Farney set the bar for Keating

WE LEARNED in recent days that Cavan are aiming to become the ‘new Monaghan’ — something which would surely leave many long-dead football fans in the county twitching with anxiety. But, for sure, that’s the ambition as stated by Eugene Keating. And after scoring six points in last Sunday’s Dr McKenna Cup semi-final against Monaghan, and looking the spitting image of a game-winner for the long year ahead, Cavan folk alive and dead might be prepared to let him have his say. Even if he did say ‘Monaghan’ — a county that is close at hand but so far removed from the hearts of Cavan supporters. In tonight’s Dr McKenna Cup final, against a young Tyrone team which has been running riot in the month of January, including a 24-point pounding of Armagh, there’s no doubt that Cavan will need a full-forward line as tempting as Monaghan’s in 2013. Monaghan got their hands on the Ulster title last summer because of the combined genius of Conor McManus and Kieran Hughes more than anybody else, and Keating and the entire populace of Cavan know that if they are to grab a similar slice of glory then Keating (above) and Martin Dunne will have to deliver — same as they did last year, but with an added 10 per cent for good measure. Genius equals silver, and the more genius a team has in its full-forward line, the more silver it will land. Winning tonight would give extra weight to manager Terry Hyland’s promises that his team don’t think of themselves as second best.