Nearly 50 years ago, the Down footballers were the pride of Ulster when they became first team from the Six Counties to land the All-Ireland SFC title. Cavan and Down are no longer the major powerbrokers of Ulster football but fans of both counties in 1969 could scarcely have imagined that their fortunes would have plummeted so much by the time 2007 would come around. Last year was the 10th anniversary of Cavan's last Anglo-Celt Cup success and apart from the period under Eamon Coleman's tenure, the blues have never really threatened to end such an agonisingly barren period of repeated failure and under-achievement. Sadly Cavan's championship woes continued last year and all but completely over-shadowed success in gaining promotion to division two of the national league. After the blues' disastrous defeat to Down in '06, the Cavan senior footballers sought to gain revenge against the Mourne Men when they clashed in the preliminary round of the 2007 Ulster SFC at Kingspan/Breffni Park. The sides went into the game with the aim of cementing a first round Ulster SFC tie with Monaghan and Cavan fans wondered whether a Down team, coming off the back of a mediocre NFL campaign, could demonstrate the sort of swagger and almost arrogance which coloured so many Mourne County championship displays down the years. Cavan, in contrast, had been boosted by their success in achieving promotion from division two of the NFL although their subsequent 0-14 to 2-13 defeat to Roscommon in their semi-final duel at Croke Park took some of the gloss of their promotion. In the run-up to the Ulster SFC clash with Down, the Cavan camp received a double boost with the news that midfield duo Lorcan Mulvey and Nicholas Walsh were fit for selection for the televised tie. Butlersbridge clubman Mulvey was handed a four-week suspension after he received a straight red card in Cavan's NFL Division 2B sixth round clash with Wexford a month previous. Meanwhile, former Aussie Rules player Walsh managed to recover from a quad muscle injury which kept him out of action since Cavan's fourth round game against Sligo in March. In the weeks running up to the game in Kingspan/Breffni Park, suggestions that Down were a one-trick pony up front in the form of Benny Coulter littered the gaelic landscape of county Cavan. The dogs in the street from Swanlinbar to Shercock; from Cootehill to Kilnaleck and Kingscourt to Killygarry were all barking from the same hymn sheet. The Mayobridge clubman had been the grit in the oyster in the corresponding tie in 2006 when his second half goal propelled Cavan to a 0-11 to 1-13 defeat at Casement Park. Following the team's 2-11 to 3-8 draw, Coulter was once again hailed as enemy number one ahead of the replay in Newry. Cavan fans agreed that it had been Down's day but the Mournesiders didn't get their just reward and those of a blue hue wondered had Coulter and Co. missed the boat. On a day in which it was very much a case of never mind the quality, feel the excitement, the turnout of Cavan fans on home ground to see Coulter and Cavan lock horns was one of the lowest for decades. Only 13,505 fans were present with conservative estimates suggesting that Down had 3,000 supporters in attendance at the half-filled ground. Those Cavan fans who did bother to turn up engineered little atmosphere and a feeling of resignation appeared all-pervasive on the day. While Cavan played second fiddle for extended periods of the match, the visitors needed Ronan Murtagh to land a dramatic equaliser from play over two minutes into injury time. The Breffni blues seemed destined to book a first round meeting with McEnaney and Co. when Dermot McCabe swung over a trademark free from 35 metres to put Cavan a single point in front just two minutes from the close of normal time but then cue party-pooper Murtagh. Down engineered a hat-trick of chances in the first six minutes before finally hitting the jackpot in the 8th minute with Benny Coulter setting up Ronan Sexton for a clinical goal. Wind-aided Cavan played a slow-to-the-boil type game and by the 17th minute they managed to edge their way in front thanks to a Dermot McCabe free. Down continued to look the more threatening team going forward though and their second goal was straight out of the coaching manual. Again Coulter was at the heart of things; this time he was the executioner after linking up splendidly with Aidan Carr before blasting the ball from point-blank range past the in-form James Reilly in the Cavan goal. Cavan weren't quite as incisive as Down in the last third of the field but when Larry Reilly palmed the ball to the net after good work by Johnston and Jason Reilly, it seemed like Cavan were about to hit top gear. But the hosts failed to copper-fasten their rejuvenation by adding to Reilly's major and, instead, found themselves trailing by 1-5 to 2-3 at the interval. The second half was, to a large degree, a carbon-copy of the first half with, first, Cavan attempting to steal a march on their opponents only to be reeled in far too easily by the visitors. Coulter's experience and vision came to the fore when he set up Sexton for the latter's second goal of the game which had threatened to coax Cavan into panic stations. Down failed to hammer home their advantage thereafter though and with the introduction of Micheal Lyng in particular came a tad more invention and incisiveness for Cavan in the last third of the field. However a classy point from 2006 minor star Paul McComiskey and another fine effort from Ronan Murtagh suddenly had Cavan staring at a three points deficit. Cavan seemed destined for the loser's enclosure but in a frantic bid to pull the fat from the fire Crosserlough ace Jonathan Crowe rifled a low shot goalwards which a diving Down 'keeper Mickey McVeigh could only help over the