REACTION: McGleenan praises Cavan's never-say-die attitude

Cavan manager Mattie McGleenan praised his side’s never-say-die attitude after they survived a stern test against Down in Brewster Park yesterday evening.

“We lost to Tipperary at this stage last year. We didn’t play as well as we should have but we’re still there and we’re still in the hat and I thought we showed huge character at the end of the game to close it out and win it. So we’re happy, we’re still there,” stated McGleenan.

“You’re in a situation where Down played very poorly the last day so they were really going to try and come out and go at it and I thought in the first half when we were in the ascendancy we made three or four really poor decisions on the ball, some poor kick passes, taking the ball into the tackle, and that allowed them to get back into the game.

“They got what I would believe were three or four easy free-kicks and in fairness they punished us and that left it fairly tight at half-time. In saying that, i thought in the second half the boys didn’t give up – they could have very easily packed their bags and went home.

“They didn’t, they stayed in the game and kept playing. We needed a break and we got a break when their goalkeeper made a mistake. From that we dug in and we finished the game. We’re over the moon at this stage.”

The victory over Down marked the first occasion since 2013 that Cavan have won two successive qualifier matches. That year, under Terry Hyland, the Blues went all the way to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.

Cavan captain Dara McVeety admitted in The Anglo-Celt this week that a return to the quarter-final (more specifically, the new ‘Super 8’ stage) is Cavan’s goal once more; ironically, they may be without the Crosserlough man next time, however, as he was dismissed along with Conor Moynagh on a straight red card after the final whistle.

See this week’s print edition for full report and reaction.