Official Cavan GAA Thread

[cavanmaniac]

Yeah didn't see sight nor light of him in '97 at all, I guess McHugh felt burned after risking him in '96 for no return. One of the last genuinely big number 14s we had, Finbar Crowe came soon after/around the same time and nothing really since except Tierney.

That Neil Donnellan playing fullback for B'boro must be some relation of the aforementioned John? A decent little corner back in his day if I recall right...would've done better than Kermath for sure although in fairness, he wasn't shown up all year until Croker I thought.

Pointless talking about it now anyway.

[PoloGrounds]

Adrian Lambe? Last seen nicking a last-minute place at no.14 on the Cavan team that lost to Down in the Ulster semi in 1996, only to bomb spectacularly and never be seen again. He must be a big age for football now surely? Evidently still a handful though.

Is Podge going to throw his lot in with Cavan seniors next year do you think?

Lads,

Cavan V Derry Championship 2000

2-13 to 1-05 defeat in Casement

DERRY - M Conlon; K McKeever, SM Lockhart, D O'Neill; G Coleman, H Downey, P McFlynn; A Tohill, D Heaney; B Murphy, D Dougan, R Rocks; P Bradley, E Muldoon, J McBride. Subs: G McGonigle for B Murray; J Cassidy for P Bradley; S Downey for J McBride; C Gilligan for J Cassidy.

CAVAN - B McCormack; G Sheridan, T Farrelly, C McCarey; R Rogers, A Forde, C Collins; D McCabe, P Smith; L Reilly, A Lambe, P Reilly; J Reilly, F Cahill, M Graham. Subs: P Shiels for T Farrelly; B Lynch for C McCarey; B Morris for P Shiels; P Galligan for A Lambe; P Murphy for J Reilly.

[cavanmaniac]

 

And me there and all, although I thought Derry gave us the two skinnings in Breffni and not Casement, thought we drew with them up there.

That had completely gone from my memory.

Conor McCarey, Raphael Rogers

And Terry Farrelly at fullback, worst experiment ever in Cavan football and probably ended his intercounty career. he had really looked the part at midfield with the U21s in '96 but never quite imapcted much at senior. Still playing too I believe.

[BallyhaiseMan]

how Barry Lynch wasnt on that team that year after some great league performances i dont know.

Jaysus that was one weak team alright.

i remember Anthony Tohill kicked a point from a free from almost 60 metres that day and gave a masterclass of a display.

[Homer]

And me there and all, although I thought Derry gave us the two skinnings in Breffni and not Casement, thought we drew with them up there.

I think it was 99' that we drew with them in Casement, we had the match won but for a late point by one Joe Brolly they then proceeded to thump us in Breffni in the replay. Derry repeated this slaughter back in Casement in 2000 as shown in AngloCelt39 post. Could be wrong.

[shotstopper1]

And me there and all, although I thought Derry gave us the two skinnings in Breffni and not Casement, thought we drew with them up there.

I think your right ther manic Derry gave us a hammering two years in a row then 99 & 2000, I also think they beat us in the qualifiers in 2001 in Clones when Tohill ran through our defence with boys hanging out of him to sore a goal.

I think it was 99' that we drew with them in Casement, we had the match won but for a late point by one Joe Brolly they then proceeded to thump us in Breffni in the replay.

Actually Derry were up by 7 or 8 points with only about 5/10 mins left, McCabe was then moved to FF where he proceeded to destroy the Derry backline . I think he scored one goal and won a penalty which Peter Reilly?? despatched , at that stage most of the Cavan people were well on their way home.Although your right that Brolly drew it in the end.

[Hollow Man]

My memory of that match in Casement is a little different.

Cavan were outplayed and we threw McCabe and and he won a penalty when we were six or seven down, sort of sympathy vote by the ref. Next thing a high ball comes in and McCabe fists it to the net, and the ref realised he had made a f**k up and played about 7 minutes of injury time to allow Brolly to hook over the equaliser off that trusty left.

Is this right or am I talking shite?

