"It's one of those David v Goliath situations."

The words of Killygarry chairperson Anselm Lovett ahead of Sunday's Cavan SFC final against Gowna.

Lovett, however, does not see it as a lost cause for the underdog on the periphery of Cavan town. It's something Killygarry have been building towards; lots of hard work has gone in at juvenile and underage level to produce a senior team that now stands 70 minutes away from lifting the Oliver Plunkett Cup for the very first time.

Killygarry's last and only appearance in the decider was in 1971, five years after the club's formation.

"Beaten in 1971 by the Crosserlough team that did seven in a row from 1966 to '72," Lovett told RTÉ Sport, with a tinge of regret.

Failure to get over the line again in 2022 would be disappointing, but Killygarry are putting in solid foundations to ensure that senior success is imminent.

"Gowna have been vying with Killygarry for supremacy in underage for the last few years and now it looks as it will be the same at senior level for the next few years," predicts Anglo Celt journalist Paul Fitzpatrick.

Killygarry have benefitted from what Fitzpatrick calls "a demographic shift" in that people are moving out of Cavan town, with other clubs like Butlersbridge also seeing numbers grow because of this movement.

"Killygarry were traditionally a small club; they're not any more. Their minors are also in the final on Sunday and then you look at the recent success for their Under-13 and U15 squads in winning finals and getting to finals. They have three national schools to pick from; a huge amount of coaching is going on and they've built an indoor arena.

"Their women's team got to a senior final this year. They are doing lots of things well."

For Lovett, making sure that proper funding was in place for coaching the senior stars of the future was paramount.

"We realised over the last number of years that without concentrating on the conveyor belt to the senior team we were never breaking into the big time," he said.

"We've invested a lot of money in professional coaching at underage. Last year, we introduced a schools training programme where we take the kids for a half a day a week and put a professional GAA coach with them. We also run our own internal coaching programmes with coaching officers - Andy McGovern and Frankie Lovett - all training with the same end-goal in mind.

"Last year we also completed the development of a 55 x 25m indoor AstroTurf - the 'Killygarry Dome' - a venue we can use 365 days of the year. A second pitch is being developed and we use the local community centre to celebrate our successes at juvenile and underage level. That's important, as we have a policy of not promoting a pub culture.

"At U13, U15 and U17 grades, we've been fielding two, if not, three teams. We've been extremely successful. We're in the U15 Division 1 final and are league champions, with our second team in that age group also winning a league. In U17 we're in the Division 1 final on Sunday, this after losing the league final by a point.

"Our Division 3 teams in both age groups all reached finals, with one of them winning the league. At U13 we are Division 2 and Division 7 champions and were runners up in the Division 1 championship - we fielded three teams. It's fair to say that our conveyor belt regarding the juveniles is producing the goods at the moment."

"We are trying to develop an U20 academy at the moment, where we'll put out some meaningful teams, parish v parish, something similar to a street league"

Beyond the U17 grade, Lovett feels that certain players find it difficult to make the breakthrough at senior level. A downside then to the volume being turned out by the said conveyor belt. Killygarry are looking to put forward a motion at GAA's annual congress to address this.

"We would like a return of the U18 grade and a motion will hopefully get before congress," he added.

"There are guys that are now 17 and in three months' time they will go out to fodder; they can't make the breakthrough at senior level. We are trying to develop an U20 academy at the moment, where we'll put out some meaningful teams, parish v parish, something similar to a street league.

"We won't be competing against the GAA but we want to hold on to these players, they are not maturing at 17. In a rural community like Cavan, where you have clubs that are not blessed with numbers, the 17-year-old is often required by the senior club.

"Unfortunately for us, our 17 and 18-year-olds, because of the size of our club, are not guaranteed football and they fall between the cracks. You're often better off being in a small club if you want to continue playing football. Something has to be done and that's the big problem we see for Killygarry going forward; it's not just us, there are three or four other clubs in Cavan in the same boat."

Not surprisingly, the Killygarry senior squad are seeing the benefits of the split season. Conor Smith, Martin Reily, Oisin Brady, Daragh Lovett and Cian Reilly are/were part of Mickey Graham's squad but the quintet were available when the club championship began on the second weekend in August.

"We had those players back for training and the intensity at training went up by 20 to 30%," Lovett revealed.

"There is no wing mirror for the mediocre footballer anymore; he can't look over his shoulder and see nobody on the bench. Everybody has to play above and beyond their capabilities if they are going to survive in the squad - that has certainly helped us this year."

It is a campaign where Killygarry are so far unbeaten in the championship, this after they survived a relegation battle in the league.

In the group stages of the championship they accounted for Gowna, last year's beaten finalists, by two points. The team from close to the Longford border started slowly, skirted with a relegation scrap, before eventually finding their form. They pipped Crosserlough in the semis by a point, a match brought to the wider public by RTÉ television.

Oisin Pierson's late, late free has booked Gowna a spot in the Cavan SFC final after a pulsating semi-final clash against Crosserlough tonight live on @rte2 & @RTEplayer #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/IrEi2RjUxa

Killygarry defeated Kingscourt by the bare minimum at the quarter-final stage. "One of the best games I've ever seen," was Paul Fitzpatrick's summation afterwards. 2021 winners Ramor United were then accounted for and so we have our final pairing at Kingspan Breffni.

"I can see Gowna winning it with a bit to spare but I'd be in the minority there," says Fitzpatrick.

"Many viewed Gowna-Crosserlough as the real final. Ramor were poor this year; they scraped through a lot of games, scoring only ten or 11 points."

Lovett, while not without hope, knows that his team will have a battle on their hands to win a maiden title.

"We're up against it this Sunday, no shadow of a doubt. Gowna, runners up last year, have been knocking at the door. They are trained by Dermot McCabe, Games Development Officer with the county board - he knows every blade of grass in Breffni.

"We beat them early in the championship because they thought it was a formality to play us - the whipping boys from last year. We caught them on the hop and they did get a rude awakening, they did face a relegation battle.

"They are now in a county final which shows the strength and depth they have, Credit to the management in turning it around. Killygarry would be the people's favourites. Average age is 22-23, young, clean squad, who want to play football.

"If we're let play football on Sunday and it's a good, dry day, then we have a very good chance. Up against experienced, weather-beaten Gowna men - it's one of those David v Goliath situations."

For the winner there is a chance to buck the trend. In the last 20 years, a Cavan club has played in just one provincial final.

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