Official Cavan GAA Thread

[Denn Forever]

Come on Johnson. make people (me include) eat our words.

[mrdeeds]

What a performance last night. Gearoid and Seanie the two stand out performers. Allowing McKiernan the freedom to attack and not worry about defending is a  good idea. Let midfield worry about spade work. Coulf have actually got a couple more goals. Givney looks a lot sharper now and Argue was good too. Galligan is looking more and more like a top class goalkeeper. Ignore the frees, his kickout is top class  and his handling is brilliant.

[cavanmaniac]

It's encouraging stuff from Seanie. I was aghast when he came back because I didn't think he would ever show any capacity to change his ways and knuckle down and be a team player. I thought it was a desperation move from Hyland but from the last two displays it seems Seanie didn't come back entirely on his own terms and is no longer wagging the dog. He seems a changed man that has matured and copped on a lot.

Listened to a recent podcast and the boys were perhaps, I thought, getting a little bit ahead of themselves. There was talk of promotion which is premature I think, and even giddier notions of winning Ulster - but we only beat a very weak Meath team and a struggling Armagh side, so although there are massive positives and many, many reasons to be more cheerful, I'd like to see how we fare against Fermanagh, and particularly Galway, before deciding we have truly turned a corner. Still though, there are very encouraging signs right now.

[Itchy]

It's no secret SJ approached Hyland about getting back on the panel so something mutually beneficial was obviously agreed. Fair play to both of them and time to leave the past in the past.

Other news I heard last night is that James McEnroe is back on the panel which is great if true.

[Westside]

It's no secret SJ approached Hyland about getting back on the panel so something mutually beneficial was obviously agreed. Fair play to both of them and time to leave the past in the past.

Other news I heard last night is that James McEnroe is back on the panel which is great if true.

That is fantastic news if true, McEnroe is a beast.

Weather conspiring against us again, a dirty wet day in Breffni isn't what we want. I think we'll have a big crowd at this one, expectation has been building. Although I see the Hoganstand have an article talking up how much we will score against Laois. Never good!

[cavanmaniac]

Laois have me worried,  very unpredictable and have been adjusting their sights on us for two weeks since a creditable display against Derry.
Still though,  if we have any notions of ever doing anything with this group of players this is a game we've simply got to be winning comfortably.  I think we'll do it but we'd do well to be wary here.

[Westside]

Fairly comfortable win. Seanie's injury is a worry. Hopefully it's not too serious and he'll be back for Championship.

Galligan gave a mixed bag performance today, gave away a few points with poor kickouts to Laois players, also hit some pinpoint kickouts that gave us a platform to attack. Made two big saves that would have let Laois back into the game.
Killian Clarke for me was Man of the Match, he's an outstanding footballer. Faulkner did very well too, did everything right to set up the goal. Jason had a tough day at the Office.
Killian Brady and Moynagh and Ciaran Brady did quite well in the half back line. Ciaran Brady got through a lot of work. Moynagh got through a lot of work but hit a few misplaced passes.
Buchanan and Mossy did ok in Midfield, Buchannan's pass to let Faulker away for the goal was excellent, he doesn't look out of place. Corr as usual gave a workmanlike performance.
McVeety was excellent and was at the core of most of Cavan's good attacking play. Gearoid was a constant threat and chipped in 3 points without being at his best. Martin Reilly got on a lot of ball, got one good point but made some poor errors.
Argue got a couple of lovely points and contributed well in general. Seanie looked dangerous and took his goal well. He will be a big loss against Galway. Givney had a poor first half, got two nice points at the start of the second but a poor display from him overall.

From the subs, Jack Brady staked his claim to a jersey, two fantastic scores from tight angles, one with the left one with the right. Keating gave one of the worst substitute displays i've seen in years, ruined 3 good attacking movements by taking the selfish decision to take a pot shot when we had better options on. Won't be sure of his place on the 26 at this rate.

It's a great opportunity now, Galway are roughly at the same level we are. I think it'll be a very 50:50 game. Hopefully it will be a better day than today, home advantage will be a help and I'd say if it's a decent day there will be a massive crowd from Cavan, Galway won't travel at all.

[comeysfield]

Good times are here but Armagh will be seriously peeved with us so tough games ahead !! Great squad performance to get us to Division 1 and a big day out in Croke Park to enjoy. Good to hear Terry after the game saying to stay focused on development and future as Minor and U17 does not look that strong at the moment

[Denn Forever]

Fair analysis if the game by Philip Jordan.  Second game showed what we have work to


Phillip Jordan's Irish news article about the 2 games on Sunday.

I too was surprised how open the game was on Sunday and noticed several times we were more worried about getting a sweeper back to mark space rather than pressurising the man on the ball.
Loads of times I noticed Justy and CC running back towards their goal not even watching the play and I thought how the game has changed over the past 5-10 years.

IF YOU were looking to see lots of scores from play in last Sunday's National League finals, you would have put your money on Dublin and Kerry being the providers.

I certainly didn't expect to see Cavan and Tyrone score 1-27 from play. The first-half especially was great viewing and, hopefully, was a sign of things to come during the summer. Victory for Tyrone was important leading into the Championship opener against Derry.

Some of momentum built up during the league had been lost in the final two games against Armagh and Fermanagh, so it was vital to finish the campaign on a positive. As a Tyrone man, a major positive is the continued integration of young players into the team.