[shotstopper1]

Come to think of it it was Carolan who scored the penalty after Larry was fouled, was a definite sympathy vote by the ref.Brolly only came on as a sub in injury time (suffering from scarlet fever at the time) Derry won a 45 which Brolly played a one two with someone else and scored the equalising point.Cavan at the time believed that the ref had indicated that Brolly's 45 was to be the last kick of the game however it wasn't to be.All history now.

[CavanCola]

Found this archive on that match..... clears up a few things on the 1999 match.

Cavan out to prove draw was no fluke
by Mark Gallagher
BY the time Dermot McCabe raced into the square to meet Raymond Cunningham's cross last Sunday, that famous Derry spirit was destroyed.
As his fist rose to direct the ball into the net, it appeared an incredible, if controversial, championship comeback had been completed. The muscular Cavan captain using his shock of red curls as target in full-forward appeared to have ended the reign of Derry in Ulster.
"In the heat of battle, you have no real indication of time," the bulky targetman said. "We knew when Ronan had scored the penalty, it was coming very close to full time. I knew it was close, but couldn't tell how close. And there was still only a point in it at that stage, so were really thinking of victory. We only realised time was up when we were told Tohill's free was the last kick of the game, which of course it wasn't. But there you go, a draw was probably a fair result in the end."
Cavan turned the match on its head in the last five minutes. Using the bizarre penalty decision to their advantage, they found the net twice in 90 seconds, something they never looked like doing throughout the match.
"I'd disagree with that. There was a spell in the first ten minutes of the second half where scores came from all over the park. We got five or six points in a row and we were really on fire. We were finding it difficult to threaten their goal, but once the penalty went it, it panicked them a little bit and luckily, I was able to take advantage of that."
McCabe shares his manager's belief that his team were extremely fortunate last Sunday. With Joe Brolly telling anyone who will listen that Cavan's continued presence in the championship is an Ulster council conspiracy, McCabe believes there is a deeper reason.
"We were lucky, very lucky. We got out of jail three times. But, we never gave up either, even when Derry were pulling further and further away. We always came back and we deserved a draw and a chance to fight another day. And, we almost won it in the end."
Not only has the venue changed for the replay, So too has the official. After the farcical final five minutes on Sunday, Mick McGrath has been set aside, Paddy Russell coming into his place. Sigh of relief heard from Derry, but what do Cavan make of the decision?
"I haven't heard anything about it," McCabe answers. "But, it really shouldn't affect the game one way or other. I suppose the Derry players have been complaining about some of the decisions, particularly the penalty decision. In that sort of atmosphere, there would be an awful lot of pressure for the same referee again. Personally, I don't care who referees the game on Sunday, it will have little effect on us."
In Derry, they are looking ahead to Sunday with just a little dread. Brolly is still unfit, Ronan Rocks is suspended and a hurling game is entrapping some squad members on Saturday. Cavan, meanwhile, suffer no injury doubts and are primed for the replay, having almost snatched victory in Belfast.
"We would like to think that maybe their spirits are broken a small bit from Sunday, but it is another game, back to square one and when you go into any championship game, you still have to have that will to win," McCabe said.
"And I'm sure Derry will have it as much as us on Sunday. What happened in Casement is history now. We can't allow the fact Derry might have some problems because of the sending-off and the hurling game to come into our minds for this game. We have to just concentrate on our preparations."
For the captain himself, it has been another week to dispel any lingering fitness doubts. McCabe sustained an injury ten weeks ago in a club game. Although the injury did not rule him out of the team, he was shuffled between midfield and full-forward until his sharpness returned.
"There are still slight problems from the injury and I had been playing midfield a bit because of that. It is wherever Val decides to play me. I was originally selected for midfield, but he decided to move me forward before the game last Sunday. I don't really care where I play, as long as I am playing."
This Sunday, McCabe's loping gait and curly red mop will lead Cavan around Breffni Park for the first time in the cauldron of championship football. An honour which he himself ensured with a precise punched goal in Casement Park. The chance of playing championship football in Breffni is a rare experience for this young Cavan side. McCabe hopes this will benefit the team on Sunday.
"Overall, I think this team has only played one championship game at Breffni Park, and it will a great experience for some of the younger lads. But in the championship, I don't know how much of an advantage a home venue is. Derry will be coming down determined to put last Sunday behind them, and playing at Breffni will fire them up as much as us."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[cavanmaniac]

It truly was high farce at Casement Park. The peno was definitely soft as shite and duly despatched, but barely raised a cheer as time was up. Then with the next attack McCabe fisted to the net, cue bedlam.

