22 November, 2020, is a date that Cavan or Tipperary football people won't ever forget.
For Tipp, years of underage progress and a prolonged run in the 2016 All-Ireland championship had shown what they were capable of.
But almost 100 years to the day that Bloody Sunday took place, their 85-year wait for a provincial title ended as they beat Cork to land their first Munster title since 1935.
A few hours later Cavan beat Donegal, ending a 23-year wait for the Ulster SFC title with an extraordinary performance of their own, one that was full of grit, to topple red-hot favourites Donegal.
Having been relegated from Division 2 just weeks earlier, they played four championship weekends on the trot, coming from behind more than once to get over the finishing line.
A year later, however, neither Tipperary nor Cavan were able to retain their titles. Before the summer even started, they were both relegated to Division 4 of the Allianz Football League, with Cavan losing to an inspired Wicklow team and Tipperary falling away to Longford.
This weekend, though, as the final group games loom, the two counties are back on a run, Cavan are top of Division 4 and Tipp are just behind them and they are looking to gain promotion once more.
It hasn’t been an easy campaign, but Division 4 rarely is.
Cavan lost to Tipp two weeks ago and only narrowly beat London last weekend. Yet, they will have an immediate return to Division 3, if they avoid defeat at home to Waterford.
Tipp know they will also be promoted if they beat London on Saturday evening in Thurles. But if Cavan hit the 11 or 12-point mark, and Tipp only manage a draw, they could be sucked into a head-to-head battle with Sligo or Leitrim. The Premier County beat Sligo, but lost to Leitrim.
That loss to Leitrim came soon after they had drawn against Waterford at Fraher Field. At that early stage, Tipp were low on confidence and short on bodies with 15 of the 2020 panel not available for a host of different reasons.
There were some big names missing. Liam Casey went travelling, Colin O’Riordan went back to Sydney Swans and the AFL, Michael Quinlivan wasn’t available for 2022, Stephen O’Brien has been injured all year. Meantime, Brian Fox, a warrior for the county for well over a decade, retired.
During that early part of the league, Tipp reverted to an all-out running game; a style that they love. They had set up more conservatively for the opening two games, but with only one point from both clashes to show for it, went back to type and haven’t dropped a point since, winning four games on the spin.
In that time Mikey O’Reilly has impressed in goal, Mark Russell, son of former inter-county referee Paddy, has been a revelation at midfield, Mikey O’Shea and Sean O’Connor have really excelled in attack whilst the team has been boosted by the presence of Kevin Fahy and Robbie Kiely.
Conor Sweeney has been injured for some of the campaign, but his statistics are eye-catchinh, with 4-25 in the campaign so far.
While the 2020 Munster title win garnered huge headlines and attention, gaining promotion from Division 4 with a relatively new-look side after such a poor start – and being shorn of so many big names – would be an achievement of similar ilk - especially as they finished last weekend's game against Carlow with a stack of under-21s on the pitch.
Tipp have travelled through enough tricky terrain, however, to underestimate a steady London side; one that burst into life with three wins at the start of the series and pushed Cavan so hard last weekend.
As for Cavan, they have managed to retain most of their Ulster-winning side, but their backroom staff has been boosted by the addition of former Fermanagh manager and Tyrone All-Ireland winner Ryan 'Ricey’ McMenamin. Seánie Johnston, one of the classiest forwards they produced, is also in the set-up.
After enduring a torrid 2021, which saw them relegated against Wicklow before losing to Tyrone in the Ulster quarter-final, they have regained momentum - if not yet hitting full stride.
Winning their opening four league matches was a huge energy rush for their squad and while they could have made life easier for themselves by beating Tipp at home two weeks ago, they will still fancy their chances of overcoming Waterford this weekend and getting up to Division 3.
Gearoid McKiernan continues to be their mainstay but they have strength all over the field and in reserve with Killian Clarke and Ger Smith coming into the team against Sligo and helping them win a crucial game.
After suffering back-to-back relegations Cavan will be looking for consistency and – apart from the Tipp defeat – they have shown it.
They have been labelled a championship team but promotion now would go a long way towards reflecting their steadiness so far this season. They are still not in top form but five league wins, a big victory over All-Ireland champions Tyrone in the McKenna Cup before that and a good showing against Armagh in the same competition shows they are really up for the fight this year.
A win at the weekend, a league final to play for and a meeting with Antrim in the Ulster SFC quarter-final on 23 April, it will all come around very fast.
Both teams have experienced the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in recent seasons and, unlike the hype and hysteria of just two seasons back, they will simply be looking to get the job done at the weekend with as little fuss as possible.
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