Cavan won the blue-riband All-Ireland Masters Gaelic Football title in 1993 and 1996. In 2007 the county gained its first-ever All-Ireland Shield. Here's how they did it. Cavan's record in the Masters (over 40) inter-county Gaelic football competition compares very favourably with all other representative sides from Breffni land over the last 15 years. In 2006, the county's seasoned campaigners once again upheld Cavan's record in the competition when they annexed the Shield. The late Paddy Gaffney, who was such an inspirational figure in Cavan football and, in particular Masters football, over the years would have been very proud of his erstwhile colleagues' efforts. Understandably, Paddy's demise hit all involved with the Cavan Masters Class of 2006 very hard but it also proved a huge motivational tool to inspire his former team-mates to go on and win the Shield competition for the very first time. It was last June when Cavan's finest hit the road with their first competitive match since Paddy's death matching them up against a vaunted Dublin side. Without a full complement of players and only a sprinkling of training sessions under their belts, Cavan laboured to find the ammunition to upset the apple cart. With influential players like Bernard Morris (Gowna) and Packie Shalvey (Crosserlough) unavailable, Cavan were always fighting an uphill battle and a hat-trick of goals by former Dublin household name Joe McNally served to catapult Cavan out of the running for the blue riband Masters trophy. "At half-time against them we looked dead and buried," recalls Cavan midfielder Jimmy Galligan. "But we fought our way back into things in the second half and put up a better show. "We began to get more of the ball in every area of the field and we starting to get the ball in earlier and more often into Donal Keogan and Seamus Donohoe in the full-foward line. "Unfortunately McNally was on fire that day and his goals really sunk us," confirms the Lacken Celtic clubman who was partnered in midfield by Kingscourt stalwart Gabriel Patterson. The defeat to the Dubs was disappointing. It was also a poignant one too in the wake of Paddy Gaffney's death. Cavan's decision not to use Paddy's old number three jersey was fitting and a thoughtful gesture by the squad. "They were the better team on the day overall and deserved to go through. You could from the start that they were in better shape. " We were told that they play in a junior division in Dublin and it showed because they were a lot more match fit than we were," Jimmy explains. "Nobody would be prepared to use Paddy's death as an excuse losing to Dublin or for any of our defeats last year but it definitely knocking the stuffing out of us. "Some of the players on the panel thought about chucking it in altogether." Next up for Cavan was a very mobile and experienced Mayo side. Unfortunately for the Breffni Blues an old friend would come back to haunt them. Pat Fallon, formerly of Bailieboro Shamrocks, inflicted sufficient damage to hand Cavan their second successive setback. "He beat us on his own," Jimmy opines. "In fairness they were the better all-round team too. "We probably had a slightly stronger team out that day than we had against Dublin with the likes of Bernard Morris on board but we weren't at our best either. "We seemed to play more as individuals than as a team. "There wasn't enough cohesion in the team and apart from the likes of Kevin Madden, not too many of us played well. "It was ironic that Fallon should do most of all though to beat us." Cavan's two point defeat was another belly-blow but they proceeded to pick themselves off the floor to travel down to Tipperary and beat their hosts. In what turned out to be a real rollercoaster year for Cavan's elder statesmen, a subsequent defeat at home to Longford had Cavan well and truly singing the blues. A win, next time out, against Roscommon in Mullahoran was a 'must' if Cavan were to stay in the premier competition. Unfortunately a draw was their lot in the last week of July. Having missed the Tipp and the Longford game due to a spell in New York, Jimmy was happy to be back in the fold for the Roscommon game but sad to be part of a losing team. "It was a hell of a match to lose," Jimmy reflects. "It was played at a hell of a pace, real championship-type pace. We improved a lot but they shaded it in the end." Certainly with a series of challenge games under their belts, Cavan did look a more cohesive, sharper and more focussed outfit. The reality of the situation though, post-Roscommon, was that Cavan were now in the mix for the Shield competition. New territory, new opposition and a new prize beckoned Breffni's best. The first round of the Shield competition pitted Cavan against Sligo in Ballinamore in mid-August. With Crosserlough veteran Philip Smith now on board, Cavan had high hopes of overcoming the Yeats County. "I think by that stage we were really only used to getting to play with one another," midfielder Galligan says. Victory was carved out even if it had more of a workmanlike than inspired ring about it. "It was all about the result," Jimmy adds. "We played better against Sligo than we did in a lot of the matches and the whole thing that day was just to make sure we reached the final." Victory came at a cost though with Mullahoran native Gerry Sheridan breaking his collarbone. Cavan would have to do the business in the decider without a number of key players though. The scene was now set for a first-ever Shield triumph with the scenic and atmospheric St. Loman's GAA ground in Mullingar the venue for what would prove to be one of the highlights of the year for Cavan GAA. Still not quite all was ideal in the Cavan camp approaching the national decider. Because of club fixtures and injuries, Cavan were at less than full strength when they took on Leitrim in the Shield final in mid-September. The final was played on the undercard of the All-Ireland Masters final between Mayo and Dublin. Unfortunately the Breffnimen had to take on the westerners in the decider without the services of team-captain and one of the team's most consistent performers, Michael G Brady (Mullahoran), who was otherwise engaged in refereeing duties in Cavan. In addition, there was no Bernard Morris or Crosserlough pair Packie Shalvey and Philip Smith. "We were down to the bare bones really," Jimmy recalls. "In comparison, Leitrim had ten subs but we still went into the final in a fairly confident frame of mind. "We played them in two challenge matches earlier in the year and beat them in both Templeport and Aughawillan. "But we had a depleted team for the final so there was never any question of us being complacent. It was a case of the fellas who came in stepping up to the plate for the final and they did that." In the final, every ball had to be contested with vigour and utter determination in a game that was always destined to go to the wire. With Mickey Quinn in influential form in the middle of the field for Leitrim, Galligan and Co. really had to roll up their sleeves to make the most of their wind advantage in the first half. "We ended up not making the most of the wind in the first half," Jimmy points out. "We were behind by a point going into the second half but we played better after half-time. The mention of Paddy's (Gaffney) name at half-time helped us give that extra 20% for the rest of the game." Cavan played catch-up for the most part after the restart as they sought to overturn Leitrim's 0-6 to 0-5 interval lead. A goal early in the second half did the trick for Cavan though and when Leitrim proceeded to miss a penalty, the blues got the feeling that the day was going to be theirs. "It was a great relief to hear the final whistle," says Jimmy. "It was tough going at the end an I wouldn't have liked to have seen it go to extra-time. There were a lot of tongues hanging out at the final whistle!" For the record, the Cavan team and subs who did duty against Leitrim in the Masters Shield final last September was as follows; Martin Cahill (Denn); John Duffy (Mountnugent), Kevin Madden (Gowna), Sean Henry (Butlersbridge); Paddy McGovern (Butlersbridge), James Gilchrist (Lavey), Colm McBreen (Knockbride); Thomas Smith (Denn), Jimmy Galligan (Lacken); Conal Conneely (Arva), Don McDonald (Belturbet), Packie Kiernan (Cavan Gaels); Seamus Donohoe (Lavey), Donal Keoghan (Denn), Thomas Doonan (Templeport). Subs used; Ollie Henry (Butlersbridge) and Adge King (Laragh Utd). Tweet

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