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What do the other Cavan heads think?

Scratching my Cavan head to be honest. Twasn't a particularly vintage time for the Breffni Blue footballers so it's kinda hard to guage how any of them would have done against the better teams of the era...

My answer would be between two Gowna men.

The talented McCabe
or the man who would have died for Cavan Morris.

I'd go for Morris.

Damien O Reilly was the best on that list in my opinion. He was a big, strong, had a big heart and could basically play anywhere. King was no team man, McCabe a primadona (although both had exceptional skill and ability). What Morris lacked in skill he made up for x2 in effort and heart. But it is Damien for me.

Pat Fallon ;D

Has to Dermot McCabe-immense !

The only one I remember is McCabe. Sad state of Cavan football.

Jim Reilly of Kingscourt Stars

I always thought that Jim Reilly was a very good footballer and better than most of those on the voting list.

Damien Reilly. Great guts and determination. He had a great never say die attitude. His point in the last couple of minutes against Donegal in Breffnie park in 1992 epitomized his attitude toward the game. Again another team that were unlucky at the time not to go further. If they had a back door in those days cavan would have made a big impact. It was at the height of Ulster's 90's dominace of football in Ireland. In second place I'd have Jim Reilly. Never won anything with Cavan and always gave 100%. Represented ulster on several railway cup teams and I never saw him have a bad game. Aidan Connolly had the potential / talent to be the best!

Yeah thinking back the best of the lot was probably Damian Reilly. Did a decent job on Canavan in the 95 Ulster final when the wee man was killing fullbacks for fun at the time and of course set up Jayo for the goal in the 1997 decider that buried Derry.

A real warrior, bags of skill, loads of heart and determination. What I wouldn't give to have another like him...]

Carolan I always thought never realised his potential. Pyschologically he was suspect and lacked gumption. Too much of a gentleman on the field, although it wasn't unheard of for him to throw his weight around a bit in club football which always sickened me - he never had the same fight in a blue jersey IMO.

His attitude problems were never better illustrated than in 1997. The kick in the arse he got from being dropped made him play like a man possessed against Donegal but we started him against Derry and, with his place then assured again, he reverted to type and did very little in that game or against Kerry either. A typical free taker in that of he missed his first kick of the day, he'd have a 50% conversion rate thereafter.

He showed us what he could have been against Donegal when he was really up for it and had a point to prove, but in his normal mild-mannered comfort zone he was a very good free taker, occasional scorer from play and a valuable team member but that was it.

I'd go with Damien Reilly. Had just about everything.
A gentleman off the field as well.

Have a lot of time for Mc Cabe. Know him well enough and never took him to be the Prima Donna he is made out to be.
Been a great player for Cavan in my opinion.

Jim Reilly was class too but he went down very easy once in Breffni in a game with Longford resulting in a Longford man getting the line which I never forgave him for.

Sean Kiernan played very few poor games for yee either..........

Other men I thought were very good for Cavan were John Brady from Laragh, Philip Smith from Crosserloughand of course the Fintan Cahill who was very hard handled on his day.

Don't think Forde gets the credit he deserves either.

I thought Carolan had a good game against Derry in 97.

Amazing to think that he started out as a midfielder for Cavan seniors. Bit too nice for that position but still our best forward over a ten eyar period.

Seeing that the last ten years have been Cavan's best since 1980 (u21 all ireland final, ulster title, national league final, ulster final 01) it's surprising to see only McCabe mentioned from that era. No shouts for Larry, Forde, Peter Reilly, Jason...These are the lads the team has been "built around" since '96.

Says it all really.

Jim Reilly gets my vote, with his best performance when we beat the Mushrrom pickers in '87.  He actually played midfield that day but his natural and best position was left half back.

Maniac, agree with with you on Carolan except for the Ulster Final v Derry where I felt he played as well if not better that day as he did against Donegal.  He scored 3-4 points from play off Henry Downey, not too many did that.

Did he? My apologies so, but he was defo no leader like he should have been v Kerry. Still, a huge servant to our county and one to be respected.

Fintan Cahill is another great shout. A bit of a shitehawker by times but as the poster above says he was shocking hard handled when his pace and strength was at full pitch. Some great years under McHugh to be sure.

Forde I thought was the best centre-back in Ulster by a country mile the year we lost to Tyrone in the final, 2001 was it, under Val Andrews. It was actually a great half back line, James Doonan was playing very well in there too, can't remember the third guy, was it Peter Reilly? However like most of the others in the class of 97, he slightly sullied his reputation since - not as much as some others, granted - with average form, barracking refs and persistent fouling. A very dedicated guy though, something to be cherished in the current dressing room.

