By 
IF ever Tyrone needed a pick-me-up perhaps it will be the sight of those dark blue Cavan jerseys which will do the trick.
To say that the Breffni boys have proven to be subservient opposition to the Red Hands down the years might be something of an understatement. It has been 43 years (1983) since they last got the better of Tyrone in the Championship and 29 seasons (1997) from their last National League triumph over them, that a victory secured at O’Neill Park in Dungannon.
So it might be argued that if Tyrone were looking to hand select a county to meet as they aim to belatedly kick-start their Division Two promotion challenge then this latest altercation with Cavan comes at just the right time.
These two Ulster neighbours will take to the pitch at Healy Park this Sunday afternoon in desperate need of league points after a disappointing opening to their respective campaigns.
Even with a raft of absentees Tyrone will have hoped to accrue more than one point from their first two matches, a draw at home to Kildare followed up with a loss on the road to old rivals Derry.
The frustrating trait in both of those encounters was that the Red Hands were well-positioned heading into the closing straight to push on for victory but on neither occasion were they able to seal the deal.
Manager Malachy O’Rourke will hope that key campaigners like Brian Kennedy, Darragh Canavan and Eoin McElholm will benefit from having a competitive game under their belts after they were drafted in against Derry, while Peter Teague also appeared as a second half substitute at Celtic Park.
The performances of newer recruits such as Ethan Jordan, Conor O’Neill and Ronan Cassidy also provided reason to be optimistic, even in defeat.
Cavan’s fortunes this season are being steered by their former centre field legend Dermot McCabe and like Tyrone they have also endured a tough start to the league.
A narrow one point loss away to Cork was followed up by a crushing last minute defeat at Breffni Park against Meath, the Royals sticking over a dramatic clinching two pointer at the death to take the spoils.
Gearóid McKiernan starred for the hosts with 0-9 and was unfortunate to finish on the losing side while there were cameos too from goalscorer Peter Corrigan and the excellent Oisín Brady.
Tyrone registered a brace of convincing victories over Cavan last season, in the first round of the Ulster Championship at home, and then two months later an even more emphatic triumph in the All-Ireland Qualifier at Enniskillen.
With the likes of Cork and Meath bolting out of the starting blocks in the race for promotion, the margin of victory will matter little to Malachy Rourke’s charges this weekend. The overriding objective is just to get the win to get them back in the reckoning at the top end of the Division Two table.
