Official Cavan GAA Thread

[Celt_Man]

Another tragedy for the Killinkere club with the news of the death of Tommy Clarke,brother of James. Not too sure about the cause of death but my condolonsces go out to all his family and friends. A very decent,honest and unassuming lad who represented Cavan at Minor level in 2002 and 2003.
May he rest in peace.

Indeed an absolute tragedy but my heart goes out to his family and all in Killinkere...

[mylestheslasher]

Terrible news. My thoughts are with his family. I used to work with his Uncle once upon a time and i know they were a big footballing family in Killinkere. What happened exactly?

[cavanmaniac]

I think he had a brain haemorrhage myles. Very tragic obviously. He was married as well I think, despite his young age, so there's a grieving wife as well as his own family if I've heard correct. RIP, never a good time for this but Christmas makes it all worse.

[boojangles]

Terrible news. My thoughts are with his family. I used to work with his Uncle once upon a time and i know they were a big footballing family in Killinkere. What happened exactly?

He fell in Virginia on Stephens nite,have heard different things but Sudden Adult Death syndrome was mentioned. He wasn't married as far as Im aware.
Very well known and respected GAA Family which was proven by the wide range of clubs from all over Cavan represented at the funeral today.

[An Laoch]

I've heard something about a challenge match with Westmeath on 2nd Jan. Anyone got the specifics?

[Denn Forever]

Happy New Year.

So what will we deem as a good year for Cavan Football?

Will promotion trump a good run in the Championship?

Someone to seriously challenge Cavan Gaels this year would be a good start.  Though I can't see who will.

Promotion back to Division One for Denn would also be good (for Denn not Cavan football).

[An Laoch]

Promotion is a very viable target in a division 3 where several sides are poor, missing key players or have their focus elsewhere.

Beating Fermanagh and getting a run through the qualifers is very attainable in the cship.

An informative county website would be an administrative achievement. Perhaps a second hand laptop could be bought to replace the Commodore 64 that is currently being used to run cavan.gaa.ie

[put-it-up]

Although I class myself as an optimist I think Cavan should just take every game as it comes this year. At the moment Division Three is our level, so lets just try clear one hurdle at a time and clock up a few wins and get a bit of belief running through the team itself.

Promotion is achievable but as we saw last year, relegation is not a million miles away either so it is about knuckling down and trying to become the best we can be. Winning Ulster is a dream but for the next few years I think we need to look for gradual improvement and trying to create a never-say-die attitude.

As for the u21's and the minors, there is always talent there. This year I hope the hunger, belief and drive that is required to become successful is shown.

[Celt_Man]

My hopes for this year (deep breath!!)

I want to see Seniors unearth 1 or 2 new players in the league and if this meant forgoing promotion I wouldn't be too upset - promotion and a title would be the ultimate best case scenario. 

In the Championship, I would love to see them do a Wicklow or Antrim - good run in the provincial champo - then take a few scalps in the Qualifiers... last 16 or 12 would be magic - basically a championship campaign that would create a good buzz about football in the county again

Under 21s: A decent run in the Ulster campaign i.e. gettin to a final and then on the day who knows.  But hard to know what they will be like this early

Minors:  Pretty much the same as the Under 21s, however a Ulster final appearance would mean a All Ireland Quarter final spot which would be unbelievable


As for the club front, I love to see a more competitive senior championship and if it ended up that the Gaels were still top of the pile then more power to them. 

Unfortunately I think there is a way of thinking about at the minute that regional teams and amalgamations are the answer to everything that is wrong with our championship.  I think there is an element of looking for a quick fix with them.  Having seen both West Cavan Gaels and Drumbride in action this year, it could honestly take 3 or 4 years for those type of sides (in general not these team specifically) to gel together properly and be an addition to the championship. 

On the other hand if senior clubs were to spend those 3 or 4 years (for example) and work intensively with a group of players let's say 18 - 20 year olds in their clubs, well I would love to see the results of half a dozen clubs doing that

From a personal point of view, I would love to see Cootehill go one step further in the championship (oddly enough) and if we could improve on our league campaign and be in the shake up for promotion - that would be swell too!!

A bit of Underage success wouldn't go amiss either, I have never investigated it but we must have one of the worst records going.

Here's to a good 2010!!

[Denn Forever]

So what will constitute a good result on Sunday? 

As you can see I'm not too confident of a win and hopefully the players will not/not have to,display any of the skills they honed during the winter.

[Celt_Man]

So what will constitute a good result on Sunday? 

As you can see I'm not too confident of a win and hopefully the players will not/not have to,display any of the skills they honed during the winter.

Don't forget Denn Forever the game is on Saturday, it would be a long trip to Omagh on sunday to find yourself 18 hours late for the game!!