Eight of the 21 players used against Cavan have less than two years of experience at senior inter-county level, with six of those part of the U21 All-Ireland winning team last year. One of those, Rory Brennan, has surely nailed down a Championship place. He is playing with far more confidence in his second season and, along with Tiernan McCann, provides real pace to the Tyrone half-back line.

The harder summer surfaces will suit them along with the likes of Peter Harte and Mattie Donnelly, who are key players in Tyrone's running game. Defensively, Mickey Harte won't have been happy with his team in the opening half. They played very deep, allowing Cavan to carry possession and work scoring opportunities closer to goal. The Cavan full-forward line were unable to get into the game, but the better teams will exploit the space further out the field, like Kerry did in last year's All-Ireland semi-final.

The main question mark over Tyrone is whether they can get enough scores to beat the best teams. Connor McAliskey and Ronan O'Neill contributed 1-7 from play between them, yet both were withdrawn before the end. It shows how much the Tyrone system demands of the inside-forwards away from their attacking play, with everyone taking their turn covering back in defence.

The system probably suits Tyrone in that there is little separating the options Mickey Harte has in the full-forward line. McAliskey, O'Neill, Lee Brennan and Darren McCurry are all potential starters. Mickey will hope to get at least one of them on form on any given day to provide the scoring burst needed.

The experience of playing in Croke Park will have been a great experience for this Cavan team. They pushed the team that are fourth favourites for the All-Ireland all the way. After Ronan O'Neill's goal, I expected Tyrone to pull away, but Cavan refused to fold.

Cavan's defensive set-up has been their strength for the last few years and they have definitely improved in their transition to attack. They break out with much more pace, giving them more opportunities to score.

Tyrone are one of the most organised teams, defensively, in the country. Cavan still managed to score 12 points from play and they won't come up against many teams who are as disciplined in the tackle as Tyrone. They got little return from their three big names in attack - Givney, McKiernan (with the exception of his two points) and Johnston were nullified by the Tyrone defence.

Last Sunday didn't provide any major clues as to whether Tyrone can beat the best teams in the country. The size of the challenge they face to be All-Ireland contenders was clear to see watching the Division One final between Dublin and Kerry.

Everything about the game was a step up from the curtain-raiser. There was better ball retention, greater intensity in the tackle and the overall pace of the game was on another level. The Dublin and Kerry game felt like it meant more than most league finals.

There was an edge to the game that you don't normally get at this stage of the year. I get the feeling both teams think the other is the one big obstacle standing in their way of lifting Sam Maguire in September. If they meet later in the year, the rivalry that has been built up between the teams will test the discipline of both.

Dublin's winning margin of 11 points doesn't tell the story of the gap between the two teams. Kerry were right in the game until Paul Flynn's goal. What it did highlight was the major advantage Dublin have over the rest of the teams in the country - strength in depth.

Teams like Kerry, Mayo and Tyrone can conceivably stay with the Dubs for 50 to 60 minutes, but they don't have attacking options of the calibre of Kevin McManamon and Cormac Costello to spring from the bench. Dublin consistently overpower teams in the last 15 minutes due to the sheer quality of their bench.

Aidan O'Mahony's sending-off ended any chances of Kerry winning, as beating them with a man down is virtually impossible. In order to successfully defend an All-Ireland title, you need your best players to retain their form.

However, more importantly, you need some players to take a step forward. Ciaran Kilkenny has been a stand-out performer during the league for Dublin and he was again superb against Kerry. One concern is the form of Diarmuid Connolly, who hasn't got back to the form of 2014, when he was arguably the best player in the country.

The Kerry forward line, which has looked unstoppable over the last few games, struggled for scores. We don't often see a Kerry team being naïve in attack, but their insistence on playing high, hopeful ball to Kieran Donaghy was hard to believe.

I expect these two to meet again during the Championship and Kerry will be much closer when the day arrives. Eamonn Fitzmaurice knows the size of the task in front of him to topple Dublin. He won't want to give away any plans he has in a league final.

Kerry are known for their cuteness and reading too much into this result would be foolish.

[comeysfield]

Fair analysis on game Cavan have to learn quickly as we can be sure Armagh will have a double sweeper system against us now after last weekend

[Western Blue]

Did I hear/read that the Cavan Senior panel are away in Portugal training since the match last Sunday ? Looking forward to the Armagh match at the end of May and hopefully  McDermott and McEnroe will be ready to play.

[comeysfield]

Yes lads definitely in Portugal might even be home today

[cavan4sam]

Very quiet on here with only a couple of days until the match.

Jason McLoughlin is out and Dara McVeety and Niall McDermott are doubts but from what I've heard both should be ok if selected.

Suppose there are 2 lads that will come into contention here, Niall Murray and Fergal Flanagan with Killian the Gunner moving to the corner. James McEnroe would be another option but I don't think his match fitness would be up to what is required for championship as he hasn't really played any football this year.

At a guess I reckon the team will line out something like this:
1. Raymond Galligan
2. Padraig Faulkner
3. Killian Clarke
4. Killian Brady
5. Ciaran Brady
6. Conor Moynagh
7. Fergal Flanagan/Niall Murray
8. Tomas Corr
9. Liam Buchanan
10. Dara McVeety
11. Gearoid McKiernan
12. Martin Reilly
13. Michael Argue (although personally I'd go for Jack or Mackey)
14. David Givney
15. Sean Johnston

Hopefully whatever team is selected can put in a good performance on the day and we come out with a good result.

[comeysfield]

Will be very surprised if he does not start Flanagan and then bring Murray on

[comeysfield]

Any word on McLaughlin is there any chance he will play ?