The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

KeepTheFaith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121789116#Comment_121789116

I definitely thought we looked leggy in the first half. Cork just looked to be moving so much better than us.

A lot is being made of us going back into our shell at 3 up. At the time, I felt like we were doing exactly the right thing. Cork had filtered back into their own 45 and we were 3 ahead with about 7 minutes on the clock. What do you do in that situation apart from be patient and draw them out? The game had changed at that point and Cork were trying to stop the rot, any ball played inside would have been swamped by Cork.

If anything I felt like we weren't patient enough. Holla put a ball to Faulkner that wasn't really on after a long spell of possession and we lost the ball and Faulkner got the black. The Cork crowd were getting narky with their own side and had we continued to try drawing them out, all the pressure was on them.

Now there were definitely a couple of occasions when the line was broke and we didn't make the pass, most notably a break by Tiarnan Madden.

mylestheslasher

Capacity of Ardee is 2600. I suggest you buy your tickets early. They are available online now.

TheGadfly

Good shout. All sorted. Thanks!

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121789642#Comment_121789642

Is it that low? How come they stopped having games in Navan then like last year?

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121793664#Comment_121793664

It's been a long while since they played home league games in Navan.

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121794263#Comment_121794263

Looking it up, I see it was championship games they played in Navan last year.

Bummer1234

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121793664#Comment_121793664

Meath Playing Kildare in Navan at 2 on sunday so perhaps its not available. I think last year Louth got agreement from Meath to allow Navan as home for the All Ireland Qualifiers only.

"Louth have been using St Mary's Ardee as their home venue for league games, beating Limerick, Cork and Kildare there in the Allianz Division 2 and losing to Derry by just a goal.

But capacity for a championship qualifier does not fit new criteria laid down and Louth's first round game, against Roscommon if they win the Leinster final against Dublin or Cork if they lose on Sunday week, will be in Navan on the weekend of May 27/28."

https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/louth-pick-pairc-tailteann-in-navan-for-their-home-all-ireland-qualifiers-as-kildare-weigh-up-options/a1984726091.html

mylestheslasher

https://twitter.com/louthgaa/status/1760610308869980193?t=nDZSoxjkdv6HAH2GZT0Uvw&s=19

U16s need a ticket too for Louth game.

cavan4sam

Can't see them lasting long.... I think I'll have to wait and hopefully travel for the meath game

mogue77

Any word on the injury front? Will Mcveety be available? Or Oisin Kieran? Hopefully James smith and the other lads that picked up knocks will be available to play.

tazman06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121804631#Comment_121804631

Don't think it sounds likely for McVeety based on what Galligan said last week. I'd be hopeful on Smith too. And maybe likes of Conor Brady. Kiernan seems to be a few weeks away yet too. Might be tight this week with players

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121806414#Comment_121806414

I think that not seeing Oisin Kiernan or Conor Brady in drills beforehand suggests they might be not ready yet. As you said, if Ray said they needed to do some tests on McVeety, that suggests something that won't have cleared in a week

Sunday is going to be a battle. Louth play a deep blanket and have some powerful runners but it's a small pitch.

Based on not really having a clue who is fit (I hope Carolan wasn't too badly hurt) here's my guess

Gary O Rourke, Jason, Gunner, Kiernan, Rehill, Carolan, O'Connell, Clarke, Faulkner, Cian Madden, Gerry Smith, Holla, O Neill, Oisin Brady, Paddy Lynch

Caoimhim Reilly did well but I'm going for O'Neill for work rate in a game that will be a battle but that's a marginal call, maybe we need Reilly to take men on a get a few scores. Plenty off the bench including James Smith, Tiarnan Madden and Cormac Reilly. Cavan to win by 2.

mylestheslasher

I was very surprised to hear the wearecavan lads saying they'd take a draw. Cavan need to be winning this game and I expect them to. A draw means no promotion I think. Louth lost to a very average Meath team last week and should have had their confidence knocked by that.

mogue77

Surprised with them also especially Damien, why did he tip us to beat cork in cork but can’t see us beating Louth? And cork supposed to be harder to beat at home, they were leading Louth with a few minutes to go in the game in ardee, . Cavan to win by 3.

