National Football League Division Four
Cavan v Tipperary
Sunday, Kingspan Breffni, 2pm

By Niall Gartland

CAVAN stand alone at the top of Division Four and can secure promotion with two games to spare if they do the business against third placed Tipperary this Sunday.

The Breffni County boast an unblemished record after four rounds of action, their most recent win a 1-13 to 0-10 victory away to Sligo last weekend.

They by no means had it all their own way and trailed by four points at the break, but they successfully reeled in their opponents and finished strongly with scores from Oisin Kiernan, Gerard Smith and Gearoid McKiernan.

That win means that Cavan are exactly where they want to be heading into the final three rounds of action; victory this weekend would copper-fasten their promotion back to Division Three with plenty of time to spare, and they could start planning for their upcoming Ulster Championship campaign.

Mickey Graham’s side rode their luck a bit against Sligo, but they were still the better team and had sterling contributions from a number of players.

Gearoid McKiernan was immense, weighing in with six points, while Killian ‘Gunner’ Brady and Padraig Faulkner were rock solid at the back. Others who did well were Oisin Kiernan and Patrick Lynch, while Benjamin Kelly did well in his 30 minutes on the pitch.

There were some minuses – some of the starting players didn’t really nab their chance and were duly substituted, and some of their overall play was mixed in the first half, albeit wind conditions factored into that.

Tipperary, meanwhile, have done reasonably well and claimed their second win of the campaign with a 4-4 to 0-15 win over Wexford at the weekend. Three of those goals came in the opening 20 minutes, however, and it was by no means a vintage performance from a side who have undoubtedly lost some of their lustre since winning a famous Munster title in 2020.

Speaking recently, their manager David Power explained: “We are in transition and it’s where we belong, given how we have played. And if we’re not good enough to get out of Division Four, then that tells you all you need to know about us. We know what we have to do.”

Sometimes the word transition is used as an excuse, but they have lost a lot of players between retirement and work commitments (including key names like Michael Quinlivan, Alan Campbell, Philip Austin, Brian Fox and Liam Casey), so it’s no
major surprise that they have fallen back.

They still have a chance of promotion with three rounds remaining, so this is just as big a game for them as it is for Cavan.

Four goals against Wexford aside, they haven’t been particularly impressive up front, and it’s hard to argue a case for a Tipp’ victory here.

Cavan aren’t the finished article, and they’d admit that themselves, but they’re quietly going about their business and should nail down that promotion berth with two games to spare.

READ MORE…Graham happy with Cavan attitude. Click here…