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CAVAN’S 3-13 to 1-10 victory over Armagh in the group game played in Kingspan Breffni nine weeks ago may prove to be a double-edged sword for the Blues. On the one hand, this was a big result against the team that had gone through the Division 3A league unbeaten. Philip ‘Gunner’ Brady had sold a Croke Park dream to his panel when he was recruiting them to enter a team in the championship after Cavan had been 18 months out of camogie. After speaking to a number of the players they have referenced that result as the one that confirmed to them that they could reach Croke Park in August. They have remained unbeaten since. On the other hand it is also the game that rid Armagh of any complacency they may have had after lifting the league title undefeated – and taught them a lot about the unknown quantity that was/is the Cavan team. That day was the first time in PJ O’Mullan’s two-season tenure as Armagh manager that they had played Cavan. In his interview immediately after the 4-19 to 2-19 semi-final win over Roscommon three weeks ago he was quick to talk up Cavan and install them as “unbeaten” favourites for the final. Armagh had a few injuries going into that game – but overall Cavan had far more hunger and deserved to get one over on them. Armagh’s forwards looked much sharper in the games they played after that with Rachael Trainor and Sinéad Quinn taking turns to top-score. Against Roscommon Trainor hit 2-2 from play and delivered six frees while Quinn picked up the player of the match award with 1-5. That game also saw Corrina Doyle burst forward for 1-3, making a huge impact in the five minutes after half-time when they really took charge of their own destiny. But they conceded 2-19. Granted 1-8 from that total came from Orla Connolly frees and those scores helped keep her team in a game that Armagh seemed to be dominating. Last year’s beaten finalists should have won by a greater margin – but didn’t. Since Cavan beat Armagh, they have remained unbeaten – but they still haven’t made it easy for their supporters. In each of their subsequent games, against Kildare, Tyrone, Roscommon, and then Kildare again in the semi-final, they have fallen behind and left themselves a lot of work to do. The biggest deficit came against Roscommon when they conceded four goals in the opening 20 minutes and found themselves 12 points down. A final result of 4-10 to 4-6 showed a lot of resilience. The other comeback victories weren’t quite as spectacular, although they had to dig deep against Kildare in the semi-final. After a super opening quarter they led by 1-5 to 0-1 but were trailing by 1-8 to 1-6 at half-time. Both defences got on top in the third quarter and it wasn’t until the 48th minute that Cavan got level at 1-9 each. From then they were able to finish very strongly with the Fitzsimons sisters, their cousin Alannah Tierney, Niamh Keenaghan, and veterans Rosie Crowe-McKeever and Róisín O’Keefe lifting their game. But there is a question mark over why they allow teams to establish a lead over them. If that continues to happen, some team will take advantage and dig in for the result. I can’t see the 2020 final between the pair having any real impact. Many of the participants on both teams have moved on. However last year’s competition may have an effect. Cavan didn’t participate while Armagh lost the final, a result that could provide them with a plan or at least an incentive to win. Then there is a trend to recent finals. In 2023 Clare beat Tipperary by four points in the final. A year later Tipperary came back to beat Laois by a single point. Last year Laois bounced back to beat Armagh by 2-15 to 0-12 in the decider. And Armagh are back in the final. Can Cavan buck the trend or will Armagh learn enough from last year – and from the group game in Kingspan that ended in the same margin of victory as last August’s final? It might take a replay to sort the pair out.