Hammar

Great to see Luke Fortune back on the panel, criminally underrated for me and one of the unsung heroes of 2020 campaign, Strong team named and strong bench too, lots of lads whom can make an impact.

tazman06

Team named. Donohoe and O'Neill out, Smith goes back, O'Connell named from the start, Madden and Oisin Brady in. Seems right. McVeety off the 26 so does look to be for a time. Good to see Carolan and Smith seem to be fit, although who knows by Sunday afternoon

Cavan_King

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121810278#Comment_121810278

Did you watch the Louth Meath game on TG4? Louth butchered three good goal chances and should have won that game.

Meath are very hard to beat in Navan, particularly in a derby, the crowd gets right behind them.

Disappointed to hear that Jack McKenna from Laragh is off the panel. I think he could have had an impact.

mylestheslasher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121812676#Comment_121812676

Should have won but didn't win. Then went 30 minutes in the 2nd half with a decent wind and didn't score. Again let's not big them up, they'll be tough but we should be beating Louth

Game is now sold out so hopefully you all got your tickets.

TheGadfly

Fot anyone heading to the game from Kingscourt/Bailieborough direction it might be advisable to access Pairc Mhuire from the south (N2) as opposed to going through the town of Ardee. So don't turn left at crossroads after Drumconrath. Instead, go straight and turn left at Hunterstown(Golden Goose) at N2. Don't hold me to that though!

cavan4sam

Can we play all our games away?

Listened in on NS great to get the win but worrying that the 6 point lead was let slip to leave it so tight

Anyway I'm sure those that were at it will have a better account of it

Anyway 6 points on the Board 2 more and we'll be playing Sam Maguire

KeepTheFaith

Once again, making it harder than it had any right to be. There's no excuse for Oisin Brady and James Smith's actions. They jeapordised the win. Hopefully they're called out on that by the team.

Still, impressed with how we clung on, cruised ahead and then saw it out. Very much in the promotion hunt now and next week will be a spicy affair in Breffni. Meath have an outside shot at promotion.

Hammar

Great to get the win, but jesus that game raises probably more questions than the Donegal defeat does.

Zero pressure and the work rate wasn't there in the first half....the same problems which saw Down waltz through our backline the last two years and Kieran Martin of Westmeath do it in the Tailteann Final, was there, Tommy Durnin must have ran 45 metres straight through our defence and nearly created a 3rd goal chance in first half, Mulroy waltzed straight through for the penalty..

Ciaran Downey the number 15 caused serious problems in the first half, Oisin Kiernan even though he carried well out of defence ,was pulled at half time,I'd say mainly due to Downey's influence.

Gary in goals was commanding, that high ball he took was Ray Galligan esque,carried the ball out well in tje seconds half too, one bad knockout near the end which didn't go past 21 and went over the sideline

Gunner got to grips mostly with Mulroy in the second half ( he did score their 3 rd goal, Not really the full back lines fault for me, we once again allowed them to waltz straight through. He started dishing out the heavy hits near the end when required.

Jason Mc Loughlin I thought kept Ryan Burns,whom has a big reputation,quiet

Faulkner was a collosus,he was targeted by Louth all game,got through a serious amount of work.

Carolan carried well out of defence,as did O Connell,both got through a serious amount of work.

Midfield was a strange one, only one clean catch in the 70 minutes,from Killian Clarke ,whom got through a Trojan amount of work.

James Smith didn't have his usual influence, this game was crying out for him to be at full forward in the first half,with that Gael force wind,but our lack of midfield options in the starting 15, meant he was needed outfield, think he got a second yellow,am i right? Rather than a straight red, he can count himself very lucky if so, it was the difference between a comfortable win,2-9 to 2-4 plus a man up,and the nervous finish which saw us hanging on.

Holla got on alot of ball,but didn't influence the game as much as we have come to expect from him.I am thinking with Arvas exploits ,he could do with a break,

Cian Madden again was prominent enough and handled a lot of ball.

Gerard Smith was outstanding, great finish for the goal, he was at the heart of many of Cavans great moves, played the quarterback, playmaker role well.

Caoimhin Reilly, took two marks early one, kicked one good score and missed the other from a very acute angle, he found the Louth blanket defence tough going on such a small tight pitch and the service wasn't good in the first half,any ball the inside line managed to win, they found themselves surrounded 3 or 4/1.

Paddy Lynch, took the wrong option a few times, Louth have him triple marked/with a double sweeper at times in the first half, we tried to force the ball to him in impossible situations, missed a few,but kicked some fantastic points from playing and frees,the huge one off the ground into the breeze in the second half when we were under the cosh was superb.

