Football

No bad blood between Cavan & Armagh - Gearoid McKiernan

Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh and Cavan's Gearoid McKiernan in 1916-period GAA gear at Croke Park ahead of the NFL Division Two final on Sunday, April 24<br />Picture by Sportsfile &nbsp;
Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh and Cavan's Gearoid McKiernan in 1916-period GAA gear at Croke Park ahead of the NFL Division Two final on Sunday, April 24
Picture by Sportsfile  
Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh and Cavan's Gearoid McKiernan in 1916-period GAA gear at Croke Park ahead of the NFL Division Two final on Sunday, April 24
Picture by Sportsfile  

CAVAN skipper Gearoid McKiernan says there’s no “bad blood” left over from his county’s bad-tempered Championship clash with Armagh two years ago.

That game was overshadowed by fighting that broke out before throw-in when the sides lined out for the pre-game parade and, while Armagh won comfortably in the end, McKiernan’s Breffni men have the chance to avenge the defeat when they face their Ulster rivals on home soil on May 29.

They are the bookies’ favourites because next month’s meeting will be cast against the backdrop of their 17-point destruction of the Orchard men in Division Two. That loss ultimately consigned Armagh to relegation to Division Three, while Cavan went on to win promotion, but McKiernan says all bets are off in the Ulster Championship quarter-final.

“Nah, nah, I don’t think so,” answered the Swalinbar star when asked if the most recent result would impact on the next one.

“It was a strange evening, that evening. Armagh were missing four or five key men and it was just one of those crazy results. They actually finished the league very, very strong and they have eight weeks to prepare for us, so we know we can’t take our eye off that.

“We’ve had a good few tussles over the years, but there’s definitely no bad blood between the players - I have the utmost respect for the Armagh players and management and we know what they’ll bring to the table on May 29 and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Armagh’s draw-draw-win sequence following their loss to Cavan convinced observers the team had found its feet. That form came too late to save Division Two status, but it could make Armagh a dangerous proposition in the Championship.

“In Ulster, you can’t look past anyone, it’s dog-eat-dog out there, so we know Armagh are a very good team,” said McKiernan.

“They beat Derry and drew with Galway and Tyrone - and you would have said they were the three best teams in Division Two at the start - so you just look at that and you can’t take your eye off them. When they got relegated in 2014, they bounced back and got to the All-Ireland quarter-final that year.”

While Armagh dropped back to the third-tier, Cavan returned to Division One after a 14-year gap thanks to five wins on-the-trot that left them two points behind Tyrone - their opponents in the Division Two final on April 24.

Given their strength-in-depth, confidence and free-scoring form, they are seen as a decent bet for a first Ulster title since 1997, but McKiernan says winning the Anglo-Celt Cup is a long way from the players’ minds at present.

“You always have to believe you’re capable of it, but we haven’t proven anything yet,” he said.

“We’ve only won a few games in Division Two, so you can’t be saying we deserve to win an Ulster title. The reason you go to training is that you hope some day it will happen, but we’re not thinking about that at the minute, we’re thinking about Tyrone and then Armagh in the Championship - we’re not thinking about Ulster titles.”

You can be sure that some of the Cavan supporters are though and McKiernan says the packed stands at Kingspan Breffni Park have inspired the team this season: “I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, you have to use all that support to your advantage” he said.

“The last three games at Breffni Park, the support has been absolutely fantastic, it’s something that I wouldn’t have noticed before - maybe the support wasn’t as good. But definitely, when the support is good it really does drive you on and it really helps, so we’re using it as an advantage more than a pressure.”