Official Cavan GAA Thread

[mylestheslasher]

You're right in your analysis though, we should have enough to be competitive against Fermanagh/Down and who knows. A win in that, a good performance in the next round, a win in the qualifiers would be a START of what will need to be a three year plan. Would like to see Under 21's getting a bit of attention as well.

Tommy has winter to find a midfield partnership, apart from Catherina McKiernan, was there any tall/rangy sportsperson from inside the County that DK did not try out in that position during his two year tenure?

In my opinion he tried no one out. He threw lads in for 20 minutes and then took them off again. We need to give these new lads a chance to find their feet. Not punish them for struggling to make the jump to intercounty football. The draw is as kind as it could be to us but everyone on our side of the draw is thinking the same. it is a pity last years minors didn't get this draw or we could be in an Ulster final. Hopefully we'll see a good crop come through this year too.

[cavanmaniac]

Ah...the mythical Cavan midfielder. Some say he does not exist, but...

I don't see much club football now to be honest but anything like a decent midfielder in Cavan would be heard about two mins after catching one high ball in a Junior match as far away as a small cave high in the Andes, so not having seen any smoke signals for a while I can only assume the situation is bleak. These smoke signals were last seen for the likes of Charlie Clarke from Baileboro, Jimmy Magee's favourite Cavan midfielder never to make it. Loved a bit of Charlie, did our Jimmy. Not that way though, obviously, although it would make for an entertaining edition of Sunday Sport all the same. Charlie had prospects now, and many touters for sure, but alas, had infinitely more cows that needed milking and was never heard of after his initial blossoming. Quickly followed, of course, by Fergus Reilly of Killinkere who looked promising too and spiky to boot, which he was fond of, before disappearing for unexplained reasons. He was replaced by an imported Corkman from Duhallow who was minding the gym at the Slieve Russell and was at a loose end, his name eludes me but I'll live on the edge and hazard a guess by saying he was Something Murphy. He lined out in a first round Ulster defeat under Val Andrews and looked good but went back to Cork for reasons unsought, before turning up for the first round of championship the year after, when he looked bad. That was the end of him.

I'm not going to say anything about Jamie Coffey. The grief, it seems, is still too near.

Pearse McKenna, now, was something of an enigma, first trialled under the fateful stewardship of Liam "I'd bought them all beanie hats, you know" Austin. Dermot McCabe, post 9-7, was in his full pomp and ceremony back then however. And so, pompously and without ceremony, Dermo edged Pearse away from the scene by simply showing the poor man no love at all, despite the latter's blood sacrifice in Tullamore after getting his teeth knocked out by an Offaly man, who, in fairness, have always done a fair line in amateur dentistry. All allegedly. Pearse would make a return in later years under Eamon Coleman and made a fine contribution only truly recognised by us, the great and the good, now that we have absolutely nobody to make any contribution whatever, fine or otherwise. In truth though, who can forget the mere breeze of his hammerhand knuckles crippling and felling Francie 'The Oaken Heart' Bellew at Clones? Sure with superpowers like that, imagine what he'd have done to Darragh O'Se? Cracked off a fart and turned the poor divil inside out, I'll wager.

Barry McCrudden was briefly a star as we went on a coruscating run to the 2001 Ulster final under the laconic Dub Andrews, and even sustained a subcutaneous haemotoma in the run up to the big game which would have had us all talking but sure we could barely pronounce it never mind spell it. Barry shuffled off soon after and was never heard of again despite turning in a few decent displays. Ah, it's truly the truth, that the good go first.

Thankfully, next unto the breach of our dizzy hopes and dreams stepped returning Aussie starlet Nicholas Walsh, who has had his moments in fairness - most of them on the physio table or, ahem, chewing the fat with Sean Cavanagh, but we do love him for THAT hang in the air jump that makes us all blink twice and wonder what was in the previous night's beer, hallucinogenic frogs? If only because the pints were in the Imperial though. Nicholas, all the same, is now the flawed anti-hero in possession it would seem, with Dermot ensconced on the edge of the square, caged, angry and railing at the Gods because Martin Cahill won't kick it next nor near him.

A staggering cast of hopefuls have trooped through the parade ring in recent times but all suffered the indignity of not even acquiring the status of potential-but-doomed-to-failure-great-white-hope before exiting stage left to embarrassing chuckles up sleeves. Maguire from Lavey, Donal Thomas, Michael McDonald (twice in the one day, surely a record), Declan Gaffney and Dermot Sheridan have all taken a turn in the pumphouse, but all have leaked water and in the battle to sink or swim, were all but drowned.

At least Paddy Brady had the sense to get injured, but heaven help us that he did, for now we all look to Lorcan Mulvey to step up to the plate. And I think Lorcan won't disappoint in that regard.

[anglocelt39]

Epic Maniac Epic. Slow news day? Bewildering list of names there and you ain't even scratched the surface of the last two years I reckon-Cunningham, Jonny Crowe, Mckeever, didn't the lad from Mullagh get a gallop at some stage I'm getting dizzy now.