The other half back that year was Edward Jackson, a fella I never rated that highly.

He looked great with the ball in hand but he wasn't much of a defender. I remember Tommy Freeman was about 19 and he came off the bench at half time against Monaghan and got four points from play off Jackson.

He dropped off the panel and came back later, I think he was tried at wing forward but to little avail.

Doonan was very good in 2001, definitely. Forde was outstanding, he was the best centre back in the country that year.

Michael Brides was in his first year and did well at corner back, holding Shane Ward, Declan Smyth and Canavan in Ulster. Paul Galligan did very well at wing forward and even the much derided Barry McCrudden had a stormer in the Ulster final (albeit because the two Tyrone midfielders were watching mccabe, who beat Monaghan on his own in the semi).

Only five years ago, but a completely different team.

Stephen King or Damien Reily for me mmmmmmm......
il go for Damien Reily.

What about Aidan Connolly?  ;D

It's a major 'what if' for me about Connolly. How we could have been doing with his steel and determination against Kerry in the 97 semi...but he didn't do the work and had to be turfed out. I'd say he's a sorry man blew his chance of being part of our only Ulster SFC winning team in 28 years or whatever it was.

Shame but like alot of other very talented players, just didn't have the discipline. If he was playing under McElkennon though, he'd have been carried despite his excesses.

QuoteIf he was playing under McElkennon though, he'd have been carried despite his excesses.

Excellent point.

Connolly was one of the most talented footballers we have had since 1980...
but he doesnt deserve to go even be compared with the likes of King and Damien O Reily who done it for their county for 10/15 years.
There is a difference between "having talent" and actually doing the business Bottom Brick.
Maybe you should keep that in mind the next time you attempt one of your pathetic jibes.

i don't like this thread.  Can we call any of them players greats?  Best cavan footballer since 1980 might have been better . anyone agree with me

The Butts story is what makes the GAA what it is. Every county in Ireland has it's un-fulfilled genius, as befits an organisation that expects everything from it's players but does not, always, give a lot in return apart from a few slaps on the back or a bit of abuse depending on the weather, witness the Eoin Kelly debate down Waterford way at the moment. You can have no doubt that as Aidan reaches the pipe and slippers stage of his life he will have many regrets, but such is life. As we know, a lot of tough stuff happened around his club at that stage which can't have helped things. For the sake of Cavan football it's a real shame that the Bailieboro team of the mid 90's disappeared without trace so quickly-coincided with one of the better periods for the county team. Lets just say a combination of a few of those lads and some Gowna/Mullahoran stalwarts gave us a bit of "spine".

Excellent point made by somebody that there are probably a number of fellas in the current panel who would be long gone if McHugh's approach to Connolly was the standard. Say's it all really. When you look back on it, wee Martin really had his finger on the pulse, resigning the day after our defeat against Kerry.

Rory Gallagher  ;D ;D ;D

Quality   :D

Re: The greatest Cavan footballer since 1980
« Reply #25 on: Today at 10:58:22 AM »   

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Rory Gallagher     


Think you're on the wrong thread mate, am sure there is one somewhere for best cork blues guitarist with donegal parentage since the war of independence which is where you need to go. Mind you we have a Rory Gallagher lookalike who is a sometime member of the current Cavan panel Mad Eddie Reilly of Mullahoran Dreadnoughts fame. However the only votes Eddie is getting is best Cavan Player with a 1970's hairstyle since 1980, alternatively the Anthony Gaynor award for occasional appearance of red mist.

id like to know the opinions of some of those who some of those who voted none of the above in the poll.

Quote from: BallyhaiseMan on November 24, 2006, 02:54:43 PM
id like to know the opinions of some of those who some of those who voted none of the above in the poll.

i wouldn't blame anyone 4 picking "none of the above".  i did pick someone but i don't rate any of them as great players.

To be rated a  great player i reckon that someone has to be consistantly brillant over a long period of time. i'm afraid most of them were bad or not good enough for more time that they were good.

in fairness id rate Stephen King , Damien Reily and Jim Reily as great players because they did alot for Cavan over 10-15 years often without much along the way of help....
Thought both of them were magnificant footballers and being only over 20 years old,i didnt even see them at their best!!!
None of the current players are anything approaching greats.
so i can see where you are coming from Cavan4ever even if i disagree about those three anyway.