By Michael Devlin

Beating a buoyant Tyrone team coming off the back of two qualifier wins was never going to be easy according to Cavan's Pádraig Faulkner.

The defender was speaking after his side’s 0-7 to 1-20 Round Four Qualifier loss to Tyrone on Saturday afternoon, a defeat brought to an end Cavan’s championship season one game after their Ulster SFC final defeat to Donegal.

Tyrone were arguably one of the more challenging opponents Cavan could have got ahead of the All-Ireland Round Four Qualifier draw last Monday, and both their historic record over Cavan in Championship football and their formidable success rate in qualifier games down through the years made it an all the more daunting task for Mickey Graham’s men.

“Tyrone are a very good team, they’ve always been able to pip us on the Championship days,” said Faulkner after the game. “Physically, they are a very imposing team, so it was a tough draw when you see some of the other teams that we could have got.

“I think they came with more hunger today. We were a bit flat from the start, I don’t think we performed to the best of our ability.

“Coming through the back door you have wins, and Tyrone maybe had the momentum then when they had the two wins put together, whereas we came from a low having lost the Ulster final. Maybe that had an impact where we had to dust ourselves off to get ready for this game.”

Despite the disappointing end to the season, Faulkner said there were undoubtedly positives to be taken from Graham’s first year at the helm, and he believes that the incentive is there to build on the progress made in seasons to come.

“I do think Mickey has brought a very attacking approach to the game. We’ve been racking up some serious scores over the campaign. In the matches it’s been real man-on-man stuff, so I like that element that has been brought hi year. Hopefully that will be developed and worked on in the next couple of years.

“We’ve got to an Ulster final this year, we’ve got a taste for it. I think you have to build on every year and we haven’t made an Ulster final in 18 years, so it was great to get there. Hopefully next year we’ll do the business.

“You have to believe you can achieve, otherwise what’s the point of doing it. The likes of Monaghan were doing it for years, they were there and thereabouts and eventually Ulster titles did come to them.”

Tyrone seized control of the game in Clones early on and never looked like loosening their grip with Darren McCurry and Cathal McShane hitting three points each in the first half. The contest was long over by the time Ben McDonnell struck for the game’s only goal in the 64th minute.

While manager Mickey Harte availed of all six substitutions as Tyrone’s lead widened, and the searing heat also taking it’s toll, but seasoned campaigners such Colm Cavanagh, Ronan McNamee and Mattie Donnelly all stayed on for the duration to ensure Tyrone were well-equipped to deal with any potential Cavan fightback late on.

**“**We still had to go on and make sure that the game wasn’t going back to being within Cavan’s reach, so we actually left players on a good bit there. We did introduce some players, but the key men, played 70 minutes. That will certainly tell on them, so there will need to be careful management of their time this week in terms of recovery and preparation.

The Red Hands now take their place in the All-Ireland Quarter-final Series, with just a week’s turnaround until the trip to Hyde Park to take on Connacht champions Roscommon. A win there, followed by victory in Croke Park against Cork seven days later, could be enough for Tyrone to ensure a semi-final berth before Dublin visit Omagh on the third match day.

While the scheduling of the games may be deemed favourable in terms of gaining qualification out of the group, Harte is ruling out any such complacency, especially considering Roscommon’s impressive showing so far this season.

“All we are is delighted to be in it. We’ll not be taking anything for granted in any way that the sequence of games is any help, because it’s not. It’s actually dangerous, if we don’t prepare well and win those games, I wouldn’t like to be depending on the last game against Dublin to qualify.

“These are must-win games. Roscommon are a much better side than they were last year at this stage, they are far more secure at the back, physically more imposing, so nobody will be looking forward to going to Hyde Park to play Roscommon.”