The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

It's not panic stations yet- but you're right, of the new lads on the panel barring O'Connell and a brief cameo from Shehu no one has stood out.

The keeper situation is as any Cavan fan would have predicted. We never should be in a situation that we have three keepers with 2 appearances between them gearing up for a crack at Division two. O Rourke and Brady should have been getting gradual game time over the last 2/3 years. We all knew this would come back to haunt us.

I may be an outlier on here, but i actually talk to real people at games and I've never met a Cavan fan who didn't think we should have given Brady or O'Rourke from Ballyhaise a run out before this year

I actually think we regressed as team defensively with McMennamin's involvement. Early days for this management team but as was noted today we really struggled with some of Down's running. I know Mcveety will improve things there but it's less about individuals and how we are set up.

I was actually happy to see us approach the game a little different, to push players up the field and to mix it up a bit with some running and some long balls. For 3/4 of the game we certainly made Downs defence look very ordinary If you are going to try something try it in the McKenna cup. What I am concern about mostly is the quality of the new lads mostly and more generally the mental strength of the team.

I also think a few lads ran out of steam last night. Faulkner had done quite well for 3/4 of the game but he visibly tired and he wasnt in it at all after he gave away that really poor turnover for their 1st goal. I think he could play midfield but only with a strong athletic player in there beside him.

Anyone know what the story is with Dara McVetty?

Attacking play was good, showed good intent. Oisin Brady was sharp, took his scores well. I liked the long ball strategy.

Defensively we were terrible and if it wasn't for dreadful shooting from Down we would have been beaten earlier.

Faulkner added to his growing blooper real before the second goal. Twice Oisin Kiernan was left flat footed by a simple step from a Down player.

The coaching of the tackle and the work rate and plan for bottling men up and making it difficult for the opposition inside our 45 needs a huge amount of work. This problem is getting worse with time.

Midfield we got wiped when the game was in the melting pot. It was a harsh welcome to county football for Ryan Brady.

Goalkeeper looks like a problem, I'd have Liam Brady ahead of Fergal O'Rourke but think Gary O'Rourke is the best suited for county football.

McKenna Cup is only ever a run out so wouldn't read too much into it. Would echo some of the worries about GK position though. Thought Oisin Brady looked really good upfront so hopefully we can build on that.

Extra game would have been nice though to get a better look at more new faces. Interesting to see who's culled and who's on the league squads over next couple of weeks. Looks to be plenty of work needed on overall fitness too. We're more than capable of staying up, lots of winnable games but think we're in for a few harsh lessons too from some of the bigger guns. Hopefully first 3 games not too rough and we end up going ultra conservative in both play and team selection.

I’ve raised previously about too many clubs in Cavan and this is an issue from it I believe. A lot of the best players in underage teams are forced to play in areas like midfield because they are carrying teams. That means they miss out on the opportunity to hone the skills needed close to goals.

That’s why you’ll often see your best county forward from a smaller club coming from a rare underage team that had 3 or 4 decent players rather than 1 or 2.

Any club that can’t field underage teams at various ages should just be amalgamating at all levels including their adult teams. It’s pointless trying to follow the same structure as 100 years ago and ignoring changing trends.

Arva game is on TG 4.

The filth from this Kerry shower is unreal, about time this referee started doing something about it.

Fair play to Arva. A great second half display. I had doubts in the first half about their fitness levels, but they blew Listowel away in the second half for fitness. Two midfielders were outstanding.

Great to see a team other than a Kerry team taking home the cup. Especially an Ulster team.

Super win for Arva, Superb performance in the 2nd half. They were by far the better team

The Holla had a great game as had Hoffman

Well deserved win for them

Finbar Reillys stock as a manager has risen too

Enjoy the celebrations Arva

Congratulations arva on a fantastic win today, Brilliant.

Fantastic win for Arva. They were deserved winners and I thought the Kerry team hit them hard, as would be expected. Ciaran Brady was a colossus and I see him and Noack Hoffman getting plenty of praise but I thought number 3 Morris was also superb.

Huge celebrations down there tonight but hopefully Brady is back to county training soon because we need him.

arva very impressive today , that was a fantastic listowel team that they beat , is that the first team to win an all ireland club from cavan , either way well done