The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

Thunderbirds

tayto lover wrote: »

What to you lads attribute the current form to as opposed to last year?

Givney and Seanie. Plus the fact players a year older. More physically imposing.

KeepTheFaith

tayto lover wrote: »

What to you lads attribute the current form to as opposed to last year?

A lot of people are saying it's great to see Cavan playing a more attacking style of football this year, Terry's critics are claiming that they were correct all along and we just needed to emphasise attack more. It's a poor, poor level of analysis.

Cavan's play from the beginning of last year very obviously and definitely was geared to getting more men forward and attacking at pace and in numbers. There were periods when we sat back, first half against Galway and Meath. But the signs were there against Laois, Roscommon, Second half of the Galway game. And when you look back to our championship performances, we kicked 15 points against Monaghan, racked up a massive score against London and hit 1-16 against Roscommon.

Last year's league was marred by two games at home against Kildare and Down. Both games were played in awful, awful conditions, both games resulted in us playing the most of the game with 14 men after an early sending off. Had we kept 15 on the field I feel we would have won at least 1 of those and our league would have looked a lot better.

So what's different to last year? I'd be quick to stress, not much! We could still end up with less points this year than last. However there's no doubting that we do seem to be operating at a higher level than last year. I don't think it's anything to do with a huge change in tactics. It's a team that's maturing with some good fresh blood included.

Galligan's kickouts are giving the lads a better platform on which to build their attacks.
Ciaran Brady brings more pace and drive to the half back line.
Moynagh is probably only rivalled by McEnroe for ball playing skills in terms of the No. 6s we've seen in the past few years.
Management have moved Gearoid to No. 11 and that's where he will be most effective.
Johnston has proven doubters (including myself) wrong and shown that he still has it, class as they say is permanent. He's a more robust version of Martin Dunne.
Givney for me, isn't good enough in FF to be starting there come championship but at League level he's a handful and he'll get away with the errors in his game.
Argue is another who takes watching by virtue of his size alone.

A formation of Gearoid, Givney, Argue and Johnston is a lot more imposing than McDermott, Jack Brady, Martin Dunne and Bud Fitzpatrick.

I really think the only difference is the players available this year. More of our good U21 crop who can now focus solely on Senior Football and the return of a few "exiles". But any talk of a huge reformation of Cavan's fortunes is premature. Cautious optimism is the order of the day.

KeepTheFaith

Some more good news circulating is that James McEnroe has returned to the panel. I remember him coming on in Portlaoise last year at midfield and just bullying his way into the game with pure aggression, fielded a few kickouts and kicked a few points. He was the biggest contender to Rory Dunne for our player of the year last year. He will find it hard to work his way back onto the team for the Championship but a great squad option to have nonetheless.

cavan4sam

Good enough performance in difficult conditions today never looked to be in much trouble but 2 great saves by ray galligan made sure of the win
Looking forward to next sunday in a winner takes all clash..
We should fear no one at this stage

Crash Bang Wall

With Seanie out on Sunday.....basing that on the assumption that a hamstring injury doesnt sort itself out in a week, who should start instead, also assuming that the other 14 who started the last day start again. Jack, Keating Mackey or POC would be top of the list.

cartoonninja

Crash Bang Wall wrote: »

With Seanie out on Sunday.....basing that on the assumption that a hamstring injury doesnt sort itself out in a week, who should start instead, also assuming that the other 14 who started the last day start again. Jack, Keating Mackey or POC would be top of the list.

A fully fit Mackey in the corner sounds like a good option , Keating was wasteful against laois but offers another bit physical presence in our full forward line , what's everybody's opinion on Jack did he do enough to warrant a start against Galway?

cavan4sam

Think keating if he'd only pass it . Jack seems more of an impact sub . Mackey seemed to struggle on the heavy ground last week

tayto lover

Where is yer man Mc Dermott? Thought he was a good player anytime i saw him.

KeepTheFaith

It would be hard for Terry to justify starting Keating against Jack on Sunday, unless he can justify it on tactical grounds. Keating's was one of the worst substitute displays I've seen.

