The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

KeepTheFaith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263226#Comment_120263226

Is that clear at this stage? Westmeath haven't played Down or Fermanagh yet.

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263370#Comment_120263370

you are probably better then a shot of teams in division 2 on top of that , it was being heavily argued by the derry folk as i queued for the most basic burger that 8 euro could buy in the croke park concourse last june , no onion salad or sauce just two bits of bread and a hammering by derry , the big question was would cavan ever be as bad as clare that day ( Tailteann cup final two weeks later) , the answer is a firm no

id be more worried about the next dodgy burger id get at croke park then the chances of cavan not making promotion , a quality side sleepwalking in division 3 at the moment

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263370#Comment_120263370

Next weekend will give us a better picture of where things stand. I think if Westmeath beat Down they will go on and secure one of the promotion spots. We have looked so much better than anyone we have played this year but apart from Westmeath(who i don't think gave a good account of themselves) the other two were not at the races.

Offaly will likely be the toughest game so far and i think we will have enough to beat them which will leave us in a good position going into the Down game where they could be after two successive defeats.

One thing from the game yesterday and its going on for a few years is the turning down of goal chances and taking the easy option and tapping the ball over the bar. I think we should be going for more of these chances especially in these games where they are effectively over before half time.

KeepTheFaith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263911#Comment_120263911

Yeah next weekend will tell the tale. I think Fermanagh, Westmeath and Down all have a good claim to second place at the moment. There's a chance our position is inflated at the moment because we have played two of the relegation candidates.

I wouldn't worry too much about the goal chances. I'd rather see us knocking them over the bar when 10 up. Hammering in 4 goals against Longford doesn't mean we'll be more likely to rattle the net in the big games IMO.

mylestheslasher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263370#Comment_120263370

Just my opinion. Tailteann cup champions. Offaly lost to them by 6 points yesterday so I think it is fair to say that they are better than Offaly. All that being said, next week is the key to this division. Get the win and it really sets us up well.

rrs

From reading the report Westmeath pulled away in the last 10 minutes. Offaly had been in the leading all the game and were 5 points up early in the second half. Maybe a fitness issue that they wilted in the last 10 minutes. Westmeath hit 1-3 without reply

tayto lover

I was over in Cavan for the weekend and went to the game v Longford. I have never seen as much hand-passing and obviously as little kicking of the ball. Awful boring to watch. Loads in the crowd shouting for the ball to be kicked into the forwards when Cavan were well ahead. Young O'Neill needs to go to the ball instead of waiting for it to arrive, caught several times yesterday. Cavan were light years ahead of Longford and should easily make Division 2. Oisin Brady took his goal very well. They need some hard games before the Championship.

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120266165#Comment_120266165

In fairness the game has to be managed too. Cavan were facing into three games in three weeks and the next two games are against promotion rivals, Offaly & Down. There was no intensity to the game but Cavan were running away with it regardless so why up the tempo.

Things should get harder from here on in. None of the teams left will be a pushover.

rrs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120264050#Comment_120264050

Cavan over the last couple of years in the League have scored few goals. One of the lowest scorers for goals in Division 4 last year. It might not matter against Longford,but it's still better to be use to hitting the back of the net. Gallagher has Derry looking for goals in every game.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270372#Comment_120270372

I just thought that as the game was won they'd send in a couple of high balls to the inside line to see how they'd do. They had big forwards who might have benefitted.

mylestheslasher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120266165#Comment_120266165

You mustnt have been at many games in the last 20 years. People shouting nonsense in the crowd about letting the ball in when you have 15 Longford players in their own half, well it's just daft. Check out what happened Meath against Derry on Saturday when they were letting the ball in, they got their arses handed to them.

KeepTheFaith

Lumping ball in with 15 Longford men inside their own 45 would have been stupid and thankfully Cavan didn't do that. However, there were maybe 5-6 times late in the second half where there was a one v one on the inside line and the Cavan player chose to recycle or move it through the hands. Maybe it's about not giving the opposition the oxygen of a potential turnover but it would be nice to see us trust our inside men when the opportunity presents.

mogue77

Johnny McCabe was through and open twice in the second half and ball didn’t go in.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271852#Comment_120271852

Probably at more games than you. The game was well won and it would have given the forwards something to do rather than tippy tappy hand-passes around the middle.

mylestheslasher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120272859#Comment_120272859

I'll take your word for it. Its not about "giving the forwards something to do" its about winning. Its also about managing a game especially when you have another game in 7 days. There was probably a few times when they couldve kicked a ball in but didnt, fair enough. But they won the game by 11 points so they didnt do too bad. How you could say "I never seen so much handpassing" and then claim to have been at more games than me, well you must attend games with your eyes closed!

celt262

Any word on the couple of injuries i presume Oisin Brady will be out for a while?

baconsarnie

Hard to see how there was any hype about this Longford team given that they were well beaten in their opening two games. For a local derby, it was as tame as you could imagine and the game was effectively over after 25 minutes, even though we were playing against a strong wind.

