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Cavan v Down preview

Cavan v Down: You know what they say about being nice to the right people on the way up - sooner or later you're going to meet…

Tom Humphries
Sat May 12 2007 - 01:00

Cavan v Down:You know what they say about being nice to the right people on the way up - sooner or later you're going to meet them coming down.

This time last year Down inflicted a five-point defeat on Cavan and appeared to cut clear of their long-time rivals. A month later, however, they lost to Donegal, and followed that with a dismal 1-7 to 0-4 defeat to Sligo.

Manager Paddy O'Rourke was axed and replaced by Ross Carr, but fortunes continued to turn for the worse. They lost six of their seven games in Division One B of the league, drew the other, and thus are relegated to Division Three next year.

Effectively then, they haven't won a competitive game of any significance since this time last year.

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Cavan, in contrast, have rebounded impressively since that defeat a year ago. They too lost their subsequent qualifier to Kildare, but since Donal Keogan took over as manager, assisted by former Armagh number two Paul Grimley, they have established some much needed consistency.

An unbeaten run in Division Two B, with five wins and two draws, sent them into the semi-finals, where they eventually fell to Roscommon.

But clearly the mood is good, and confidence restored. Keogan hasn't done anything drastic and Ray Cullivan, last year's minor and a student at DCU, is the only championship debutant tomorrow.

The team is still back-boned by such experienced players as Dermot McCabe, Anthony Forde, Larry Reilly and Jason O'Reilly, who obviously still have much to offer. Cavan's defence has been shaken up since the league semi-final, when the entire half-back line was replaced, with Paul Brady now starting in the corner, and Forde at centre back. A solid defence is critical against the likes of Benny Coulter, with big Dan Gordan always on for moving forward too if necessary.

Down have a more youthful look, with four debutants in defenders Declan Rooney and Kevin McGuigan, midfielder Jackie Lynch, and forward Packie Downey. Carr simply needed to shake things up, and tomorrow will prove just how telling the gap is between Division One and Division Two football, and if Down aren't really as bad they looked in recent weeks.

CAVAN:J Reilly; P Brady, E Reilly, M Cahill; M Hannon, A Forde, R Flanagan; D McCabe, L Mulvey; R Cullivan, M McKeever, L Reilly; S Johnston, G Pierson, J O'Reilly.

DOWN:M McVeigh; D McCartan, D Rooney, K McGuigan; R Murtagh, B Grant, J Clarke; D Gordan, J Lynch; J McGovern, A Carr, R Sexton; D Hughes, P Downey, B Coulter.