goal-line. McCabe's belter thereafter looked like nicking it for the blues only for Murtagh to spoil an unlikely Cavan party. Cavan v Down Ulster SFC (Kingspan/Breffni Park); James Reilly; Paul Brady, Eamon O'Reilly, Martin Cahill; Michael Hannon, Anthony Forde, Ronan Flanagan; Dermot McCabe (0-2, one free), Lorcan Mulvey; Raymond Cullivan, Mark McKeever, Larry Reilly (1-2); Sean Johnston (0-1), Gerald Pierson (0-3, one free), Jason O'Reilly (0-2, both frees). Subs; Cian Mackey for S Johnston; Nicholas Walsh for L Mulvey; Sean Brady (0-1) for G Pierson; Jonathan Crowe (1-0) for Paul Brady (inj). The replay on May 20th at The Marshes in Newry saw Cavan go down by 0-11 to 0-15 despite winning most of the battles in what was a real war of attrition in front of 15,000 fans. In a slow-to-the-boil affair, the Mourne County men left their best wine 'till last to leave the Breffni blues punch drunk and facing the dreaded qualifiers. Down were far from dynamic but a five point tally without reply in the final ten minutes was all that was required to propel them to a meeting with Monaghan. In a fractious, frenetic encounter, the tone of the game was established after just 12 seconds when Dan Gordon fell to the ground holding his jaw after the throw-in. Over the course of the following 76 minutes-plus, Cavan arguably won most of the physical battles but crucially not the war. The Breffni blues' bid for redemption was severely hampered by the dismissal, for a second yellow card offence, of playmaker Micheal Lyng just eight minutes into the second half. And for all the promptings thereafter of veteran Dermot McCabe, Cavan never looked like upsetting the apple cart. Two points in a hurly-burly opening eight minutes from James McGovern had Cavan on the backfoot and although the sides were level on four occasions thereafter, Down always seemed to be able to ratchet up the ante with all four of their subs playing supporting roles to a tee. In contrast, the blues could only look to sub. Sean Johnston for inspiration from the bench while their energy and frustrations became exhausted late in the game after toiling so long with 14 men. As things panned out, the red and blacks were in no hurry though to cash in on their numerical superiority and an excellent point from Sean Brady and a McCabe free had the sides deadlocked at 0-8 apiece with 15 minutes left to play. Down were wont to play in bursts and a point apiece by Stephen Kearney and captain Declan Rooney hinted at a final flourish. Rooney's point in the 57th minute significantly put Down 0-10 to 0-8 ahead and Cavan could have been forgiven for eyeing the panic button. Impressive sub. Stephen Kearney saw his slide-rule pass take three Cavan defenders out of the game and defender Rooney showed a killer-touch in finishing it off. However that brace provoked a spirited and equal reply from McCabe and Anthony Forde as the fans belatedly got value for their money. It was all to play for with just under nine minutes of normal time left to play but sadly for the visitors, the lights remained stuck on green for Down from there to the close of play. Points reined in from Sigerson Cup star McComiskey (two), man of the match Hughes (two) and Newry Shamrocks clubman McGuigan as tired Cavan saw their challenge fold like a deck chair. To their credit, Cavan ushered one last hoorray but top man McCabe's late double salvo was batted out by the alert McVeigh. Cavan v Down Ulster SFC (Newry) James Reilly; Michael Hannon, Eamon Reilly, Martin Cahill; Jonathan Crowe, Anthony Forde (0-1), Ronan Flanagan; Dermot McCabe (0-5, three frees), Ciaran Galligan; Larry Reilly (0-1), Micheal Lyng, Sean Brady (0-1); Gerald Pierson, Mark McKeever, Jason Reilly. Subs; Sean Johnston (0-3) for G Pierson; Nicholas Walsh for Ciaran Galligan; Keith Fannin for Larry Reilly; Paul Brady for Jason Reilly; Lorcan Mulvey for Ronan Flanagan. The draw for the first round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers revealed to the world of Gaelic games that the Breffni blues would be going head-to-head with the 2006 All-Ireland SFC beaten finalists Mayo. Cavan first-teamers Seanie Johnston, Martin Cahill and Paul Brady jetted off to the United States ahead of the Mayo contest and they were badly missed as the blues sunk to a 3-7 to 1-19 defeat at MacHale Park, Castlebar. Mayo did most of the damage inside the final fifteen minutes when they hit 1-5 without reply to leave Cavan trailing by seven points with five minutes of normal time remaining. Played before an attendance of 7,500 fans, Cavan trailed by 0-2 to 0-4 at the end of the first quarter and despite a point thereafter by Ray Cullivan, Donal Keoghan's men still trailed by 0-3 to 0-5 with 22 minutes on the clock. Cavan matched their opponents almost blow for blow from there to the close of play in the first half, but the omens weren't good as they went in at the interval trailing by 0-6 to 0-9. A penalty conversion by Dermot McCabe and another goal from Jason Reilly boosted Cavan's cause but with less than 20 minutes left to play, Mayo still led by 1-12 to 2-7. Mayo proceeded to go up through the gears and five points in a row without reply had Cavan threading deep water and although sub Rory Gallagher netted in the 67th minute it had consolation written all over it. Cavan All-Ireland SFC qualifiers v Mayo (Castlebar); James Reilly; Michael Hannon, Eamonn Reilly, Keith Fannin; Ronan Flanagan, Jonathan Crowe, Martin Reilly; Dermot McCabe (1-4, pen, three frees), Nicholas Walsh; Ray Cullivan (0-1), Anthony Forde, Mark McKeever; Gerald Pierson (0-1), Sean Brady, Larry Reilly (0-1). Subs; Dermot Sheridan for J Crowe; C Mackey for R Cullivan; Jason Reilly (1-0) for G Pierson; Micheal Lyng for L Reilly; Rory Gallagher for E Reilly. Tweet

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