Forged friendships fuel Cavan

IT seems unlikely but it could be argued that Cavan’s momentous Ulster U21 championship win in April was first formulated on the rock-hardplaying fields and in the bohemian bars of the west coast of America last summer.

Famously, a dozen of the 2010 Cavan U21s – beaten in the Ulster final by a Michael Murphy-inspired Donegal — headed to California on J1s this time last year.

For Gearoid McKiernan, this year’s inspirational captain who will be one of eight senior debutants in blue on Sunday, the bond of friendship forged while lining out with fellow Cavanmen for San Francisco Celts went a long way towards achieving a goal a few months later.