By Niall Gartland

WHAT a difference a week makes. Cavan will travel to Westmeath this Sunday with a renewed sense of optimism after they belatedly claimed their first league win in last weekend’s encounter against Louth.

The discourse surrounding the Cavan set-up has been palpably negative following back-to-back defeats to Kildare and Louth. Well, supporters are entitled to their views, as is the media – and there was only one way to respond to the criticism and that was getting back to winning ways on the pitch.

So their victory over the Wee County will have come as a considerable source of relief, two late goals from Conor Madden and Gearóid McKiernan settling a high-scoring contest in their favour, but one swallow doesn’t make a summer but they need to push on now if they’re to ease their relegation concerns.

Westmeath are managed by Cavan great Dermot McCabe, who is employed as the Breffni County’s Games Development Officer. His move to Westmeath raised eyebrows in Cavan, and it was reported at the time that the Cavan management committee convened to discuss his appointment.

The Leinster side are in a spot of bother after three rounds of fixtures, having lost all three matches, though they were unfortunate to come out second best in last weekend’s contest against Cork on a scoreline of 3-18 to 3-17.

As for Cavan, there were quite a number of positives to be gleaned from their win over Louth. Their former captain Dara McVeety was outstanding throughout, scoring three of them, McKieran was his usual impact, and they
had a big impact from the bench with Conor Madden (who scored 1-2), and Killian Clarke particularly influential in their time on the pitch.

Young Evan Crowe also played well and in general they played with a lot of spirit which is always a good sign.

They’ll quietly fancy their chances of picking up a second successive victory, but it won’t be easy. If they do, they’ll have put themselves in a great position to secure their Division Two status with three more rounds yet to come after their Westmeath encounter.