Tailteann Cup Final: Cavan v Westmeath, Croke Park, Saturday, 3pm — Live RTÉ 2
Having turned some heads by backing up their blitzing of Antrim with an impressive showing against Donegal in the Ulster SFC semi-final, Cavan were immediately installed as favourites to win the inaugural Tailteann Cup.
It is a case of so far, so good for Mickey Graham’s charges, who have seen off Down, Fermanagh and Sligo to reach Saturday’s final. But with the race for Sam Maguire unusually open this year — Cavan have, relatively recently, beaten or run close most of the sides who made the last 12 — there is a sense among some of the Breffni supporters that the county were unfortunate to miss out on a crack at the traditional qualifiers.
Wing forward Gerard Smith admitted to a slight tinge of regret in that regard but stressed that anything is better than looking on with no competitive matches.
World Cup 2026 European qualifiers draw: All you need to know about Ireland’s potential group
Irish rugby is a good place to be, thanks to people such as Dave Fagan
No game illustrated the widening gulf between Europe’s elite and the rest than Toulouse’s mauling of Ulster
Provinces gear up for more European action as rugby pays tribute to Dave Fagan
[ Tailteann Cup: Rampant Westmeath flex their muscles and make final pushOpens in new window ]
“A small bit. If Cavan were out and there was no football and you were watching these teams on a Sunday and your season was over, there’d probably be a bit of, Jesus, that could be us, if things had gone our way, maybe we’d be on a run,” the Lavey clubman admitted.
“But after we were knocked out of Ulster, the full attention was on the Tailteann Cup. Maybe if we were knocked out and had no other football we might be thinking that way.”
Smith has been converted from wing back to wing forward this year and has excelled, landing 0-10 from play in five championship matches to date. The Tailteann has been characterised by some freewheeling football but the 27-year-old expects things might tighten up a little for Saturday’s final against Westmeath.
The novelty factor has worn off and now there is something to win — and lose.
“Maybe so. I think finals can start a bit cagey, you don’t want to be conceding goals or scores early on so I’d say maybe both teams will take that approach from the start just to stick in the game. It was very open on both ends in the semi-finals so I’d say we’ll both be looking to tighten things up there in defence.”
[ Cavan reaping considerable benefits of early Tailteann Cup buy-inOpens in new window ]
Cavan have traditionally not coped well with the favourites’ tag but Smith feels there was no less pressure in the Tailteann than there would be in any other championship.
“There’s pressure anyway outside the county, no matter what game it is, you’re judged on your results, whether they go good or bad. And pressure comes from inside the group, we wanted to do well in Ulster, we were knocked out and our attention turned to the Tailteann Cup and we wanted to give this a right crack. So the pressure was probably internally rather than externally.
“The group that’s there is still relatively young and there’s a nice mix between old and young and experience. We have probably been inconsistent in the last two years with performances, it’s been up and down and we have kind of steadied that ship this year. We got out of the Division 4 and hopefully if we can get the win next weekend, we can use it as a springboard to push on again next year.
“We’d be ending this year on a real positive note (if Cavan win) and it would be encouraging heading into next year that we’d be hopefully pushing for another promotion and then you’re in the last 16 of Sam if you got the win. So it would be another huge 12 months on this team’s journey.
“With a knock-out championship, even at club level, only three teams can finish their season on a positive note so if we were able to do that this year, it would be huge for the group for pushing on into next year as well.”