Seanie may not be out for certain going by what Terry said today. McDermott is injured, might be back in time for championship.

Do people think the pressure will be a telling factor on Sunday? There will be a huge Cavan crowd, not something we've dealt too well with in the last number of years.

Nobbies

Trying to buy a ticket for Sunday's game on gaa tickets.ie but it appears to me that the only delivery option is postage? Is this right?

cavan4sam

Nobbies wrote:

Trying to buy a ticket for Sunday's game on gaa tickets.ie but it appears to me that the only delivery option is postage? Is this right?

Probably better getting them in a supervalu if theres one close to you . Tickets.ie wouldn't let me buy one today

tanko

KeepTheFaith wrote: »

It would be hard for Terry to justify starting Keating against Jack on Sunday, unless he can justify it on tactical grounds. Keating's was one of the worst substitute displays I've seen.

Seanie may not be out for certain going by what Terry said today. McDermott is injured, might be back in time for championship.

Do people think the pressure will be a telling factor on Sunday? There will be a huge Cavan crowd, not something we've dealt too well with in the last number of years.

If we can't draw with or beat Galway at home then we've no business going up. I think it would do our young team the world of good being in division 1 even if it was only for one year.

Crash Bang Wall

Nobbies wrote: »

Trying to buy a ticket for Sunday's game on gaa tickets.ie but it appears to me that the only delivery option is postage? Is this right?

I thought you could buy tickets of these guys and print it yourself.

Id go to Supervalu though, this €10 the day before or €15 on match day is a load of cr@p

Crash Bang Wall

cavan4sam wrote: »

Think keating if he'd only pass it . Jack seems more of an impact sub . Mackey seemed to struggle on the heavy ground last week

Keating definitely needs to learn how to pass the ball. It was a criticism I once had of Seanie, but in fairness he has improved his all round game.

McDermott is injured, ankle as far as I know.

Not sure re Mackey, on his day he is in the Top 3 we have, he has the incisive kick passing that the likes of Martin Reilly McVeety etc dont have, but hes just not at the races. Missed the Laois game so Im not sure hoe he got on, but I heard Keating was very greedy

munchkin_utd

Nobbies wrote: »

Trying to buy a ticket for Sunday's game on gaa tickets.ie but it appears to me that the only delivery option is postage? Is this right?

if you read the notice on the tickets.ie page for the Cavan game you will see how to get a ticket:

"*** TICKETS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE ONLINE BUT ARE AVAILABLE IN PARTICIPATING CENTRA AND SUPERVALU STORES NATIONWIDE *** "

EDIT: here the centras and super values in question :
http://ticketsie.com/2012/10/23/tickets-ie-outlets-in-co-cavan/

aidan24326

tanko wrote: »

If we can't draw with or beat Galway at home then we've no business going up. I think it would do our young team the world of good being in division 1 even if it was only for one year.

Ye should be winning this at home alright, this is a fairly average Galway team. That said, I don't think there will be much in it on Sunday. Truth is whoever of the two goes up to Div 1 will find it tough to stay up.

Nice that it's come down to a winner takes all clash though, there will be a big crowd, a good atmosphere and a championship feel to it, so a good test for both teams ahead of the championship.

munchkin_utd

Game not the main game on northern sound, is on Galway bay fm though.

Hill St Blue

Well that was worth the soaking...great stuff!

tayto lover

Well done Cavan. The sleeping giant has awakened.

TCDStudent1

Hill St Blue wrote: »

Well that was worth the soaking...great stuff!

Thought your number 3 and number 6 were absolutely fantastic today

davegrohl48

Well done Cavan. Glad to see ye back up in division one. One hell of an Ulster championship coming up.