Last year when we took big leads we struggled to manage games but whilst it wasn't exciting, Cavan managed the second half and did what they didn't do last year against division four teams which was keep the scoreboard ticking over and never letting the opposition back into the game. Barring one spell where Longford kicked a few points anytime they scored, we scored 2-3.

I actually thought we moved the ball really well in the first half and even with the game over in the second, i didn't think we were very passive with lateral hand passing. Not sure with that swirling wind that it was the day for lumping it long, but given we weren't chasing the game what value would that have been? We were disciplined, effective and able to bring on subs who had an impact. Yes, there were at least three occassions in the second half where there were goal chances but where players opted for points but apart from that, job done and onto Tullamore. If Oisin Brady hadn't picked up that nasty ankle injury you would be close to saying it was a good day out for us.

KeepTheFaith

Hard to see Brady playing any part this weekend. Lynch can come straight in there. The last 2 games have been so comfortable it's probably best to leave the starting team as is. James Smith, McLoughlin are great options off the bench.

The handicap against Offaly is 2 points so the bookies have this as a close one. After a game and a half in second gear, this should let us know a little bit more about where we are at. I think we could cover that handicap.

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120274545#Comment_120274545

No chance Oisin Brady is playing this weekend. He was in a lot of distress and hopefully it isn't as serious as it looked as he was playing really well. Either Paddy Lynch or Conor Madden to come in- both of whom looked sharp when they came.

I agree, barring any enforced changes, leave as is and if James or Jason are getting close, if we are able to bring them on that would be great.

The last time i saw Offaly was in Croke Park against Westmeath. I know it's a different management team but they looked to be a small enough side around the middle and struggled to beat the press on their kick outs. With the right attitude and performance, we should beat the spread on this.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120273570#Comment_120273570

I've been attending games for over 60 years and always have my eyes open.

My point was that i'd have liked to see how the forwards deal with the high ball ie the kind of ball you have to kick in when you're behind and time is running out. And i know they didn't have to do that last Sunday, it was just an observance. Don't worry about it though.

Cavan_King

Another week, another Mickey Graham interview where he says that there’ll be 3/4 lads back this weekend including Gearoid. I don’t think he’s fooling anyone at this stage rambling out the same stuff every week.

mogue77

I don’t think gearoid will be back, but we might see Jason and James back.

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120283802#Comment_120283802

I don’t know why he keeps giving interviews saying Gearoid will be back every week though. He’s clearly not near fitness if he wasn’t able to do the work James Smith & McLoughlin were doing prior to the last game.

He also stated Conor Smith 3-4 weeks away. That’s a real pity for him. Doesn’t look like he’ll get a chance to feature in the League at all.

KeepTheFaith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120285669#Comment_120285669

Maybe he's having setbacks in his recovery, maybe a different injury cropped up as he was nearing fitness, maybe he is nearing fitness but wasn't required to do the running at the same time as James and Jason.

Now Mickey could also be just throwing his name out there to keep next week's opponents on their toes and wasting their time preparing for Gearoid to be on the field.

I'm sure Mickey has his reasons and it's not for the thrill of the white lie.

mogue77

A good win for the minors today, anyone at the game in milltown?

cavan4sam

I wouldn't read too much into it, I read somewhere Sligo were down 10 players with the Hogan cup semi final on

How are we feeling about Down winning tonight? Surely a win tomorrow and 1 out of the last 3 would leave us in a good position

Fermanagh with another houdini escape again

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120288367#Comment_120288367

We need to win tomorrow, lose and we’re sweating.

When the fixtures came out i remember thinking that it’ll all come down to the last game against Fermanagh. That would be interesting.

Cavan_King

Starting 15 named. No panel named. Martin Reilly named instead of Oisin Brady is only change.

Cavan_King

Down 1-10, Westmeath 0-11. Down join us on six points.

KeepTheFaith

Down beating Westmeath and Fermanagh pulling it out of the fire are two results we didn't want. All of a sudden our great win the first day out means a lot less.

We thought Westmeath would be on our tails and having them on the head to head is no longer an advantage. We don't want to be welcoming Fermanagh to Breffni on the final needing a win.

No room for an error tomorrow. Need to get the job done.