Louth looking to add to Cavan’s Breffni woes

Allianz Football League Division Two, round three

Cavan v Louth (Sunday, Kingspan Breffni, 2pm)

IF ever a Gaelic footballer had earned the right to stand on the spot, turn his collar up and raise his two arms messianically, it was Mark Brennan that day.

Cavan v Louth in Division 2B, some 19 years ago.

Two days after the funeral of Denis Law, best remembered for his back-heeled goal that relegated his old club Manchester United, the clip of Brennan’s brilliant 69th minute effort surfaced again this week on social media.

It was a timely reminder of the last time Louth beat their hosts in Breffni.

Brennan’s namesake Ger takes his team to Cavan town on Sunday afternoon with as good a chance as they’ve had in that time.

It is closing in on two years since Cavan last won at home, a run of eight games.

This is a campaign where they have four home ties but if they fail to win this one, it becomes an ask for them to stay out of Division Three.

They’re away to Dermot McCabe’s Westmeath next, with Down and Cork at Breffni and Roscommon in the Hyde for their last three fixtures.

Against Monaghan and Meath, the worry is that there never really looked a point in either game where they were going to win.

Gearoid McKiernan returned off the bench at half-time two weeks ago and landed three long-range efforts, each worth two points. They’ve been pretty prolific on that front, kicking nine scores from beyond the arc in their two games.

But they’ve been penetrated for goals by both opponents so far, with five hitting the net.

Raymond Galligan brought goalkeeper Nevin O’Donnell, transferred back from Leitrim, on for Gary O’Rourke with 20 minutes to go in Navan, suggesting a change could be afoot there. But as a team, they are so defensively porous.

They’ve kept just one clean sheet since drawing with Meath last March, and Mayo’s 0-20 that day was more than enough.

Louth are a team whose early adaptation to the new rules was always going to be interesting. The last few years they’ve played really deep defensively and broken out with pace that then hurts teams going the other way.

There was an ambush waiting for Roscommon in Drogheda but the attacking quality of the Murtaghs got Davy Burke’s side out of there by the skin of their teeth.

That they kicked ten points between them after Westmeath’s Luke Loughlin landed 0-12 for himself on the opening weekend speaks to how their defensive structure has been ripped apart by the rules.

But they’re surviving. They still stole the opening win with a late goal and could have easily gotten something out of the game with the Rossies.

Craig Lennon, who won the county’s second ever All-Star for his performances last summer, came off early in that game and isn’t expected to feature in Breffni.

With three home games to come, Louth are still very much the team coming into this game looking up the table rather than down it.

Maybe that all flips on its head.

More likely, though, is that Louth win in Breffni for the first time in 19 years.