For the girls of Cavan the year was once again a tale of so near and yet so far as the junior side went down at the final hurdle of the Ulster Championship for the third year in a row. By Alan Gunn. After two previous defeats to Donegal, Cavan entered the year with high hopes of this being the year they could finally make that break through with Donegal now gone up to senior. Yet before any thoughts of Championship football crossed their minds they played a big part in the Suzuki NFL Division 2 campaign. Their pre-Christmas outing took them up against Tipperary and the visitors got off to a winning start. They continued their winning ways after the holidays with a home win against Sligo in February on a scoreline of 4-10 to 3-5. After such a great start things began to go downhill with three successive defeats following to Clare, Cork 'B' and Louth. That left the Breffni girls in a play off situation to make the quarter-finals of the league. That deciding game took them up against Cork 'B' again, just a week after losing to the Rebel County side in the group stages. Cavan made no mistake this time with a stunning performance in Portarlington as they won out by 1-14 to 2-7. Bronagh Sheridan hit the all important goal and on they marched to meet Armagh in the last eight. That game was played in Crossmaglen and despite heading down as underdogs, Cavan produced another top draw performance to clinch victory and a place in the last four. Their reward was another trip on the road, this time to the Wee County and to Hunterstown. Unfortunately the girls from Cavan didn't give one of their better performances and had to settle for second best with Louth winning on a scoreline of 1-11 to 1-8. On the day Erin Galligan notched their goal with both Aisling Doonan and Aisling Treanor helping themselves to three points apiece. Now it was time to focus on the Championship as Cavan tried to make it third time lucky. First up were joint-favourites Armagh in the opening game of the round robin series. Although they had beaten them in the league, Cavan knew this was going to be a tough one. As it turned out the Orchard girls went home with a single point victory. The Breffni girls had a dreadful opening period and trailed by four points at the interval with Aisling Doonan's goal their only highlight. After the break they responded and took the lead thanks to goals from Breige Boylan and Ailish Cronyn, but it wasn't enough and they went down by 3-5 to Armagh's 2-9. This all meant they had to win against Fermanagh in their next game to advance. It wasn't a wonderful performance but they came away with the result they needed and marched into the last four. Goals from the excellent Grainne Smyth and Emma Clarke gave them an interval lead of 2-4 to 1-2. A second half goal from Breige Boylan was enough to see them win by 3-5 to 1-7. Their semi-final was against near neighbours Monaghan 'B' in Lisnaskea. This turned out to be a very tight encounter from start to finish. Both sides went in at the interval level at 1-06 a piece, with Emma Clarke getting the Cavan goal. After the break Cavan took control with a second major coming from Bronagh Sheridan and some fine points from Grainne Smyth. Emer Reilly kept things under control at the back and I the end they won out by 2-11 to 1-09. The next stop was St Tiernach's Park, Clones as they got ready for their Ulster final meeting with Armagh. This was to be the third meeting of the sides that year, with both having one victory apiece up to then. Cavan's hopes were not helped before throw in with star player Aisling Doonan unable to start. However, they got on with the job in hand and went in at the break leading by 1-5 to 0-7 after a scrappy opening period. The lightening Grainne Smyth fired home the Cavan goal. Things turned in the second half with Armagh coming out and taking control of proceedings. Cavan were to be once again left disappointed and as in previous finals the second half performance was to let them down. They battled hard but in the end were well beaten by 2-19 to 1-10 Cavan - Caron Fay, Maria Smith, Emer Reilly, Ciara Grey, Patricia Lynch, Joanne McNally, Margaret McBride, Pamela Crowe, Ailish Cronyn, Grainne Smyth 1-1, Aisling Treanor 0-3, Bronagh Sheridan, Breige Boylan, Emma Clarke 0-3, Roisin O'Keefe. Subs - Aisling Doonan, Teresa Clerkin, Ciara Farrell 0-2, Erin Galligan. While there was disappointment at junior level, at underage there was plenty to cheer about. Entering the year as reigning Ulster U14 and U16 champions, the pressure was on Cavan to deliver again especially as the U16 side went all the way to the All-Ireland