Back to the late 70's and we very much went for the bigger is better approach-Ollie Leddy and Ciaran O Keefe are two names that spring to mind. Ciaran was cursed from an early stage when Micheal O Muir@$@$@ dubbed him the next Mick O Connell after St Pat's won the hogan cup in Croker. Work took him to England where, unfortunately, the lad seemed to winter quite well before being flown home for first round of the championship. Fielding was never a problem, getting around the pitch tended to be a different matter. Different times.

On a serious note for a moment Mckenna became a good midfielder but it took serious time for him to develop into that which in turn get's back to Myles' point regarding the way players were brought in and discarded over the last two years, not the way to build up a lad's confidence I agree.

[anglocelt39]

You missed out on Cathal Collins for god's sake

[cavanmaniac]

You missed out on Cathal Collins for god's sake

Ah Jesus, and he the subject of my favourite story after an seasoned observer saw him in his first intercounty game and remarked:

"They shot the wrong Collins."

Damn and blast. Ach sure it wasn't bad working from memory, funny how you remember the older/obscure ones and not the current generation.

And yes, it's a slow Friday!

[BallyhaiseMan]

To be fair i also remeber Collins doing a good job at corner back on Mark Stanfield of Louth  and Stephen Maguire of Fermanagh under Mattie Kerrigans reign,While he was never a county midfielder,He wasnt a donkey by any means.

Ahh the Cavan County Midfielder,Great discussion lads
Pre 1997 we had the enigma that was Charlie Clarke, Often magnificant for Baileborough(seen him destroy McCabe in many a game)yet with the exception of his debut against Cork in 96 never made it,oh well

where do we start After the glorious year of 1997
From 98

a very promising but light Pierce McKenna shows up under Liam Austin,Then disappears only to show up a few years later(2002 i believe),after adding about a stone in Solid Mass and became a Very Serviceable Inter County Midfielder

From 99 -00 we had
Fergus Reily of Killinkere,dont think Bold Fergus is even playing Club anymore.

Paul Murphy the corkman,Where in gods name did he come out of.

Jamie Coffey,Still playing great stuff in London to this day  

2001
Big Baz McCrudden,
Oustanding League and Championship in 2001, Outstanding Ulster Final, Had a nightmare in the qualifier against Derry though, and was never the same for the county after that.

2002 under Mattie Kerrigan saw the re-emergence of Pierce McKenna alongside Cathal Collins in a new look midfield,Didnt half look bad in the league destroying the Rossies vaunted Seamie O Neil and co,

Flopped against Tyrone,Donegal and Limerick though.

2003
seen
Sean Maguire alongside Dermot McCabe against Antrim
with Paddy Brady as a third midfielder

Sean caught the first ball of the game,then was replaced at half time
Paddy Brady was also replaced.

Pierce McKenna and Paddy Brady made up the midfield duo against Louth, and done quite well

what happened against Fermanagh, only God knows.

2004
under wee Eamon
cant remember what midfield started against Down,Could have been Collins and McKenna

we ended up though with Shane Cole and Trevor Crowe manning centre-field against Derry when we decided not to play Extra time.

2005
Seen the emergence of Nicholas Walsh into the scene, Will we ever forget his welcome that he extended to Sean Kavanagh.

McCabe and McKenna manned centrefield in the qualifier wins over Meath and Donegal,

Midfield was absent against Mayo in the "game of the century"

2006

i dont think we even want to think about 2006.

2007
Paul Grimley,Donal Keoghan,Julie Davis and co

Lorcan Mulvey,Donal Thomas welcome to the fore,

they did look good against Derry in the McKenna cup though.

2008
Michael McDonald,John Cunningham,Declan Gaffney,Lorcan Mulvey,Eugene Keating,Raymond Galligan

no more needs to be said.

The career expectancy of a Cavan Midfielder  
(Apologies for the other 10 lads i probably left out)  

[Lawrence of Knockbride]

One that wasn't mentioned and is still a possibility is Galligan of Drung. Will be interesting to see him when the relatively small chips are down on Sunday. A fair size of a man with injuries behind him (hopefully) he could be worth at least a trial. Did Tierney ever have a go i lar na pairce? And let's not forget Enda "c'mon the f**k lads, c'mon the f**k, lads, pick it up. c'mon lads" King. And yes Mr. Keating (?) from Cuchullains has the unfortunate honour(!) of being the last of the list that DK tried when he lined out against Kildare.

[boojangles]

Ah Cavans Midfielders,nearly brings a tear to my eye.Paddy Brady the great hope,don't think he ever recovered from the injury he got Down Under representing Ireland Under 17s.John Tierney is another one who looked destined for Midfield greatness. No mention of Micky Brennan??? Played alot more than Donal Thomas or Cunningham around the middle.Him and Nicholas Walsh seemed to play well together.Playing midfield for Simonstown now.
I believe that the Ulster Council upheld Kilinkeres appeal at their monthly meeting last night.So its down to 3 now.I hear that these play-offs are fixed for the Bank Holiday weekend, Why the f**k that couldnt have been done a month ago I dont know.