The ref then spent the next 7/8 minutes desperately hoping Derry would equalise and Brolly duly obliged clipping over from the endline at the entrance gate end of the ground. I recall us having a free on the '45m line very deep in injury time (getting near the time when even the brass-necked ref surely felt he was pushing it by adding on any more time) and instead of playing it short and tossing the ball about to run down the clock, Peter Reilly thumped it into the square and Derry manufactured their equaliser from the resulting attack I think. (I've never forgiven Peter Reilly for this or for the massive wide he skied to the right below in Thurles in the 1996 All-Ireland U21 final. Ran the length of the field, saw the headlines, and kicked it away. Sure he made up for it later on I suppose.)

Those hammerings by Derry were the beginning of the end of any hopes we had of building on 1997. We could put 1998 down to dissatisfaction with Liam Austin and what have you but 1999 and 2000 killed us altogether.

I recall Enda Muldoon absolutely gutting and filleting us at Breffni in 2000, totally murdered Cathal Collins at fullback. That was the same day our inspired minor management brought on a lame John Tierney near the end when we were leading by three or four, demanded that every kickout go to him and didn't stop demanding until Tierney had failed to win a single one of them and Derry gubbed us with a late goal. And bad as he might be now, Nick Walsh was catching at least 2/3 of the ball coming near him that day but of course the management knew better.

Ah well. 'Tis history now. No more reminiscing, it's making me pine for the bad old days ha ha...

[PoloGrounds]

Came across this article when checking up Lambes inter-county stats...

Now we get to read this journalist every week in the Cavan Life!

Saturday May 15 1999
Cavan's former goalkeeper PAUL O'DOWD quit the county team because he thought it wasn't worth the hassle. Here he reflects on his decision, and outlines why he feels it has improved the quality of his life.

Cavan's former goalkeeper PAUL O'DOWD quit the county team because he thought it wasn't worth the hassle. Here he reflects on his decision, and outlines why he feels it has improved the quality of his life.
MONDAY 5.30: I log off my PC and leave work. Just months ago I would have hurried into town to catch a lift to Cavan for training. Not today though, as an ex-inter-county footballer I'll instead take the leisurely walk back to my house in Ranelagh.

At 6 o'clock, as I'm putting on the spuds for dinner, it occurs to me that I could now be in a minibus caught in a tailback outside Dunshaughlin.

I was seven years on the Cavan panel. From when I started at UCD I travelled to Cavan twice during the week for training, returning at the weekend either for a game or training.

My brother Thomas has started college at St Pat's, Drumcondra and earns spending money by working part-time at weekends. At college I was always broke and lost out socially because I couldn't get a part-time job due to time spent playing for college, club and county.

It would have been nice to get a fiver an hour for the 40 hours a week I spent travelling, training and playing football.

AS the spuds boil I read the paper. I get a good laugh from articles where some bloke protests his undying love for the county jersey and scorns professionalism. I wonder how is his pub/shop doing or how many sales he might make on the road the next day.

Some people gain benefit in kind from the GAA, most don't. When any team has a measure of success star players can trawl the medal-presenting circuit and make a handy few pounds, the other 27 panel members have to be content with the odd pat on the back and a pint in return for a year full of bullshit.

Eat spuds. Watch Simpsons, think smugly that if on that bus between Cavan and Virginia now I'd be complaining, saying ``I've had enough of this crap''.

When I joined the Cavan panel in 1992 I became conditioned to going from Dublin to Cavan for training, never being able to plan a weekend away, always feeling like a convict if I had a pint on the Saturday night before a game (every Saturday is the night before a game).

At 8 o'clock I go for a jog around UCD. They start training at Breffni Park now. At the start of the '98/99 league campaign I was injured and took a break from training. It was great to be relaxing at home instead of travelling to Cavan to run around a windswept Killygarry on dirty winter nights.

I didn't go to any of the Cavan matches because as a rule I don't watch games. In November I went to Detroit as part of the training programme for my job with EDS. Out there, far away from football, I wondered would I bother playing on my return.

