ON Friday evening (8pm) at Kingspan Breffni, the passion and ambition that team-manager Fintan Reilly says is encoded in the DNA of his Gowna charges will be tested to the full in the first of the Cavan SFC quarter-final ties.
Reilly’s men are seeking a hat-trick of county SFC titles but competition surprise packets Ballyhaise will be confident they can repeat their second-round win (3-9 to 0-17) over the defending champions.
This year, the Gowna men have stuttered their way into the play-off stages, being rather fortunate to finish up in the final qualifying spot (8th) two weeks ago.
Ballyhaise are flying, with midfielder David Brady in the form of his life and former county ace Kevin Tierney re-winding the clock up front.
However, Gowna will arguably have learned more in defeat from the sides’ second-round meeting and the men from the Loch get a hesitant vote to make it into the last four.
On Saturday, also at Kingspan Breffni (5pm), outsiders Cavan Gaels and Mullahoran will do battle in what is another repeat clash from an earlier round (first) when the latter caused a shock by earning a 0-14 to 0-11 victory.
Mullahoran have punched above their weight so far this year in the SFC, whereas there is a feeling in Cavan that the county town side have been pacing themselves under the tutelage of former county star Seanie Johnston.
After their setback to Mullahoran, the Gaels’ gritty 1-12 to 1-12 draw with Gowna seemed to smack of something akin to their undoubted potential but, in truth, team-manager Johnston will be demanding far more consistency from his players over the hour-plus on Saturday evening.
Having beaten Cavan Gaels, drew with 2021 champions Ramor Utd and toppled perennial semi-finalists Kingscourt in the competition so far, Mullahoran cannot be underestimated and in attacker Cormac O’Reilly – son of 1997 Ulster SFC medallist Damien – Mullahoran have a match-winner.
Cavan Gaels appear to have the better-balanced crew though and, in Gearóid McKiernan, still have arguably the most talented player in Cavan in their ranks. The Gaels ought to win by at least a handful of points.
Sunday will see the completion of the quarter-finals with a double-bill at Kingspan Breffni, starting with the clash (3pm) of a highly-fancied Crosserlough side and rank outsiders Ballinagh. Then at 4.45pm, dark horses Ramor United will go head-to-head with former double (2018-19) winners Castlerahan.
Crosserlough last won the title in 2020 but they subsequently failed to consolidate that breakthrough triumph. However, they seem to have recovered their hunger and they’ve been the stand-out team to date in the blue-riband competition, demolishing - albeit much lesser teams – their opponent in each of the four qualifying rounds.
In round three, Ballinagh were trounced by 10 points (0-11 to 2-15) by Crosserlough and with a rejuvenated Dara McVeety in their midst, Crosserlough are flying these days.
Ballinagh won the second division league title earlier this year but this Sunday’s do-or-die clash is a huge step up for them and they will do well to keep the gap between them and their opponents at the death in single figures.
The last of the quarter-final ties will see Virginia town-based Ramor United go into their duel with Ballyjamesduff town-based Castlerahan in a no-win situation.
Like Crosserlough, Ramor seem to have re-captured the form they showed when last winning (2021) but the concession of 4-7 in beating Killygarry by just two points must be a worry to their management and supporters.
Castlerahan have performed better than expected so far in the championship but they only narrowly squeezed into the top eight and they look likely to be meeting their waterloo this Sunday.
