Official Cavan GAA Thread

[drici]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35V7oqeuxRQ

All together now.

[Denn Forever]

Another great win.  A bright light in a bleak time for Cavan.

[rodney trotter]

Brillant win tonight, got off to a dream start like last year with a first pen goal, penalty from Dara Sexton. Tyrone settled down and scored a few pts straight after that. kevin tierney knoced over a few frees and Cavan were 2 ahead at half time. Second half i felt Cavan played all the football, Jack Brady came more into the came. Ray Lynch and Joe Dillon got outstanding scored. Killian Clarke was brillant in the second half like he was in the minor final last year. Barry Reilly came on but lasted about 5minutes, hamstring flared up again. Doubt he will make the semi. Winning a consevective Ulster title really show Cavan are a coming force despite the bleaks times at present at senior level. I'd imagine Terry Hyland will take over from Andrews now.

[mylestheslasher]

A long road home again but it was worth it. What an exceptional bunch of proud Cavan men on that field tonight. We got a dream start with a peno from our 1st attack but it was obvious Tyrone had a strong running game and we struggled to deal with it. Thanks to frees from Tierney we managed to keep our noses in front at half time even though Tyrone were probably playing the best football. The 2nd half we upped our game. Paddy King came on again and did a copy of his semi final appearance, turning midfeild in our favour for 15 minutes in which we opened up a 5 point lead. Jack Brady picked up lots of ball, young conroy ran himself into the ground. Best for me was Clarke at FB, and he made a couple of superb catches when Tyrone were putting on the pressure. But overall, this was a victory for team work, fight, determination and hunger. Very well done to the team and lads whoever thinks Hyland is not good at managing a team, well the results say otherwise. Now, next up the rossies.

As for the senior debacle that's unfolding this evening, hardly worth commenting on given the night thats in it.

[scoopmine]

Great win.
Dream start with a Sexton peno. Ref was very fussy gave alot of frees can only remember 2 scores from play lucky tierney was accurate. Worked very hard.
Second half much of the same Cavan opened a gap and again forced tyrone into mistakes picked up alot of breaking ball. When tyrone started to get back into it Killian Clarke was peerless at full back and caught a number of balls. Tyrone badly missed Ronan O'Neil and seemed to run out of ideas. Cavan were by far the better side.

Honourable mentions to Clarke, Fergal Flanagan, Jack Brady.

Cavan Abu

Can anyone shed some light on the Val situation hear he was voted out 33 to 3 and meeting tomorrow night. Heard Keogan is involved in some way though that could just be rumours!

[cogito]

As much as I want to know what is going on with the Seniors I will refrain.

Tonight is a night for the u21's. Amazing achievement. Never thought I would live to see days like this again. Three Ulster titles in 12 months.

[Celt_Man]

Oh yes... what a win!!!

[Westside]

Great win. Completely outfought Tyrone. Killian Clarke was outstanding. Jack Brady is sacrificing his scoring for his work around the 40. Sneaked in and won some good ball and distributed it well.
Conor Moynagh had an awful start to the game but instead of letting it get to him he knuckled down and turned in a great performance after that.
Now it's time to show that our Underage can hack it outside of Ulster. Roscommon are a different animal to what they were in the Hastings Cup and let's hope the lads don't take them for granted, our Minors were sure they had the beating of Galway last year and look what happened.

But for now we'll enjoy tonight. Good to see Barry Reilly involved in some capacity but a huge pity the hamstring went again. His speech and bringing up Mickey and Conor to lift the cup along with him show the type of captain he is.

[mylestheslasher]

One of the finest posts ever on Hoganstand, hopefully Tony Montana won't mind me pasting here....

