OPINION: Who could Cavan draw in the next round and who would we prefer?

So, for the first time since 2013, Cavan have won successive qualifier matches. While there is much to work on after what was a gutsy if stuttering win over Down, the victory was the most important thing for Mattie McGleenan and his men.
 

Much now depends on tomorrow's draw. Paul Fitzpatrick runs the rule over Cavan's likely opponents.
 

 

Monaghan

Amazingly, Cavan haven’t beaten the Farney men in championship since the 2001 Ulster SFC semi-final. The sides have met three times in the championship in recent years, Monaghan winning by a point in 2013 and 2015 and by a goal last year.

The sides last met in the league in 2017 – read all about that one here – with the game finishing in a 0-7 to 0-7 stalemate.

Monaghan bounced back from their shock defeat to Fermanagh last time out with a 5-21 to 0-9 away win over Waterford yesterday.

 

Tyrone
Cavan have not beaten the Red Hands in championship since 1983. In Mattie McGleenan’s first match in charge, the Blues saw off his home county in the McKenna Cup in January 2017, a match which marked Cavan’s first senior win in any competition against Tyrone since the 2000 McKenna Cup final.

They last faced off in championship in 2016, Tyrone winning by 10 points in a high-scoring replay after a late David Givney goal had snatched a draw for Cavan first time out.

Mickey Harte’s side will be happy with their day’s work yesterday, notching 3-14 away against a notoriously defensive Carlow side.

Mayo
Arguably the second best team in the country – and certainly the one that has given Dublin most trouble in recent years – Stephen Rochford’s side generally come to life around this time of the season.

They were two points down at half-time against Tipperary yesterday but finished strongly to win pulling up by eight, although they did lose midfielder Seamie O’Shea to a suspected broken arm.

They defeated Cavan in the qualifiers in 2005 and 2007 but the Blues pulled off a big league win over the westerners in Castlebar in March 2017.

Armagh
Cavan’s win over the Orchard in 2013 kickstarted their run to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final under Terry Hyland. However, 12 months later, the tables were turned on a day when you may recall some trouble with the men in orange and the parade...

Cavan confirmed their superiority in 2016 with a 17-point league win and a comfortable championship victory, both at Kingspan Breffni, but Kieran McGeeney has an incredible back door record as a manager and after a solid away win against Sligo yesterday, would probably not mind drawing Cavan once again.

That said, the Breffni men wouldn’t be all that perturbed were they to draw their Ulster rivals either. Armagh were promoted to Division 2 in the Spring, Cavan, of course, went up to Division 1 again.

Leitrim
What’s rare is wonderful and Leitrim’s 10-point win over a hapless Louth side yesterday was certainly that. Cavan’s neighbours have had a very poor record over the 18 seasons since the qualifier system was introduced and will be into the round 3 draw for the first time ever.

While they were very impressive against Pete McGrath’s charges, as a side who remain in the basement in the league and are in uncharted territory in terms of the qualifiers, Leitrim are the team everyone will want to draw tomorrow.

Kildare
Cian O’Neill’s team were humbled by Division 4 Carlow in Leinster but have since recovered well, with two super away wins. The victory over Derry in Owenbeg (where the Oak Leafers had never lost a championship tie) was a good one but seeing off Longford in Pearse Park really caught the eye.

Longford are no bad team at all and have been building strongly for a number of years. There was very little between them but Kildare stood up strong late on and that suggests the players remain fully on board. The Lilywhites would be dangerous no matter who they draw.

Offaly/Clare
These sides meet today, with the Banner down as favourites. While the Munster men finished third in Division 2 of the league, there is suspicion – confirmed by championship results – that it was a weak renewal of that division this year.

Offaly, under new interim manager Paul Rouse, had a fantastic win against a defensive Antrim side last time out and while Clare will be a step up, they will fancy their chances of going close once again.

Cavan and Clare drew in the opening round of the league in Ennis while the Blues defeated Offaly in Tullamore in the qualifiers last year.

 

So, there you have it. The best draw for Cavan would surely be Leitrim or the winners of Offaly and Clare. Given recent results, Monaghan or Tyrone would, on the face of it, look to be the worst, with Mayo next in the list of those we wish to avoid.