Oisin Brady,struggled in the first half with the Louth blanket,came into it in the second and won some very good ball, the black card( I think or second yellow)for pushing the Louth keeper at the end wasn't great.

Subs

Cian Reilly did very well when he came on, as did Tiernan Madden and Cormac O Reilly,whom kicked crucial scores and won important ball.

Ryan O Neil also did well when he came on, Conor Rehill came on for Killian Clarke near the end too.

Negatives for me was the defensive structure and no pressure being put on the Louth team in the first half, it improved in the second half,but Louth hunted in packs,we don't seem to implement this same pressure type of game.

We lost the ball 4 times in contact in the first half,now granted the Fermanagh referee allowed lads to get pummeled before giving a free, poor decision making among the forwards was evident.

We tried 3/4 intricate fist passes short passed into Paddy Lynch/ Oisin Brady through the Louth blanket,nearly getting both of them killed and even when they got the ball they were surrounded and crowded out of it.

You beat the blanket either by quick direct ball in before it's set, or through a power running game.

The second half was much better, we opened them up far easier as they opened up playing with the wind,I just see the same struggles against a blanket defence which we have seen for the last few years.

Galligans substitutions made a big impact,All impacted the match positively.

I did think it was strange that we finished with Faulkner and Brian O Connell at midfield,with Ryan Brady and Ryan Donohoe on the bench.

As for Louth, I thought Offaly in the Tailteann last year and their love for fighting was bad, Louth were worse today. What is it with Leinster teams and fighting?

Hope they get relegated.

TheGadfly

Hostile enough atmosphere in Ardee I thought. Home support cheering missed Cavan frees, chances etc. Not to mention constant whinging at linesman and ref. Even though I think we out numbered them, there was the usual polite ripple of applause when Cavan entered the field. We really need to a bit louder, although during the game we were vocal enough. 3rd quarter won it for us again which is testament to management. A couple of silly mistakes near the end left it closer than it should have been imo. I was on the field after the game with the kids and it was just marvellous to be part of. All the players more than happy to get photos and sign jerseys etc. They really are a fantastic group and we were very proud of them. Breffni should be a great occasion next week but as mentioned above we do really need to make our presence on the terraces felt a bit more. Paddy Lynch was excellent I thought. Louth had 2 men on him at one stage in the second half. Who got man of the match?

KeepTheFaith

Midfield is a huge problem. As Hammar said, when we needed reinforcements out there we shuffled around players despite having 3 midfielders on the bench. From what we've seen from Donohoe and Brady though, I'm not surprised Galligan made that decision.

I thought McLoughlin was man of the match. He got a lot of turnovers and got two massive blocks in. Lynch wasn't far behind.

Cian Reilly was outstanding when he came on. He's so comfortable on the ball but he's a solid defender too. He's put his hand up for a jersey there.

We have been cut open at the back so many times in the last 2 games. Opponents can carry the ball at pace through the centre of our defence without a hand being laid on them. It's not a problem that started with Galligan's tenure but it needs to be addressed.

mylestheslasher

Made the long trip to Ardee and although I expected a win in the end I was delighted to get it as we made it difficult for ourselves. We were quote poor in the 1st half, got a goal from a Defensive error but conceded a penalty right away. We struggled to deal with their running and I was disappointed that we didnt squeeze their kickouts more effectively with the wind behind us. When they went long we tended to win the kick out. I thought Oisin Brady had a difficult 1st half and I was surprised to see Caoimhin withdrawn as I thought he showed well - maybe he picked up a knock. That first 10 minutes of the 2nd half we were excellent. We moved the ball really quickly through the hands and worked some great scores and a nice goal for James Smith. Then came the comical melee which seemed to be 3 different mellees, 3 sets of 2 players rolling around on our 45 before others got involved. With the extra man we should have run the game out but we were a bit unlucky with their 3rd goal, Faulkner won a kickout but it spilled when he fell to ground and popped up nicely for the Louth midfielder and they did well to work the goal. You could sense the crowd were getting vocal and in fairness to our lads they got hold of the next kickout and Louth couldnt build on the momentum of the goal as we kept the ball for a good few minutes away from our goal. We did that again when they got it back to a point. But then we were at the stupid stuff, getting daft yellow cards. James Smith was on a yellow from early and got involved again (why are you doing that James??) and even more stupid was oisin brady managing to get booked going off the field during a substitution, causing himself to be sent off and the substitution cancelled!