The 11th of April will be remembered for a lot of things in Cavan. For the day that seanies transfer eventually gets ratified ? Or the day when news broke about the cavan senior players having no faith in Val Andrews ? No, this day will be remembered for the Cavan U21's securing a brilliant double in Ulster at this grade. What does this team have to do to get recognition, in the lead up to all their games in Ulster this year the opposition have been made favourites. Perhaps that suits Terry, the players & management fine, to go into games as underdogs and come out fighting, but give credit where it is due. I hope people made plenty of money on the bookies, who had priced this team at a ridiculous 2/1 for last night's decider. So off to Brewster park again, if I have to drive thru Belturbet again this year, i'll go crazy ! Some rain showers prior to kick off on the journey down, but once the clouds passed, it was a perfect evening for football. And a perfect evening it would transpire to be. On arrival, while looking thru the fencing along the road of the pitch, we could see the stand was jammed already, and this was at 7:45, it was the terrace for us tonight. The Cavan supporters had flocked in their droves for this game, and why not. Because this team has shown a work rate + passion + desire + never say die spirit that supporters love to see & expect to see from a team putting on the blue jersey.
So proceedings got underway by the Derry referee, who was not as trigger happy with the yellow cards as the guy last week. Cavan won the throw up & immediately went on the attack, a few passes later, a diagonal ball from under the stand across to Tierney was slightly too high for him, but found its way to the onrushing Conroy who was bearing down on goals, the defender knowing he had to prevent a goal, wrapped himself around the Breffni player, foul, penalty = Dream start. Up stepped Sexton (not who I would have envisaged to take it), but he slotted it into the onion bag along the ground about a metre from the middle of the goals (not the greatest penalty ever) luckily the keeper went the wrong way. Dream start, early goal like last year, just what the lads needed. Cavan would lead from start to finish & never be headed. When you see surnames like Canavan, Donnelly, Monroe & McGuigan on the tyrone panel, you know these guys have some football in them. Tyrone reacted swiftly, playing lots of possession, give and go's, working it out of defence at pace & probing passes to the inside forwards. Everyone knew this was going to be a tough shift for the boys in blue. Tyrone quickly rattled off the next two scores of the game from free's awarded, clumsy & needless tackles in some cases. Possession & territory was even enough early on, but tyrone looked well up for this. Cavan won possession from the kickout, a nice quick low ball into jack's chest who was occupying the centre forward berth and he drilled a lovely ball into Tierney who was subsequently fouled. He popped it over the bar. 1-1 to 2. More intricate play from the Red Hand resulted in another free, which was converted by their nr 13 (could of been mistaken for Johnny Wilkinson). Tierney was causing the tyrone defence trouble, more free's followed. Jack converted one & Tierney another. Tierney then missed a scoreable free, would he regret it later ? Tyrone then missed a free and a put a few chances wide themselves. A massive score from their midfielder nr 8 would prove to be the only score from play for the entire 1st half for both sides. Some of the diagonal play inside to the cavan forward line worked very well at times, but broke down on a few occasions also either by poor execution of a wall of tyrone men after scampering back. Tierney scored two more frees & two from tyrone left it 1-4 to 5 at the break. Cavan left for the dressing rooms to roars from their huge support who outnumbered tyrone hands down.
The talk on the terrace during half time over a warm cup of tea & a twix was all positive. Tyrone looked good enough, but never really threatened our goal mouth area, they had some wayward shots which you would not accustom to tyrone teams, but we were confident the lads would push on in the 2nd half & reclaim their title & hopefully the punters would take a nice few pound off the bookies. A win win for all Cavan people, a cup & some €€€ = a good evenings work. As usual, Paddy King entered the fray at midfield for K Brady who had put in his shift in the first half & a number of deliberate yet necessary fouls. Out with the stopwatch & here we go, ball is thrown in. Tyrone win possession, move it quickly with intent towards Conor Gilsenans goal & win a free 30 yards out after 30 seconds, one point in it, not the start we wanted. Cavans defence had played well up to this point, hassling + tackling like their lives depended on it. An obvious foul on one of the cavan forwards resulted in a free which Tierney slotted over. Back to a two point game. Think this was as close as it got for the remainder of the match. King yet again began to have an influence around the middle of the park, winning some vital balls, knocking breaks down which were being hoovered up by Jack, Lynch & others. Dillion then kicked over for Cavans first from play. Tierney had the beating of his man, "feed the chunk" was the shouts from around us on the terrace !! More frees followed for both teams. Barry Reilly entered the fray with 15 minutes remaining, he didn't look 100%, and they may rue this decision as he had to leave the field injured with a few minutes left on the clock. A 40 yard left footed free from Nevin sailed in the Enniskillen sky, it bounced off the cross bar & landed back in Tierneys hands on the edge of the square who was swarmed by tyrone defenders in an instant, the ball was quickly recycled by 3 quick handpasses and ended up with jack brady who stuck it over left footed from 10 yards. 4 points ahead now & we were keeping the scoreboard ticking over nicely, tyrone needed a goal, but it didn't look like coming. Tyrone were starting to put pressure on, coming in waves from the back like their senior counterparts are renowned for. They kicked a number of poor wides which would eventually cost them in this decider. A lovely low pass from a Leddy free from centre field into the scoreboard end corner was gobbled up by Jack who was making some terrific runs & dummy runs, he turned on a six pence & in one movement grabbed the defenders arm under his oxster, free kick awarded by the Derry ref. Cuteness, you can't teach it. Jack created & struck the free over with aplomb, it was a massive score & the crowd could sense victory was near. The fat lady was clearing her throat. Tyrone attacked again, but the cavan defence was resolute. Killian Clarke, McLoughlin, Moynagh, Flanagan & Sexton all worked like dogs. Tyrone hit back with another score. Clarke fetched two high balls & stormed out of defence, lifting the crowd & his fellow players. Lynch converted a good score from play. The last minute or two was blurry, plus everybody was asking me "how long was left".... Referee blew the whistle, game over 1-10 to 10. Cavan U21's victorious again on this ground. Maybe we can get the seniors to play here instead of breffni.
The stewards tried to keep the fans off the pitch, one steward fell on his **** & was like a turtle upside down, another put out a foot trying to trip a man. Quality entertainment. In the end the stewards realised, like a lot of us knew & like the team knew, it was inevitable what was taking place here tonight. This team only had one goal for the last 4 months, and that was to retain the cup they had won the year before. The crowd flocked around the main stand awaiting the presentation. Fellow Cavan man Aodghan O Farrell presented the cup to Barry Reilly to an echo of applause, wooohooo's & screams of joy from all who was present. Once the obligatory 3 cheers was done & dusted, the captain then gave one of the better speeches I have heard at a final & it showed how closely knit this group of players & management is together. 70 training sessions together up to the 27th March, "a frightening statistic" as the captain eluded to.
What can you say about this team? In that last sentence lies the key word folks. TEAM. There is no individual's or prima donnas involved here in this set up, they work their socks off in training, in the gym & in games for one another like it is their club mate, brother or best friend that they are going into battle with. That characteristic is not easy to ingrain in young players & cannot be turned on like a light when you flick a switch. It takes a lot of hard bloody work. Every player was tremenduous throughout the campaign so far, yes some may have played better than others & may have scored more. Games are won or lost on winning the breaking ball, getting a fist or boot in at the o'neills ball ahead of the opposition player, winning a free you had no right to win, getting down to block a shot that is destined to go over or under the bar. All those bits of hard work, collectively, that some people don't appreciate or even notice is what sets the team on the way to victory. Every game is unique, the ball either breaks to you or away from you on any given day, as long as each player is giving 100%, this squad & management know that it will take a good team to overcome them. I won't go into individual performances of the players, it is not fair to do so on a night when the achieved a historic two in a row. Have we done that before ? Blow the dust off the history books, cos i don't know the answer. I'm proud to be a Cavan man this morning, this team makes me proud, they put us in the news for all the right reasons. Roll on Roscommon in 10 days time, venue yet to be announced, probably pearse park in Longford. More support is needed, tougher tests await them, as the captain said in his speech, "we are the 16th man" and "the team thrives off our support when they are out on the field". But also, because I think they just bloody deserve it. Congrats again one & all. And as status quo sang, the party ain't over......

