CONGRESS COUNTDOWN: Ian O'Riordan talks to Cavan forward Peter Reilly ahead of Sunday's National Football League semi-final against Roscommon
Much of the talk in Cavan ahead of Sunday's Allianz National Football League semi-final against Roscommon is the 42 years. A generation worth of football, and the last time Cavan came so close to a league title.
But that Sunday in 1960, when they lost out in the final to Down, is far from the minds of the current panel. Ask a player such as Peter Reilly what the absence amounts to and there won't be much of a response. "Well I really don't know how long it's been since Cavan last contested the league final," he says. "But it wasn't in my lifetime anyway.
"Sure it is important for us now to get into the final, but as the cliché goes you can only take it one game at a time. And that's the way we're approaching this."
Since they edged past Sligo last month for the semi-final berth, the digging into history has been unavoidable. Though Cavan may not be desperate for league success, they don't want to let this chance slip either.
"Of course a league title would be great for the county," adds the Cavan forward, "and I definitely believe success breeds success. Some people look at the likes of Derry and say they won too much in the league and it was a drawback in the championship. But Tipperary did it in the hurling last year and I think winning at any level is important.
"When you're winning, everything comes easier, the training and motivation and all that. But we won't be getting too hung up on this, and at the moment it's definitely just another game. The championship is still the most important thing for us."
Cavan's league progression under new manager Mattie Kerrigan has brought fresh attention to the county's championship prospects. Their Ulster final run last summer caught many by surprise, but Reilly believes this is a team that has been coming a while now.
"Mattie Kerrigan has brought some new stuff to the team and every manager has his own way of doing things. But things wouldn't have changed that much. Val Andrews had brought in a few of the younger players and they're still progressing. I'm certainly starting to feel a lot older with all the younger players around now.
"And over the winter you see more of the trainer than the manager, and the trainer Philip Phelan has being doing a lot of good work with us. And we have been playing very well as well. Even the two games we lost against Mayo and Kildare, I thought we played very well."
Kerrigan has selected the team that beat Sligo the last day, although a vacancy has been left at wing forward in the hope Brendan McCrudden will recover from a rib injury. The manager had better news on Wednesday night when the Ulster Council deferred the Cavan under-21 game with Donegal until April 20th.
Three of those under-21s start on Sunday - Eamonn Reilly, Cathal Hannon and Michael Brides.
It is crucial too that Cavan are at full strength for the Roscommon game in Mullingar. "This is going to be an excellent test for us. Roscommon have had a few great results now and have really turned it on since beating Galway last year. But we wouldn't be going too bad ourselves," says Reilly.
Opponents Roscommon have also named an unchanged team with Stephen Lohan and Nigel Dineen again at, respectively, centre forward and corner forward from where they delivered such accurate displays the last day.
Roscommon are also looking to end a long absence from the league final - though not as lengthy as Cavan's - as they last contested the final in 1981, having last won the title in 1979.
CAVAN (SF v Roscommon): A Donohoe; E Reilly, T Prior, C Hannon; M Brides, A Forde, J Doonan; P McKenna, C Collins; AN Other, P Reilly, F O'Reilly; L Reilly, J Reilly, M Graham.
ROSCOMMON (SF v Cavan): D Thompson; D Gavin, J Whyte, I Daly; M Raftery, F Grehan, P Noone; S O'Neill, D Casey; J Trainor, S Lohan, G Cox; N Dineen, J Dunning, J Hanley.