KeepTheFaith

Ah lads.. What a day! It was a great game despite the conditions. Galway looked to be in the ascendency after their goal but Cavan upped the tempo and powered into the 3 point lead, 9 wides and 1-08 in the first half just shows how much we were dominating. I don't think Galway hit their first wide until about 10 minutes into the second half.
When the pressure came on in the second half I was afraid it was going to be a repeat of the Monaghan game last year when we desperately needed a score to stem the tide and couldn't get it. But Gearoid, who was gone into a quiet spell, got on the end of a move and then Keating chipped in with two vital scores.
The roar after Murray's point at the end will be filed away in my memory alongside the one after Jack Brady's last score against Tyrone in 2011, marvellous.

In terms of specific players, a few deserve a mention after today. Killian Clarke is a wonderful footballer. In terms of consistency at a high level of performance, he is the best in Cavan without doubt. His absence over the past couple of Championship seasons shouldn't be underestimated.

McVeety was brilliant today, he was everywhere. He hoovered up breaks, he robbed ball in his own full back line, drove forward time after time, just excellent. I was surprised when he was added to the Senior Panel in 2013 and very surprised when he started against Kerry but by God has he proven his worth ever since.

Martin Reilly, like McVeety he made mistakes today, but his work rate and overall contribution was outstanding. He got on ball and looked to make things happen. He was probably our best player last year but his level of performance had dipped noticeably in the last few games. In that context, to deliver today when we needed lads to stand up and be counted shows the measure of the man.

Gearoid McKiernan, today was his best Senior performance in an important game. At one stage in the first half, for about a 20 minute period, I thought for the first time ever that he was "unplayable". And that's not a word I'm just throwing out, I mean that in the sense that we see Conor McManus and Diarmuid Connolly and Michael Murphy being unplayable, a man amongst boys. He robbed the ball twice from a player while running directly behind him, outrageous skill. He raided down the left wing holding off a Galway back with his right hand, soloing the ball with his left hand and foot for about 15 metres and kicked it over.
In the second half he gassed a bit I felt and faded. But crucially he kicked two big scores when the pressure was on and we were crying out for a score, he only got on the end of the move but it's something he hasn't done much at Senior Level in the past. He's the key.

Jack Brady, last year in Galway I remember looking at Jack and being disappointed that he never developed as the pacy corner forward and scorer we saw at Minor Level and in 2011 at U21. Well that player arrived back last week against Laois and again today. I'd be so interested to hear how his injuries and training have been going in the past year, he has somehow got back about 3 yards of pace!! I don't think he has the engine or the power or ball carrying to be one of our wing players but if he can keep this up he can be another vital option inside. I'm delighted for him.

Givney and Keating, I'll lump these two together. Both were terrible last week and I have long felt that when the crunch came neither were good enough. I've spent the last few hours eating those words. Givney was outstanding today and for possibly the first time ever, I thought he made the right decision every single time he got the ball.
Keating came on and won ball with that effortless power of his and kicked two points when the game was in the melting pot. Credit where it's due.

Finally to the main man Terry.. I'm a big pro Hyland man I'll make no bones about it. The abuse he got last year when it was announced he was staying on was just hugely disrespectful. Players defecting, a County Board whose coffers were empty, things didn't look good before the start of this year. But Terry did what Terry does best. He didn't take a blind bit of notice of any of that and got together what was available to him, got them focussed and got them working and got them all pulling together.
Slowly things came together and so did the panel. And the most vital thing about today (and today was a microcosm of the league as a whole) was the squad available to him and the use of that squad. When things needed freshening today and when players got injured we were replacing them with good, experienced intercounty standard men. And that's not something we have been able to do for years.
Last summer against Monaghan we brought on Ciaran Brady who was making his debut, Tom Hayes which may well have been his debut or not much along with it, Martin Dunne who was having a terrible year and Michael Lyng. Today they brought on an All Star Nominee, someone who has kicked 5 points off Eugene McGee, our best player in the Championship last year and someone who has got man of the match against Kerry marking Kieran Donaghy. Now those are some seriously narrow biased snapshots but true nonetheless.

There were mistakes, and there are lots of weaknesses that we will need to address if we are to get a tilt at Ulster, I'm fully aware we are still no worldbeaters but today isn't the day for discussing that. Bring on Tyrone. (Apologies for the essay but we don't get too many great days to wax lyrical about so I might as well take the opportunity)

tanko

Today was all about the result, it's a badly needed boost for Cavan football. It's nice to have a big day out in Croke park to look forward to.

