Despite being the most successful county in their respective provinces, Cavan and Dublin have only met four times in championship football

1891 All Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final
Dublin 3-7 Cavan 0-3

CAVAN and Dublin’s rivalry is an old one, indeed their first ever meeting came in just the fourth All-Ireland Championship. Well the fifth really, but the 1888 season only included the four provincial championships as the All-Ireland series was cancelled due to a tour of America. Cavan, who were represented by the Cavan Slashers, were captained by Mick McGuirk. They won their first Ulster title with wins over Antrim and Armagh, the latter of those after a replay. In those three games, the Breffni county conceded a grand total of 0-1. Young Ireland’s were representing Dublin and they reached the All-Ireland semi-final without playing a game as Kildare did not field for the Leinster Championship final. With the provincial games played in the winter of 1981, it would be the following February before Cavan and Dublin met in the semi-final at Clonturk Park in Drumcondra. With the wind at their backs, Cavan had the better of the play in the first 15 minutes but couldn’t make any real impression on the scoreboard and they trailed 1-1 to 0-2 at the break. Dublin dominated the second half to earn a comfortable 3-7 to 0-3 win. Dublin would go on to win their very first All-Ireland as they defeated Cork in the final – a couple of hours after their semi-final win over Cavan.
Cavan: M McGuirk (captain), P Gaffney, P Boylan, J Martin, H Reilly, P Reilly, P Reilly, D Taggart, J Taggart, T Brady, J Brady, J Gilchrest, J Ritchie, J Clarke, J McDermott, P McCaffrey, J Brogan, J Haughey, J Carroll, P Sullivan, T Reilly

1924 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final
Dublin 0-6 Cavan 1-1

DUBLIN’S domination of Cavan continued in a semi-final that was played in January 1925 at Croke Park. The Breffni county were on the goal trail in Ulster as they hit nine in four games, including two in their provincial final win over Monaghan. Cavan were 1-1 to 0-1 behind in Ballybay at the interval but scored two goals after the break to leave the full-time score 2-3 to 1-6, with Cavan progressing due to more goals scored. On January 18, Dublin and Cavan met for the right to face Kerry in the final with the Kingdom defeating Mayo the December before. JP Murphy was Cavan’s only scorer in the first half as they were behind 0-3 to 0-1. Murphy also scored a goal in the second half, but it was not enough. Kerry would win the final 0-4 to 0-3 while Cavan’s wait for a first All-Ireland title went on.
Cavan: R Black, J Tiernan, PJ Masterson, J Jermyn, S O’Grady, A Sexton, JJ Clarke, T Egan, P Murray, P Masterson, J Smith, P Conway, J Murphy, T Hegarty, JP Murphy

1920 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final
Dublin 3-6 Cavan 1-3

INCREDIBLY, the four semi-finalists 100 years ago will meet again in 2020, although Cavan will definitely be hoping for a reversal in fortunes after their 3-6 to 1-3 loss. It was a championship disrupted by the War of Independence, including Bloody Sunday at Croke Park, and Tipperary’s semi-final with Mayo took place 19 months after Cavan and Dublin met in Navan. Indeed, like 2020, Cavan started their campaign with a preliminary round win over Monaghan in Clones, and followed it up with victories against Fermanagh, Derry and, in the final, Armagh. That set up another semi-final meeting with the Dubs but, again, the gap would be big as the Leinster champions claimed a 3-6 to 1-3 win. Cavan fans – and indeed their players – didn’t have too much time to prepare for the game as an ad in the Anglo Celt newspaper on Friday, February 24 informed them that the match was taking place two days later. Cavan had completed a two-week training camp in August expecting the match to be played then, but the delay saw them lose a lot of their sharpness. An O’Bierne goal just before the break kept the Ulster side in touch as they trailed 2-5 to 1-1 but O’Bierne and McGaheran were their only scorers after the break as Dublin progressed.

Cavan: J Heslin, P Fay, J Cullen (captain), P Carolan, P Cahill, J Smith, JJ Clarke, J Cahill, P Leonard, JP Murphy, P Masterson, T Flood, W O’Bierne, J Tiernan, J McGaheran

1942 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final
Dublin 1-6 Cavan 1-3

CAVAN suffered their fourth championship defeat to Dublin as they lost at Croke Park in front of 8.059 supporters. The Breffni county edged a close Ulster quarter-final with Monaghan before they went goal crazy against Donegal (7) and Down (5) – the final with the Mourne county actually played outside Ulster in Dundalk. Down grabbed the opening score but goals from Morgan, Boylan, Smith, Cahill and Reilly sent them through to the last four. Dublin had needed a replay to get past Longford in the Leinster Championship before wins over Meath and Carlow secured the title. Cavan lost their game with Dublin in the first half as they kicked 13 wides to Dublin’s five and the sides went in with two points apiece on the board. TP Reilly’s second-half goal was not enough.
Cavan: JB Benson, E Finnegan, B Cully, PP Galligan, G Smith, T O’Reilly, TP O’Reilly (captain), JJ O’Reilly, A Cumiskey, D Morgan, P Smith, H Bouchier, P Boylan, S Deignan, W Doonan