THE claustrophobic bear pit that is Ruislip, rather than the expanse of Croke Park, will host the latest meeting of Cavan and London in the All-Ireland SFC.
For the second time in three years, the Breffnimen and the Exiles will go at it this afternoon like stags butting in the glen for the right to prolong their summer football.
London have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Cavan are 1/14 with the bookies to repeat their win over the same opposition in the 2013 All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers at HQ and defeat is unthinkable in the minds of their supporters.
Cavan pride was hurt by defeat to next-door neighbours Monaghan last time out but the spirit among the fans and the county camp itself appears bent but far from broken.
“The message is positive, the lads are anxious to get out there, they feel they have a lot more to offer,” Cavan manager Terry Hyland enthused.
“They’re very disappointed to have lost that game to Monaghan and they want to get back on the horse again.”
Riding two horses is not something London talisman Lorcan Mulvey can be accused of given that the Butlersbridge native threw in his lot with his adopted ‘county’ some five years ago after a brief spell wearing the blue of his native county.
Mulvey is a player of toughness and dynamism and fairly epitomises what London bring to the table; their performance at home to Roscommon last time was a case in point.
Ruislip was regarded as a potential banana skin for the Rossies and London did well to hold their Connacht opponents to just 1-2 in the second half with Mulvey upholstering his side’s stubborn resistance by posting five points in that period.
Full-forward-cum-midfielder Mulvey finished the 2013 season as an All-Star nominee but there doesn’t appear to be the same atmosphere of revivalist zeal in the London camp as there was two years ago.
Cavan comfortably beat today’s opponents in a challenge game in Butlersbridge on May 3 when local favourite Mulvey patently lacked support up front as he later did against Roscommon.
This afternoon’s raging hot favourites will be boosted by the return from injury of the versatile, highly-rated former UUJ ace Killian Clarke from the Shercock club.
“Killian is fit,” Hyland confirmed. We haven’t had him since the middle of the National League.
“He might be a wee bit rusty, football-wise, but he played a couple of challenge matches in the last couple of weeks and played with his club so he should be fit to play some part.
“Everybody else is fit. We have no problem with motivation and we think that we should have a long summer in front of us if all goes well.”
Winning at Ruislip today would see a possible clash in the next round against either Kildare, Fermanagh, Sligo or Clare and a win in that round for Hyland and co. would see Cavan positioned within two games of making it back to Croker.
An interesting aside to today’s head-to-head is that current Cavan selector Kevin Downes (Cavan Gaels) patrolled the line wearing a London bib for the teams’ Croke Park clash two years ago when Cavan’s 0-9 was matched by London’s 1-6 at the interval before the Breffni county surged clear to win pulling up.
