The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

It was last weekend

who was in goals in the most recent challenge game?

I was listening to the wearecavan podcast last night. Interesting analysis of the league and a slight tip for Cavan v Kildare from Kevin Egan. While him and Paul disected all our opponents quite well, I would say they didn't address at all that we have a new manager, trying to develop a new style of play,lost our goalkeeper and no obvious replacement and had a few guys like McVetty and Holla that we are not sure will play. If they were taking that into account they didn't mention it. I do think that Kildare erratic league form in the past does give us a decent shot, not sure I would bet on it.

I don’t agree with this point re the 3 years. Not for the level we are playing at and have been playing at.

It actually came up between Egan & Fitz on the pod re S&C about Meath and the point was, while a player mightn’t be fit for a Tyrone or Derry without extensive additional training, they should be fit for Tailteann Cup or Division 2.

You look at the S&C training that most of the top clubs in the county are doing now. I know intercounty is a step up but it’s January and I know of club teams training 4 nights a week between gym and pitch. Our own county minors are for example.

Crosserlough led the way in S&C in the county and others have now mirrored and improved it.

Half of the teams in Sam Maguire will come from Div 2 or below.

Ok so maybe my statement was clumsy. It's not all about s&C. It's about getting used to the physicality, pace and general demand of intercounty. It's a very rare player that jumps in for the 1st year and makes the team as a regular. In my opinion you need to commit to it for 3 years if you are serious about it.

I should say I don't know Boylans situation and maybe he changed jobs or who knows. But point is I think he would have been the best he could be if he had been able to stick it for 2 more years

Bah! 11 out of 15!

Brady, Jason, Kiernan (Denn), Gunner, Faulkner, Carolan, Kiernan, Clarke, Donohoe, Holla, McVeety, Gerry Smith, Lynch, James Smith, Oisin Brady.

No chance they will line up like that. Wouldn't be surprised to see Kiernan miss out with Clarke to go there and possibly Madden to come back in to give us a bit more creativity going forward.

I agree. Gerry Smith has an electric burst of pace, can break a tackle and can kick scores. He should be given licence to take risks and get forward as much as possible.

I have to assume it was a tactical decision but seeing Gerry Smith as "quarterback" walking around Croker against Westmeath never sat well with me. He should be used as an explosive player for Cavan, the talent and skills are there.

Hate to say I told you so. What a performance. More after my 3.5 hr drive home

Sincere congrats to Cavan, from a Kildare man.

Says it all that we don't even have an active GAA thread on here.

Apparently we (Kildare) were atrocious. Ryan the Chosen One hasn't worked out at all.

That would put a man in good humour. Listened on NS and seemed to play a good brand off attacking football with getting the ball into the forwards early.

The Senior players showed real leadership going by the commentary which was great to hear.

Cavan much the better team tonight - great attitude, sharpness and a willingness to scrap for everything that went right through the team. Hard to pick out anyone who didn’t contribute to the cause. First time I’ve seen Oisin Kiernan (Denn) in the blue jersey and he didn’t look out of place - Carolan and Gerry Smith made some great runs and Tiernan Madden got on a world of ball. Brady got most of his kick outs off no bother though a couple went astray. He had a couple of fumbles under the high dropping ball in the first half but second half he dealt with them better - pity he doesn’t have more experience but his confidence should be on the rise after this. All in all a good evening’s work for all concerned with the team.

Jesus fair play Myles 👏

I didnt hear Northern Sound but I dont think they could be blowing it up at was an excellent performance. Cavan were superb in defense in dealing with Kildares powerful runners from deep and the little almost "rugny style" pop balls they lay off and run into at pace. It was also brilliant to see the pace at which we broke their lines, some of the line breaks by Carolan and Gerry in particular were spectacular. I dont think we hit a wide in the first half, our finishing was absolutely top notch and Paddy Lynch nailed every free bar one at the end (which I am sure if it mattered he wouldnt have taken the shot. Carolan was my mom but special mention to Denn's Oisin Kiernan, not a lad I have seen a lot of, I thought he had a brilliant game and his fitness levels getting around the field were very impressive. Also a well done to Liam Brady who was very good, dealt well with one horrible dropping high ball out of the clouds and bar 2 misplaced kick outs I thought his were very good, even with Kildare pushing up hard on us at times. Faulkner at wing back I thought was a bit of a joke in the team line up but he actually did play there (as much as anyone plays anywhere in modern football) and was an option for kick outs. McLoughlin ran himself into the ground. You couldnt really say anyone was below 7/8 out of 10 really.

The good news is we have room for improvement - McVetty and Holla were excellent but i know looking at them they have 20% morein them. Paddy Lynch got 8 points but missed 3 scorable from play in the 2nd half and again there is more in him (a while since we could see a Cavan forward hitting 8 to 10 points), Oisin Brady tried hard but faded in 2nd half. Kildare certainly up'd the physicallity in the 2nd half so maybe that is why. Oisin Brady went off injured along with Oisin Kiernan (rahan) and Ryan Dononhoe but from where I was sitting they didnt look very serious.

Kildare will say they played poorly but I genuinely thought they came hard at Cavan but they met a better team on the day and could not deal with us. They will take points of other teams no doubts. I was hoping we would get the points today due to kildare being a bit erratic but I actually think we won today as we were better than them. Gives me a bit more hope than before and now I am thinking can we get something against Donegal in Breffni - maybe.

That is dedication Myles. I’m still not sure what I’ll do re Cork in two weeks. It’s a four hour journey last time I drove it so would need to look at a hotel as I’m not driving 8 hours in a day.

A few Kildare supporters were grumbling they were missing players but most seemed unhappy Glen Ryan was still in the job. They are expecting another wasted season when they seem to think Burke is the messiah.

I thought I was perhaps being harsh on Lynch as I’ve seen what he can do in senior club games over the years but it’s great to hear you also thought there’s room for improvement.

The good thing was our subs did well when they came on. Cormac O’Reilly is one player has been off the panel so I didn’t expect to see him but he kicked a super point at an important time.

It’s vital we have lads there ready because the league comes thick and fast and we will lose players over the course of it.

I’m not getting carried away though. As good as the result was. You can get shock results on the first day of the season. Last year, for example, Meath put 3 goals past Cork on day one and then went on to have a terrible League campaign.