I have to say Louth were at all sorts of messing through out the game, trying to get Cavan men into fights and pulling the game into a dogfight. It worked as we had to face up to it. I felt sorry for the ref with all the crap going on all over the pitch. But I think Louth got what they deserved for it.

The venue is an average club ground, not where near the acceptable level and thats no disrespect to the St Marys club who had the place looking well and well stewarted. However toilets locked for girls, no match programs 25 minutes before the game (come on lads, you knew exactly how many people were going to attend), no parking etc.

3 away games and 3 wins, we'd all have taken that at this stage. Now to re-group to face the enemy to the south!

Dickie10

rgards louth crowd i see in the meath chronichle the back room members took over a lot of the press box last sunday in navan and were constantly whinging for frees that wernt there to be given and berating the ref for every meath free, id say it grates eventually. they would have a big bag of chips on the shoulder.

as for messing and fighting you only need to look at the 2010 teams antics in leinster final where they berated the ref sludden for most of the second half over every free that went against them and the JP Rooney antics along with colm judge in injury time ( kicking the ball into the stands TWICE) as meath were trying to take a free after judge pulled a guy down by the neck then whinged at getting a straght red. a tyrone man from sluddens home club that lives near me actually said that was why he went stright into umpire to raise the green flag his ears were buzzing from the louth players constant whinging all second half over descions he gave, you can actually see it fairly clearly in video on youtube he looked comletely pissed off when they harangued him at end. they really can be a hard enough crowd to like.

baconsarnie

A win is a win, and Ardee is no easy place to play decent football. Hard to know what to make of it at all. We looked leggy and surprised by the intensity and defensive structure of Louth in the first half. Midfield runners caused all sorts of problems and we were probably lucky to only go in down by a couple.

3rd quarter was great- absolutely pinned them back and was a shame that we didn't finish them off. Paul Fitzpatrick's review in the Celt is superb, that game was total chaos. I felt for the referee. Yes he let some things go in the first half (Faulkner was getting loads of treatment in front of the linesman- who had just (correctly) flagged James Smith for an off the ball booking) but that was passed over. But it was non-stop puling and dragging and you conceivably a few other players from both teams lucky not to get the line. A couple of Louth "fans" were an absolute show after the game, following the ref and roaring at him.

We had a lot of players play well in spells but it was so error prone that everyone made mistakes. I would say there are some sore bodies after that but the mood in the camp must be great with two tight away wins, with some serious heart being shown. Thought Jason was MOTM for me, he rarely puts a foot wrong and just goes about his business. Lynch remarkable on frees again. Gunner, Faulkner, O'Connell and Gerry Smith also prominent. I thought Cian Madden was coming into the game when he was hooked but maybe fitness was an issue.

On that, our discipline has to be better. That's two games in a row where we had numerical advantage and in control where petulant bookings have cost us.

mylestheslasher

Few more thoughts. McLoughlin was class indeed, especially near the end working the ball out under very heavy pressure. I thought Faulkner had a rocky start but he really got stuck in and recovered us a few times when we played poor balls (like gunners crazy cross field outside of the boot pass lol) Cian Reilly made a huge difference, he hit everything that moved. It was the best I saw him play for Cavan. A few of our lads did look to be struggling fitness wise - maybe carrying knocks, the heavier pitch or just the week on week punishment. Clarke was struggling with his legs and Cian Madden got pulled after his lovely left foot point and he was barely able to jog off. Gerry Smith, Carolan, McLoughlin would run for every - great lads.

One thing also that needs to be mentioned - Cork and Louth would have been big time up for the games against us, they would have seen those as must win home games to secure football in Sam. They came at us with ferocity and in the end they both failed. That has to be great for for the team spirit. Our boys are a great bunch of lads, I was out on the pitch after and they were taking time to sign kids jerseys and take a few photos and a few words for anyone who came up to them. We don't know how lucky we are to have them represent us.

baconsarnie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121818891#Comment_121818891

Couldn't agree more. They are a class bunch of lads and the amount of time they make for fans is brilliant. I have the kids at games and manys a time the players thank us for turning up. As you said they are all very generous with their time and a credit to the county.

KeepTheFaith

I hope the efforts by the lads over the past 2 games are reflected in the crowd that attends the Meath game and how vocal they are.

These games are balancing on a knife edge ,Cavan owe the team a raucous home support.

The stone throwers have their tails up. We have let Down, Armagh and Donegal come to Breffni recently and outnumber us and make the stadium their own. It needs to stop, if we don't call a halt against Meath - when will we?