Eamonn Murray, the assistant manager, was there too but, curiously, was the only one brought in to facilitate the manager, as opposed to the players.

The Cavan native, from Gowna, has lived in Meath for the guts of 40 years and led a ladies football revolution in the county, memorably managing the Royals to All-Ireland titles in 2020 (intermediate), 2021 and 2022 (both senior) before stepping down.

The call from 36-year-old Galligan, a rookie boss appointed only weeks after playing in goals for Cavan in a Tailteann Cup quarter-final, came out of the blue. Before that, they'd never even spoken.

"It was much the same as the (Meath) ladies, it wasn't a job I really wanted," said Murray. "When Ray rang me, I didn't know what he wanted me for but he's a great man, you couldn't say no to him."

So what exactly did he want Murray for?

"He told me that there'd be no pressure on me, that I was only there to help him along, to really coach him, not coach the players," explained Murray. 

"So I'm not doing any (player) coaching, I'm just helping him the whole time, in everything he says, that he does, what way we talk to the players or the media or whatever else has to be done. That's my job."

Murray has described it as a 'successful' few months so far. Cavan finished third in Division 2, well off promotion but relegation wasn't a concern either and they will compete for the Sam Maguire Cup this summer.

The challenge will rise significantly this Sunday with a trip to Clones to play neighbouring Monaghan in the Ulster SFC. It's a derby game of sorts though it'll hardly compare, in Murray's mind at least, to the night Cavan played Meath in the league at Kingspan Breffni in March.

"It was the worst night of my life," said Murray, a key figure at the Boardsmill club in Meath. "An hour beforehand, an hour after, I couldn't....I just sat in the dugout with my head down. I couldn't watch it, I couldn't do it."

Fortunately enough for Murray, it ended in a draw. His Meath links remain strong. Liam Harnan, a two-time All-Ireland winner in the 1980s, is his brother-in-law. Padraic Harnan, who won the Tailteann Cup with Meath last year, is another relation.

The night that Galligan's management team was announced, Murray got a message from Padraic.

"He said, 'Eamonn, I'm delighted that someone has believed in you again'," revealed Murray. "A nice little simple thing to say to me."

Murray believes in this group of Cavan players too.

"We might give a few teams a rattle yet in the Championship, we'll see what happens," he said. "We'll get the players back fully fit, we still have a few injuries but we'd like to rattle a few teams, yeah. And if we don't, we'll enjoy trying!"