final in 2003. In the U14 grade Cavan were paired with Derry and Down in their group with two sides going forward to the semi-finals. This young side had little trouble in both games and went forward as group winners to meet Tyrone in the last four. The management team of Eamon Lynch, Patsy Fitzpatrick and Carmel Rudden witnessed a strong finish from their side in that game as they booked a final meeting with Monaghan in Kingspan Breffni Park. The old rivals came head to head again and what an epic they put on for both sets of supporters. It took a thrilling final quarter from the home side to pull this one out of the fire. Monaghan led at the interval by the narrowest of margins, 1-5 to 1-4, with Jackie Moran sending a rocket to the net for Cavan's goal. That first half had also seen fine saves from Claire Foley in the Cavan goal and Edel Corrigan in the Monaghan net. The visitors raced four points clear early in the second half as they looked like pulling away from the reigning champions. The break Cavan required came as the game entered the final quarter, as a wicked shot from Deirdre Kelly was too hot to handle and the ball crept over the line for that much needed goal. The home side now began to sense this was their day and attacked with more penetration. The moment that was to be the difference came nine minutes from time when Elaine Smith was fouled and Cavan were awarded a penalty. Sheila Walsh from Templeport was given the job and the young full back made the long trip up field to fire home and Cavan were on their way. Yet they still had a lot of work to do and Monaghan pushed them to the end but they held out to win by 3-8 to 1-10. With the Ulster title safely in the bag thoughts were now on the All-Ireland series and a semi-final clash with Dublin in Navan. Entering the game as underdogs Cavan gave a great battling performance, but against a very strong Dublin side their dreams of an All-Ireland were shattered. The fact that Cavan didn't score until seven minutes prior to the break left them with a mountain to climb and they trailed at the interval by 3-4 to 0-2. The Breffni girls tried everything after the break but it just wasn't to be, although both Sinead Denning and Sheila Walsh did rattle the Dublin net. In the end they went down 4-11 to 2-3 to an exceptional Dublin side. U14 Ulster Champions Panel - Claire Foley, Roisin Leydon, Sheila Walsh, Alison O'Reilly, Nicola Fortune, Grainne McGlade, Rachel Jordan, Jacqui Rudden, Anne Marie Lynch, Sinead Denning, Aggie Clarke, Blathnaid Dunne, Niamh Fitzpatrick, Deirdre Kelly, Ruth Mulligan, Cliona Farrell, Genevieve Keogan, Simone Klaych, Natalie Cosgrove, Elaine Smith, Kate Smith, Joanne Sheridan, Sarah Reilly, Derbhla Cullen, Delia Baxter, Aileen Gaffney, Colette Smith, Jacqueline Moran, Niamh McInerney, Eleanor Omiston, Helen Cunningham, Louise Sheridan, Deirdre O'Reilly, Lisa Boylan, Laura Fitzpatrick, Mona Sheridan, Mairead Smith, Rachel Brady Elsewhere at U16 level Cavan opened their Ulster campaign with a home tie against Monaghan in Ballymachugh. This was a titanic struggle and in the end the Cavan girls was glad to hear the final whistle after with standing a second half comeback from Monaghan. At the midway point the home side looked to be coasting as they led by 2-4 to 0-2, with Roisin O'Keefe and, star of the evening, Clodagh Doonan finding the net. It was a different story after the break as Monaghan came fighting back to reduce the deficit to a single point. With Doonan outstanding they withstood the pressure to run out three point winners 2-7 to 0-10, with Doonan notching 1-6 to her name. As it turned out that was to be as far they went as Donegal came out on top in the semi-final clash and it was a bitter disappointment not to build on the win over Monaghan. For the Minor's it was a year that started full of promise as they hoped last years great U16 side could direct them in the right direction. Fine victories over Antrim and Tyrone seemed to indicate that a good year was in prospect and they progressed to the Ulster final against Donegal. Cavan entered the tie as slight favourites and on their home patch of Kingspan Breffni Park hopes were high this could be their evening to clinch the crown. Donegal came into the decider having beaten Monaghan in the semi-final and took the game to Cavan to lead by five points at the break. The home side battled hard after the restart to claw their way back and were within two points with eight minutes remaining. However, a blistering finish from Donegal won the title for the north eastern side. Tweet

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