when Doherty bagged his second goal. However four quick points, including three from Larry Reilly in the 7th, 9th and 10th minutes steadied the ship for Cavan. The blues were still five points in front with ten minutes left to play and any hope Antrim had of getting on terms was blitzed by a fine goal by Jason Reilly that put the icing on a workmanlike victory. Cavan proceeded to take on Tyrone in the provincial semi-final which turned out to be notable for its shock value, its controversies and its drama. Cavan deservedly held the would-be All-Ireland SFC winners to a 1-7 to 0-10 draw in front of over 25,000 fans in Clones. In a boxing-like sparring contest, the sides shared 12 points 15 minutes into the second half but then the 'fight' was transformed into a real slugging match. A goal from Jason Reilly put the cat amongst the pidgeons but points from Peter Canavan and Stephen O'Neill was Tyrone's immediate reply. Cavan lost Paul Brady by dint of a hugely controversial decision when referee Gerry Kinneavy deemed the Mullahoran player had stamped on the prostrate Conor Gormley. Cavan were incensed but showed true grit to haul their way back on level terms with a converted free by substitute Micheal Lyng, eight minutes into added on time. Sadly, the replay was a totally different story with Tyrone romping to a 3-19 to 0-7 win in front of over 16,000 fans. Cavan's defeat was as comprehensive as the final scoreline suggested and represented one of the county's heaviest Ulster SFC defeats in the last 46 years. Cavan boss Martin McElkennon made two changes from the previous weekend with Dermot McCabe starting the replay instead of John Tierney and Micheal Lyng coming in for Finbar Reilly. Tyrone began as they meant to go on and were 1-1 to 0-0 ahead after four minutes with Stephen O'Neill goaling from a penalty. A Peter Canavan goal in the 11th minute made it 2-1 to 0-1 with Jason Reilly's point Cavan's solitary response at that juncture. After 26 minutes half-back Philip Jordan helped make it 3-4 to 0-4 and even at that stage Cavan's exit from the provincial championship looked all but settled. The second half was even more painful for everyone with a blue hue and by the 12th minute of the second half, Cavan were well and truly adrift as they trailed by 0-4 to 3-12. After a 25 minutes gap, Jason Reilly added to Cavan's tally with a point with 24 minutes left to play. The agony continued though for Cavan's fans and a steady stream of Breffni blues supporters made their way to St. Tiarnach Park's exit gates from there to the close of play. Cavan's next game saw them go head to head with Donegal in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers, second round, at Kingspan/Breffni Park. Cavan fans who stayed away in their droves (the match drew 6,000 fans) missed out on a determined, gutsy and competent Cavan performance as they secured a dramatic 1-11 to 1-10 win on July 3rd. Cavan's win owed much to two outstanding saves by James Reilly (Drung) to stave off a Donegal fightback which saw them reduce a one-time Cavan seven points lead to just the minimum as the game moved into four minutes of added on time. Cavan, with Dermot McCabe joining Pierce McKenna at midfield and messrs. Jason Reilly, Mickey Graham and Larry Reilly manning the full-forward line, really shouldn't have had to hang on so grimly given their jet-propelled start which saw a Larry Reilly goal in the 18th minute help catapult the hosts into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead. A subsequent point 30 seconds before the interval from Anthony Forde served to cement Cavan's ascendancy as they went in at the interval leading by 1-6 to 0-2. Donegal slowly but surely came back at the homesters and with 24 minutes left to play, a Brendan Devenney goal threatened to turn the game on its head as Cavan's lead was cut to three points. Cue 'keeper Reilly. The Drungman proceeded to brilliantly deny Colm McFadden and then, with two minutes of normal time left, he denied Donegal by saving Devenney's penalty strike. Cavan remained under the cosh though and a Devenney brace left just one point between the sides four minutes into extra-time. But Cavan thankfully regrouped sufficiently well in the dying seconds to book a date with Meath in the next round of the competition. In sweltering heat in front of 18,143 fans at Clones on July 17th, Cavan bowled over their neighbours by 1-8 to 1-6 despite some nerve-wreaking moments at the death. Cavan were much the better team all-through and a 22nd minute goal from Jason Reilly had the blues' fans in great voice as their ambassadors stormed into a 1-3 to 0-2 lead. Cavan remained on the forefoot thereafter to the interval and looked comfortable as they set about consolidating their 1-6 to 0-4 interval lead. However the subsequent loss of full-back Darren Rabbitt in the 52nd minute seemed to disrupt Cavan's composure but with extra-time beckoning Meath still trailed by 0-6 to 1-7. But a Graham Geraghty converted penalty two minutes into injury time upped the ante in a big way. Meath pushed forward with renewed momentum in a bid to save the day but a timely block moments later by Dermot McCabe from a Sheridan blockbuster signalled the end of Meath's comeback dream. One week later, Cavan's championship hopes were scuttled by Mayo on the back of a 0-11 to 0-8 scoreline at Hyde Park, Roscommon. It was a sorry end to a rollercoaster campaign with less than a handful of Cavan players playing up to form. Mayo hit 20 wides but Cavan couldn't capitalise on their opponents' squandermania. Cavan failed to sparkle up front, failed to win an adequate number of 'breaks' at midfield and struggled to be first to the ball at the back where the loss of the injured Darren Rabbitt after just eight minutes was significant. Cavan trailed by 0-4 to 0-8 at half-time and in a poor quality game, things just didn't get any less stagnant for the blues thereafter. Incredibly, despite having been clearly outgunned over the 70 minutes-plus, a Cian Mackey free one minute into injury time left just a goal between the sides. Cavan had one last chance before the final whistle to force home a levelling goal when Finbar Reilly sent in an inviting '45 into the Mayo square but a free out was all that resulted. After the game, Cavan boss Martin McElkennon was in philosophical mode: "We were always chasing the game and couldn't go that step further which might have made a difference. "At the same time, I am very proud of what the players have given this year. "This was their seventh championship match and I think they have made a wee bit of progress in getting to the last twelve in the All-Ireland championship and we were beaten by a team which reached the All-Ireland final last year. "That bit of experience in closing us down made the difference in victory and defeat." Tweet

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