ProudDUB

Congratulations you lot. Welcome to the big time, the top table, the big boys club, or insert another cliche of your own choosing here

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Gallant_JJ

Great day alright, good performances right across the board. As above, both Martin Reilly and McVeety put in a massive amount of work, both made mistakes but the yardage both lads cover is huge and are fundamental to the whole team and system.

I think Faulkner has been a great addition, he has everything you could ask for,the abrasiveness required to be a corner back yet very comfortable on the ball.

I also think Mossie has had two great performances against Laois and Galway and deserves a lot of credit.

McKiernan today, on a different level. Has had a great league campaign.

The quality of men we brought on was fantastic to see.

cavan4sam

I think keepthefaith pretty much summed it up
The lads showed great character and hunger when galway went 3 up in the first half and never stopped fighting til the very end .in those conditions it must have been torture. A big day for us in croke park now and i really feel we need this win badly
We have to beat tyrone for these lads to go into championship with the tough mentality needed to challenge for an ulster title

Crash Bang Wall

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant, but the best thing for me is that there is improvement in the squad, if management are prepared to nit pick. For example McVeety is absolutely brilliant at turning the ball over, reading the game and generally being in the right place at the right time, but at times he takes the ball into contact too often. Keating kicked 2 wonderful points but then tried a hail Mary effort from under the stand instead of holding on to the ball...it didnt cost us luckily enough, but the little bit of composure is needed.

Killian Clarke was outstanding but MOTM for me was Gearoid. Absolutely brilliant performance. Impressed with Givney at FF......he was competing and winning almost everything even with the full back hanging out of him. It will be much tougher in 3 weeks v Tyrone, but at the minute I dont care about that......Promotion was the aim, and we are back with the Big Guns. There will be some support in Croker in 3 weeks.

The lads have provided great entertainment over the last few months, and Im delighted for them. An Cabhán Abú

slimshady007

Massive achievement to get promoted and we now have the physically strong big players to compliment the smaller players we always had. The likes of gearoid, givney, Buchanan, argue, Keating have been huge this year. All can win their own ball and crucially all can kick scores. Gearoid's ball carrying yday was immense. There's no longer the need to decide to play these players either midfield or full forward line - we're strong in both areas now. Even if things arent working they're versatile enough to rotate between midfield and the forward line to find the right combination on any given day. Martin and dara are doing trojan work up and down the field. Clarke could play anywhere he"s that good but he's our best full back so should stay there imo. Our corner backs are also quality, regularly popping up with scores every game. I'll admit I wanted Terry gone after last year but the turnaround has been unreal. Hopefully they can maintain this form into the championship. I wouldn't be that hung up on beating Tyrone in the league final as they have improved on last year too but it'd be a great end to the league campaign to beat them all the same!

davegrohl48

Out of interest what is the local view on Cavans minors and u21s this year?
Many players to return to seniors?

KeepTheFaith

davegrohl48 wrote: »

Out of interest what is the local view on Cavans minors and u21s this year?
Many players to return to seniors?

The Minors have been beaten well in all of their Minor League games. The U21s didn't go well either and were poor against Tyrone. In terms of U21 lads who could potentially be seen as making a Senior Panel next year well David Brady could well be seen as a future full forward but he's only 18/19. Thomas Galligan has been injured but I'd have high hopes for him. Benjamin Kelly and Liam Galligan are both worth a look at too.

I think the U21 Management have targeted next year to give Ulster a good rattle, the MacRory winning crop will mostly be in their final year. They completely tanked at Minor level losing comprehensively to Armagh in the first round so it's hard to know if they will be good enough but there is some talent there.

Cavan now have the basis of a solid senior team with experienced players capable of bringing on young lads, if we can get a couple of excellent individuals from Minor and U21 each year to add to the squad we should hopefully remain competitive and not slump back to obscurity over the next 5/10 years.