[anglocelt39]

Larry of Canningstown, believe me young Enda didn't lick if off the Ground. Big Daddy was drafted into the Midfield in the 78 Ulster final against Down and his first act was to batter Liam Austin in the ribs with the closed fist about ten times, no attempt to connect with the round object at all. Would qualify as attempted assault and battery under the current rules. Austin kind of rubbed his ribs, lauged it off, Down kicked lumps out of us and the rest is history.

Big daddy's encounter with an umbrella weilding lady the day after a County final between Laragh and Bailieborough Shamrocks (1980ish) is the stuff of East Cavan legend to this day.

absolutely no personal criticism intended on my part anyway of any of the many potential midfielders named in the last few posts, it's just incredible when you look back at how many have been tried out, obscure Cavan midfielders is bound to be a Mastermind specialist topic sometime soon.

[Swadman]

Obscure list indeed. Swad hockeyed Mulahoran in the Junior Championship in  '98 (they were going for the double, having secured the Senior) Damien Prior was asked into the county setup and played 10 mins at the end of some qualifier game. Swad played 4 or 5 league games without him that year because, after all, he WAS on the County Panel.

Bo - Lets see what happens now after Killinkere were reprieved. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, can delay the first game which is fixed for Sat 25th. Dont know yet who gets to sit out the 1st one. Let me know how your minors do on Sat in the championship Semi final. I saw them v our lot and they have some good prospects, some lad called "cookie" or "cokey" looked to be one for the future for ye. I think he was the Captain.

[boojangles]

Bo - Lets see what happens now after Killinkere were reprieved. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, can delay the first game which is fixed for Sat 25th. Dont know yet who gets to sit out the 1st one. Let me know how your minors do on Sat in the championship Semi final. I saw them v our lot and they have some good prospects, some lad called "cookie" or "cokey" looked to be one for the future for ye. I think he was the Captain.

The Draw will be made for that Relegation play-off on Monday nite,It will b interesting to see will it b held up more.
Our Minor match was called off because of the pitch last night,Was fixed for Ballyhaise.They probly need it more today and in the morning I suppose.
Young Cokie the Captain,His name is Patrick Colton,great footballer and great attitude all we need for him now is to grow.Laragh Minors should be tough,We have a few weak links in the backline but we mite pull it off.Game fixed for next Saturday instead.

[BallyhaiseMan]

alright lads

2 hours until the biggest day in my club football career.

Want to thank all ye for your well wishes.

Also want to wish C4ever and Drung the best of luck,while i wont see the game,Il surely be in your corner.

if we lose il be back wednesday or Thursday sometime hungover to face the music.

If we win i should be back by next week in some state, if not Boojangles can call the gardai and report me missing

Hope ye all enjoy the games tommorow.

[boojangles]

Hope yas do it BH Man,You's are surely due it anyway.Redhills are favourites in the Bookies which pleased me,€50 on Ballyhaise at 5/4 great value in my eyes.
All Il say to ya BH Man is No Regrets-because you never know when you'l b back there again.

[PhilsJemmysField]

Killinkere won the appeal against the county board changing the rules of the Intermediate competition in September. From talking to our secretary it was no contest down with the Ulster Council. We all know this is a killer, but from our side as a club we have turned over too many times for the county board. Best of luck to all of you in the relegation. The way we are going we will end up back in it sometime soon anyway. No big triumph from Killinkere. Great to see that Fergus Iggy O'Reilly still getting a mention we could do with him back

[Hollow Man]

Congratulations to Drung, much the better team on the day. Ciaran Galligan and Barry Watters were excellent, Galligan has a serious engine and Watters drives at the opposition every time he gets the ball.

Watters is a hardy bit of stuff, he gets serious punishment on the field but that's the way he plays and he's well fit for it.

Mountnugent were disappointing, they didn't threaten apart from Givney and I thought they maybe could have moved David Sheridan on to Watters from the start. I honestly felt Mountnuegnt would have taken Drung but they had upped it a lot from the Shercok game and were totally deserving winners.

Also well done to Redhills, they were ten points the better side I thought but missed some absolute sitters. The Ballyhaise forward line, with the exception of Costello, were brutal against what was a dodgy enough Redhills defence.

Redhills ruled the midfield and that ensured a steady flow to Gumley, Wests, Packie Leddy etc who made hay, with most of their scores coming from play. Aprat from Cullivan and Costello, every Ballyhaise player lost their own battle I felt and they should have been beaten by more - they had basically a four point headstart given their amazing opening three minutes and they kicked a late consolation when the game was over, without those scores it would have been eight points which I thought would have been more like the margin between the teams on the day.

Hard luck BH Man and Boojangles - 5/4 doesn't look so tasty now!

Now for the big one...