The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

Who is our Full Back going to be? I like Gunners honesty but when pitches harden up we won't get away with him at Full Back. Clarke and Faulkner seem to have a job to do elsewhere.

Disappointing result. Thought we deserved at least a draw. Donegal not near as good as I was expecting. Very negative team. Cynical, very mouthy to match officials and theatrical in how they hit the deck with any sort of contact. Unfortunately the referee bought every bit of BS they sold him. They used to be my second team but doubt Jimmy will be winning too many matches with that crap system and I hope the referees cop on to that other shite. Absolutely should not be rewarded for it.

Thought we battled well, set up the more positive and never gave in which is encouraging but we are short in a few areas. Full back is worrying, all heart but cannot see that working come championship. Midfield big problem area. Got within a point second half and then didn't touch the ball in this sector for next 15 minutes. Galligan not near the races. If Buchannon was still around he'd be first name on sheet. I was a bit annoyed TBH with our full forwards. Lazy and disinterested and never looked hungry for ball. What's the point in committing so many men up there when they never come out to look for it. It kills transition. It's only when others like McVeety or Holla cycled in there that we saw any real runs or desire to win ball. Caoimhin O'Reilly was excellent in this regard too when he came on, won a few balls there that he had absolutely no right to win.

Thought our tackling was very hard but sloppy enough at times. We sailed close to the wind on few occasions buy maybe that was down to the poor ref and knowing what you could get away with on the day. With another referee some of us mightn't have finished the game.

Plenty of positives though. Carolan looks the real deal and put in another great shift. Made some great carries and tackles. Lots of others put in big shifts and thought the subs gave us more energy. Just need a few more to come out of their shells but it's great to see us back in Div2 in front of a crowd and giving as good as we get.

Draw and new format for Ulster U20. I quite liked the old knock out, it was the only "true" old style championship left.

I personally prefer the old school knock out at senior level. The longer format always favours the stronger counties, with more resources and bigger panels. Despite the "teams get more game time", when was the last time there were any genuine shocks in the All Ireland? 2020 was the outlier in that it went back to "on the day" and it was brilliant. Not just saying that because we won Ulster, obviously. I actually prefer more games for minors and u20s to give them the time to work together.

Learning curve at division two is pretty steep, but management need to be ready to make ruthless calls if match ups are wrong. Gallan is a class act and very pacy, and to me Gunner should have been moved after the first two scores and stick Jason onto him to keep a closer eye on him.

Not making our excuses in advance, but the draw is very unkind for us. Cork are always poor on the road and very good at home. Not sure why people are saying Cork losing to Louth is a shock, did Louth not beat them last year in Ardee and finish above them? Louth should have beaten Armagh by the looks of it and are a tough unit at home. I would have been happier with Fermanagh in Brewster as we always go well there instead of a trip to Cork or Louth.

Anyways, Cork have to win and that worries me. They have lots of strong runners but we showed against Kildare and Donegal that we are well set up. We have to hope the two Oisins are back. Kiernan gives us a scoring threat from distance but also brings a range of passing we don't have otherwise. We need Oisin Brady to come back as a scoring threat. Paddy Lynch is nailing frees but is it me that doesn't think he's next nor near full tilt? I rate him highly but we would need him to step up several levels in the next few weeks and start kicking more from play.

Yeah going to Cork always worries me and they will be smarting. But hopefully it's just paranoia from the hammering we got there coupled with their tradition. They have been improving of late but still very beatable. 3 games I was really worried about start of year was Donegal at home and Cork and Armagh away. I'm a bit more relaxed now after seeing us play 2 games but will need to see us compete in Cork before I fully relax.

2 week break hopefully does us good and we return with a stronger panel. Think we play Roscommon, chance for lads to put a hand up and any niggles to repair. I'd fully agree with Lynch, apart from frees he has given us very little if anything. Very frustrating because he has everything going for him including size but just seems to be playing completely within himself. Needs to start putting himself about and demanding ball.

I was talking to someone about Lynch and he felt he has 40% more in him as a player, but that we all need to start seeing it. Is he carrying a knock? Not fully fit? Is it self-belief?

He has all the attributes. I think back to his performances in the championship in 2022 and a friend from Donegal ringing me after the Ulster semi final saying that all the Donegal fans he knew felt Lynch was one of the best young forwards in Ulster (in terms of ability off both feet, size, power, ability to win ball and beat a man to make a score). I think for us to kick on to challenge for promotion we need him hitting those heights and ideally from the next game in Cork. Fingers crossed.

Wearecavan making a call out to supporters in the 2 pods this week. I didn't think it was that bad against Donegal, maybe when teams came out home fans were quiet. After that I thought there was decent noise from home support. Anyway I'm feeling guilty now and contemplating a trip to Cork.

Over around the stand was always going to have more Donegal as their supporters were there early. When you’re travelling that far, generally ya leave in plenty of time. I was there just after 2.30 and the stand was quickly filling from even then with Donegal folk.

In fairness though, I remember 2013 in Croker. Donegal were playing Mayo after we played Kerry and I remember one loud Donegal supporter literally roaring for Cavan support to get behind the team more.

When Down knocked us out of the McKenna Cup last year, their supporters made a similar show of us in Breffni. They welcomed their team onto the field with a huge roar while Cavan got the standard short and polite clap. That trend continued throughout the game and the Cavan support stayed meek.

It's embarrassing and no doubt one of the reasons our record in Breffni us so poor.

Good to see some light being shed on it.

Do you mean oppressed in terms of the troubles etc?

You'll always have eejits that go too far. But just the basics, we can't even muster a good welcome for our team when they run onto the field.

The older generation like to get in early to ensure they get a seat. I was in at 3.30 and had to head to the terrace.

Anyone on here making the journey to Cork? Where is a good spot to park?

.€160 for the night in a hotel