An Mhí vs An Cabhán, An Uaimh, De Domnaigh. 3pm

[Jinxy]

I dunno, never heard of him.

He's better than Johnson.

Never heard of him either.

[rodney trotter]

Well we have on paper a good draw but that's a good draw relative to other potentials in Ulster.
I think we have a team that can beat Monaghan, we are certainly good enough to beat Fermanagh or Antrim. That said those teams, especially Monaghan, are also well able to beat Cavan on their day. I am hopeful that we can make the final. I am thinking Monaghan are blowing the load a bit early and may do a Derry when championship comes!

With a bit of luck the poor beggars that get through the bloodbath that is the other side of the draw will be so wrecked they won't be able to perform in the final. Shame for us is that Keating and Givney opted out, Keating especially.

Monaghan are going to Portugal next week for a training camp, I doubt they will be losing any focus ahead of the championship. They also have players coming back from injury who haven't played in the League, Colin Walshe, Eoin Lennon, Chris McGuinness, Jack McCarron.

[mylestheslasher]

Well we have on paper a good draw but that's a good draw relative to other potentials in Ulster.
I think we have a team that can beat Monaghan, we are certainly good enough to beat Fermanagh or Antrim. That said those teams, especially Monaghan, are also well able to beat Cavan on their day. I am hopeful that we can make the final. I am thinking Monaghan are blowing the load a bit early and may do a Derry when championship comes!

With a bit of luck the poor beggars that get through the bloodbath that is the other side of the draw will be so wrecked they won't be able to perform in the final. Shame for us is that Keating and Givney opted out, Keating especially.

Monaghan are going to Portugal next week for a training camp, I doubt they will be losing any focus ahead of the championship. They also have players coming back from injury who haven't played in the League, Colin Walshe, Eoin Lennon, Chris McGuinness, Jack McCarron.

I didn't say they would lose focus Rodney, what I am saying is they are going remarkably well so far this year and possibly too well. You need to time your run for the championship and to me Monaghan look to be peaking early. Derry did something similar last year, getting to the league final and then getting dumped out of the back door by Longford.

[Orior]

For me, this is the pick of the games this weekend.

[Syferus]

We believe in you O'Dowd. Fingers crossed the officiating conspiracy against Meath doesn't cost you this one, though.

[Itchy]

Who's What's Martin Dunne Done?

Feck sake that's weak. I hope your team is that weak on Sunday as my sources tell me nothing less than an 19 point win for Cavan will suffice as Roscommon are certain to beat Westmeath by 20 points.

[rodney trotter]

Well we have on paper a good draw but that's a good draw relative to other potentials in Ulster.
I think we have a team that can beat Monaghan, we are certainly good enough to beat Fermanagh or Antrim. That said those teams, especially Monaghan, are also well able to beat Cavan on their day. I am hopeful that we can make the final. I am thinking Monaghan are blowing the load a bit early and may do a Derry when championship comes!

With a bit of luck the poor beggars that get through the bloodbath that is the other side of the draw will be so wrecked they won't be able to perform in the final. Shame for us is that Keating and Givney opted out, Keating especially.

Monaghan are going to Portugal next week for a training camp, I doubt they will be losing any focus ahead of the championship. They also have players coming back from injury who haven't played in the League, Colin Walshe, Eoin Lennon, Chris McGuinness, Jack McCarron.

I didn't say they would lose focus Rodney, what I am saying is they are going remarkably well so far this year and possibly too well. You need to time your run for the championship and to me Monaghan look to be peaking early. Derry did something similar last year, getting to the league final and then getting dumped out of the back door by Longford.

There is a different edge to Monaghan then Derry in the last few years in the championship, Derry flattered to deceive in the championship in 2013 as well after strolling through Division 2.

[Schkite]

Derry's performance in last year's championship doesn't mean that any team performing above expectations in the league will automatically go on to have a drop in form in the summer. That was just how Derry did. Are there any other similar examples recently?

That being said, away to Cavan is a tough game for Monaghan at any time, but we'll be well prepared for it and I doubt "peaking early" will play a part in the result. Like rodney says with the training camp, I don't think there's any doubt over what they're focused on.

[mylestheslasher]

We'll see in time I suppose.

Everyone in Cavan I've spoken to is confident we can win. Was disappointed watching seo spoirt on tg4 to see this game get about 20s of a mention despite undoubtedly being the biggest game in div 2 while galway of course get 5 mins. Seems tg4 coverage is biased to gaeltacht regions as rte is to large populations.

[twohands!!!]

Derry's performance in last year's championship doesn't mean that any team performing above expectations in the league will automatically go on to have a drop in form in the summer. That was just how Derry did. Are there any other similar examples recently?

That being said, away to Cavan is a tough game for Monaghan at any time, but we'll be well prepared for it and I doubt "peaking early" will play a part in the result. Like rodney says with the training camp, I don't think there's any doubt over what they're focused on.

On the Derry game - Derry were missing a serious chunk of their most important players from the league in that game - They were missing 6 of the starters from the game against Donegal and I think there were a couple more from the league missing both games with injury.
Also Longford had one of those day's when pretty much their entire team played well - they scored 2-16 and had 9 different scorers and yet in the end only won by 2 points. Worth remembering that Derry only lost to Donegal by a single goal in their Ulster championship game.

People using the  Derry Longford game in the championship last year to draw any sort of conclusions/make any sort of point about league versus championship would want to be aware that of the circumstances.

You could easily describe Derry's championship performance in 2014 as losing to the team that got to the All-Ireland final by a single score, before losing by 2 points against a lowly-ranked side that produced their best performance in years when Derry were missing a serious chunk of their team and had an off-day.

[rodney trotter]

Derry missing 6 players against Longford , big deal. They were at home in Celtic Park. Longford were relegted from Division 3 last year.

[thejuice]

Paddy O'Rourke;

Donnacha Tobin, Conor McGill, James McEntee;
Mickey Burke, Donal Keogan, Brian Power;

Conor Gillespie, Adam Flanagan;

Graham Reilly, Padraic Harnan, Bryan Menton;
Eamon Wallace, Stephen Bray, Mark O'Sullivan.

Team for tomorrow. Best team we could field at this stage Perhaps. We can bring Shane O'Rourke on as well as an impact sub as well.

Wouldn't bet on this one. We could as easily end up hammering them as they might do the same to us. Sure we'll see on the day.

[Itchy]

Cavan name unchanged team...
Gilsenan
McLoughlin
R Dunne
R Flanagan
F Flanagan
McEnroe
D Reilly
McKeirnan
Corr
M Reilly
McDermott
McVitty
M Dunne
Fitzpatrick
Mackey

[thejuice]

Tickets are selling fast. Should be a big crowd in. Can be bought for a €5 off the gate price till midnight tonight or in centra or other outlets.

[Itchy]

Going to be perfect conditions today. Much has been made of the breffni park pitch playing slowly and the fact Navan is faster surface, if this is true then conditions should suit Cavan who have pace around the pitch. With Argue and Hayes also available we now have the possibility to mix it up in the full forward line too.