[rodney trotter]

Looking at the team that started last night from the match program, their is an awful lot available next year. Obviously the 4minors who started, Dillon Moynagh O'Donnell and Clarke. Dara Sexton, Jason Mcglaughlin, Fergal Flanagan, Jack Brady, Chris Conroy and Conor Gilseanan are all eligble for U21 in 2013. It bodes well for next couple of u21 teams. Cavan seniors should reap the benifts in a few years,. There is a conveyor belt of talent coming through.

[Westside]

The most important thing about our U21 setup is the aura surrounding it. Players want to be involved in it, they want to give it everything, they want to be a part of that family as Barry Reilly called it. That is driven on by strong characters like Gearoid, O'Meara, Barry, Conor Moynagh, Mickey Brady. The continued success of the U21s will be dependent on keeping up that tradition and the fierce determination and work ethic that comes with it.

[boojangles]

The future is bright, the future is Blue.
Brilliant battling display that made every Cavan man, woman and child proud last night. Terry Hyland deserves all the plaudits as he has brought through a bunch of players over the last 2-3 years who have finally restored some much needed pride to a county and people who had become accustomed to playing second fiddle in Ulster.
After the semi-final win the Derry Senior manager John Brennan spat out the sour grapes (on Youtube) and pointed to the 12 yellow cards we had conceded. I could only grin and laugh at the footage. The shoe was finally on the other foot in Ulster. For too long Cavan underage teams had come back after defeats in Ulster with tales of biased refereeing (too many to mention) last minute scores( Minor 2000, U-21 2004) and naive mistakes or indiscipline (U-21 2005) along with every other hard luck story.
Like alot of underage teams Cavan has produced over the past 15 or so years this team can play football and compete with the best but the big difference with this team is they have that certain cuteness needed to finish out games. Be it for the want of a better word, the cynical fouling in our own half forward line or the 'injuries' to kill a minute or to stop the oppositions momentum. For years we have seen the Tyrones, Downs and Derrys winning titles not with greater skill but with that know how that comes from winning tight games. Cavan teams have finally begun to learn from our losses in Ulster. Lets hope we can take those experiences and use them outside the province.
Cavan are once again becoming a name that is feared in Ulster while at the same time taking away the air of invincibility that had surrounded Tyrone and Derry for so long in this county. 3 Ulster titles in the space of a year was the stuff of dreams only a few years ago. But everybody should remember the barren days and make sure we don't return to them. Cavan expects again and it is going to take a redoubling of efforts at club and county level to keep us where we belong because you can bet Tyrone and the rest of Ulster are already thinking of ways to stop us next year.

[rodney trotter]

Cavan will have to look elsewhere for a new manager if Andrews does step down as Terry Hyland confirmed he wouldn't be taking it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/northern-ireland/17688717

[scoopmine]

Heard Anthony Forde will take over till the season is over.

[cavanmaniac]

Me heart used to be broke arguing with supporters from others counties - and indeed a few from our own - who'd always be banging on about 'Cavan not having the players' and nothing coming through at underage. Finally, finally the talent that has always been there is now starting to manifest itself in the results instead of moral victories and last-gasp defeats.
Well done to all concerned. I recall watching Hyland's U21s lose to Donegal in their Ulster final back in 2010 and such was the tactical naivety that evening I left convinced that Hyland didn't really have the nouse for this level.

All's I can say is that humble pie tastes all right, you know.