Why train as a professional, play in front of 30,000 paying people at Clones and get nothing for it? League of Ireland players are paid yet have much smaller crowds.

Run finished. Shower and make cuppa. Phone rings. It's Charlie Clarke a clubmate of mine from Bailieboro.

Charlie was on the Cavan Ulster championship winning panel in 1997 but dropped off soon after because, as a farmer, he cannot afford to give the time to football.

I tell Charlie about a conversation I had with Aidan Connolly, one of the best footballers in Cavan, if not Ulster. Aidan politely declined the offer to train with Cavan for 12 nights over Easter. Aidan works in Dublin travelling from Bailieboro daily. We both agree he was right.

Talk turns to the club championship. We wonder will Adrian Lambe be back for the first round. Adrian played with Aidan, Charlie and I from under 12 right the way up to county senior level.

Like Charlie, Adrian left after '97 because of lost overtime at work. After quitting Cavan he could work overtime along with taking up other hobbies. He then decided to go to Australia for a while. Why not, we say. Couldn't do that if he was with Cavan.

Charlie asks will I ever go back. I laugh. What would I have to gain out of it. It has no bearing on my job. If I'm over in Luton requesting sign-off on a computer programme, the customer is unlikely to sign just because I'm a county footballer. I say I'd play if paid.

MANAGERS are paid five-figure sums, players shouldn't have to play for nothing and then have to beg for paltry expenses. Charlie comments that a lot of players are retiring lately because of work and personal commitments, Kieran McDonald and Martin McNamara come to mind.

Call ends. Call around to my friend's house in Rathmines. He has just watched Pat Comer's excellent documentary about Galway's passage to success in the All-Ireland final.

He's amazed at the training put in and the sacrifices made, more amazed when I tell him that 31 other teams probably put in the same training and got no All-Ireland for it. I'm sure that any county footballer who watched Pat's video saw nothing out of the ordinary.

My friend reckons he'd want to lose a good bit of weight and become a lot fitter to do that training. I tell him to be a 'keeper.

At 11 o'clock I'm driving back through Ranelagh. I could be on the bus doing well to be at Kells at this stage of the return journey. Watch telly.

By 12 o'clock I'm in bed. I had a good, relaxing evening. The bus won't hit Dublin until after midnight and by the time the lads get taxis and lifts it will be 12.30 before they make bed. I could handle that while at college because I could skip a lecture and lie on, not any more work comes first.

[anglocelt39]

Old yet entertaining piece of writing by the Podman all right. The idea of Butt Connolly "politely declining" ANYTHING, is an image I'm trying hard to deal with.

[Homer]

Just read this on the Cavan Hoganstand Message Board.


Michael Lyng

Rumour has it that micky lyng is returning to crosserlough next year, apparently he has been seen at quite a few of the loughs matches this year.
in the know , Ireland , 02/08/2007 at 14:54

What jibberish are you talking - do you realise that he has a brother on the Crosserlough panel and this may be the reason he goes to their matches.
Another thing - can you please answer why a lad of his natural ability would leave Cavan Gaels (where his place is not in danger) to join a team that as far as I am concerned are playing to go as far as they can because they have no chance of winning the championship anytime soon - especially judging the match I watched at the weekend - not even 1st cousins of footballers (sounds familiar but sadly very true).

Tired of nonsense , Cavan , 02/08/2007 at 18:32
_____________________________________________________________________


Pretty much sums up the quality of discussion on that site. 

[anglocelt39]

Don't think we should get too precious about the refined, urbane, informed etc. level of discourse on this site relative to Hogan Stand. Excluding this thread of course, this board has it's share of fools also, look at the moderator notices. Cavan page on Hogan Stand does seem to have a few text speak illiterates thrown in along with a few really good, informed and entertaining contributors-Ishmael, Righteous Melody etc.

[Homer]

Agreed AngloCelt, there are a few good eggs on the Hogan Stand whose contributions would be more than welcome on this board, but the sad thing is we have no way of telling them without invoking an influx of idiots as well.  We can only hope the survival of the fittest bears out and they eventually find there way over here.