I can't see it going ahead to be honest with this all bloody ice and snow

[mylestheslasher]

Being bet by less than 6 points would be a decent result with the panel we have for the McKenna cup. To be honest I'd say it will be cancelled if not for the pitch then for the safety of people travelling.

[Lawrence of Knockbride]

As long as they give us a bit of notice and not have me in Derrylin before I find out.

[BallyhaiseMan]

Happy New Year.

So what will we deem as a good year for Cavan Football?

Will promotion trump a good run in the Championship?

Someone to seriously challenge Cavan Gaels this year would be a good start.  Though I can't see who will.

Promotion back to Division One for Denn would also be good (for Denn not Cavan football).

Promotion to Division Two and win two games in championship football.
Division Three is of a poor standard,as it was last year.
Antrim who will be missing most of the St Galls contingent would look to be the best of the pack.
Anything less than the above is not good enough.

Minors with Mickey Graham in third year have to show improvement.
Under 21's now with a seperate manager also need to show improvement.
Clubwise
Promotion to Division One and an Intermediate Title would be nice for Ballyhaise.
The Latter will seriously tough going,with the likes of Cootehill,Drumalee,the ever improving shamrocks and now Ballinagh back down in Intermediate.
As for Challengers to Cavan Gaels.
Killygarry , Belturbet and Castlerahan for me will be their main challengers.
I think Denn may suffer in the championship this year from playing Div 2 league football which could leave them off the pace when playing against higher level opposition on hard ground come the summer.

[handballer09]

From www.anglocelt.ie

These are changed times for Cavan football, with a new chairman in place and, for the first time in 16 seasons, no L Reilly, A Forde, D McCabe or J O'Reilly on the squad list.
Manager Tom Carr and his experimental squad begin their season this Saturday with a tricky-looking away trip to Healy Park to face Tyrone (throw in, 7pm), with the county's notoriously-demanding supporters expecting, rightly or not, an improvement this year.
Attacker Sean Johnston, Cavan Player of the Year in 2008, pulled no punches this week, stating plainly that, with the '97 connection now broken, it's time for a new generation of Breffni footballers to make a name for themselves.
"Massive credit has to go to those boys, they have been around since 1995, it's a very long time," said Johnston.
"They have always performed very well for Cavan and they owe Cavan football nothing at all. It's up to the new breed of footballers coming through now.
"Those lads won something and they will be remembered for that so I suppose it's time for the new breed of Cavan footballers to make a name for themselves and try to get a bit of success and emulate what the 97 players did."
With the annus horibilis that was 2009, at all footballing levels, behind them, Johnston believes that Cavan can now look to build a squad with the required blend. Carr seems to think likewise, having called in 40 players for the McKenna Cup after an extensive trawl of the county in the hope that some new talent will emerge.
"There is still a lot of experience, boys who have been around for five or six years and know the story with inter-county football and the level of work they they have to put in, so I suppose it's important that that bunch of people come together and try to bring on the younger members of the panel," said Johnston, who turns 26 next August.
"You need a mixture of youth and experience and I suppose we're lucky that we have people at the right age and a couple of very good younger players coming on who can hopefully step up to the mark.
"It's important for the players around 24 or 25 to push on the youngsters because we need to realise you don't get that many years with the opportunities that we have at present so it's important that everyone is working towards the one goal."
While he is unavailable for Cavan at present due to O'Byrne Cup commitments with DCU, Johnston will be back for the opening round of the league next month away to Roscommon provided his ongoing ankle injury responds to treatment.
The sight of the Gaels man, who started superbly, marooned in the full-forward line as Cavan huffed and puffed out the field in Clones against Antrim last July is an enduring image of a frustrating season gone by. He uses the same word to describe the experience and, interestingly given that he wore number 11 for his club last summer, hints that he hopes to line out further out the field this season.
"I'd like to move out there, that would be my favourite position but it's not down to me," he said.
"Sometimes when you're playing inside it can be pretty frustrating - and a lot of that is down to myself as well - because when you're not getting the ball or you're getting double-marked or treble-marked it can be frustrating. Playing at centre half-forward gives you that bit of freedom and means that you can make things happen for other players as well so hopefully I'll get a chance out there at some stage.
"Games like the Antrim game last year when you're struggling around the middle of the field and you're not picking up breaks... It can be frustrating for the corner-forward. It happens with every county, it's something we'll have to look at and try to address in the coming year."
A message to supporters?
"The thing about players is that most of them are doing their damnedest to try and succeed. You don't want to be involved in something if you're not going to give it your all or see yourself getting success.
"It's a new year now and I presume everyone in there is there for the long haul. We're going to give it our best shot. It's just about being patient for supporters. Cavan supporters have been very, very good to players through lean times and the players haven't really paid them back properly.
"The time for talking is over and it's back to the grindstone of hard work."
A new year then, with new faces and, maybe, new hope.