Official Cavan GAA Thread

[boojangles]

Not appearing in an Ulster Minor final for 23 years is crazy.. We've failed to win 2 (or 3 for the years we were in preliminary rounds) Minor Championship games back to back since '88..?!

It's great that even if they lose the Final they're still in the AIQF.. But they'll be hungry for silverware and with the Winners facing the Connacht runners up it's a much easier route to Croker.

Booj were you at the game? Was Cavan's defence as shaky as it sounded on the radio? It seemed that Tyrone were through on goal time after time especially in the first half..

Indeed I was. Yes the Full-Back line was fairly shaky in the first half. They chopped and changed it moving Dewart back and then bringing Shankey back in( his man was roaming) but in fairness Tyrone had 2 very classy inside forwards. No.13 in particular was very hard to handle.
Thank God in the second half Tyrone amazingly brought the Full forward out the field which definitely didn't work in their favour but credit to the lads they tightened up in the 2nd half after a bad start.

As mentioned already if somebody had offered me an U21 Ulster title and a Minor Final appearance at the start of the year Id' have bitten the hand of them. To beat Tyrone at both grades is massive but we really have to build on this.
Word on the street is Dermot Mc Cabe and Anthony Forde could be our next Senior management. I really hope both lads are given time in their own roles with the Minors and Under 21s before being thrown that poisoned chalice.
It's more important that we build a winning mentality at Underage in Cavan at the moment. We have a long way to go but progress is being made and I hope it continues.

[rodney trotter]

The Juniors are playing in the leinster final on wednesday.. They were unlucky last year so hopefully they will go one better on wednesday.. Think its in newbridge so it will be a hard task,. they have 1 or 2 quality players such as Mickey Conway who has been a regular with the seniors the last few years.. Niall Mckiernan will be a big loss as he is in america for the rest of the summer, they have a strong enough panel though with Enda King ,Keith Fannin, Barry Watters and the player manager jason..

[Westside]

Watching the TG4 GAA show for the Minor game and they showed the Munster Final and Leinster Semis but not the Ulster or Connacht?!

If these underage improvements aren't just an aberration and are indeed the fruits of good planning and effort then we should see sustained competitiveness over the next few years at Minor and U21.. McCabe and Forde would be a good partnership if they can continue and build on their current impact. Young and motivated and if they could bring the appropriate level of discipline they would suit perfectly... I would imagine they were given their positions as a grooming exercise with a long term view of letting them have the Seniors.
I'm starting to think Tom Reilly may be a fairly shrewd man.

[PhilsJemmysField]

It may be that Phil Smith was a shrewd man and along with a few other people but together a very strong regime around development squads. There is a little bit of a vibe that there is attempts to dismantle that under the current regime. Tom may just be a lucky general

[Swadman]

If these underage improvements aren't just an aberration and are indeed the fruits of good planning and effort then we should see sustained competitiveness over the next few years at Minor and U21.. McCabe and Forde would be a good partnership if they can continue and build on their current impact. Young and motivated and if they could bring the appropriate level of discipline they would suit perfectly... I would imagine they were given their positions as a grooming exercise with a long term view of letting them have the Seniors.
I'm starting to think Tom Reilly may be a fairly shrewd man.

You can sing that one. I have been more impressed with him than the previous incumbents. He is a football man, not a politician

I am also of the vintage that was in Croke Park in '69. All I remember of it is getting drownded in the canal end and the dye running down my face from a cheap cap. I was 9 and it was my 1st time there. Cavan lost the replay and lost their way for a long time after.

[Denn Forever]

There is a little bit of a vibe that there is attempts to dismantle that under the current regime.

Surely Not? 

One swallow doesn't make a summer I know but we have to wait for next year to see if the improvement continues.  Whan did the development squads start?

[boojangles]

There is a little bit of a vibe that there is attempts to dismantle that under the current regime.

Surely Not? 

One swallow doesn't make a summer I know but we have to wait for next year to see if the improvement continues.  Whan did the development squads start?

Well as long as I can remember there has always been an U-16 team but I have a feeling that Ronan Flanagan, Cian Mackey and that age group may have been the first to benefit from the Development Squad, around 2002/2003. I think they introduced an U-15 first with these lads and then brought in an U-14 squad. I may be wrong but I'm nearly certain it was either that year or Ray Cullivans year they were introduced. Phil Smith would have been Minor Board Chairman at the time and George Cartwright the Chairman.
The Full-time coaches in the county at the moment are making great strides. Peter Donnelly in particular is one of the best and most sought after coaches in the country while Shaun Doherty and Andy Mc Govern are also making excellent progress within the schools. Andy Mc Govern was over the Dalton winning team last year and the Corn na Nog finalists this year.
For years St Pats was crying out for a set-up like is there now and the work being done is paying dividend.
In my time in St Pats which is only around 10 years ago, football was a joke in the school. JJ and Paddy Reilly and Ray Cullivan did their best but obviously needed more support if only the County Board had recognised it. St Pats regularly supplied at least half the players on the Cavan Minor panel. ONE set of jerseys did all teams. No equipment, no organisation and some players who went on to represent Cavan at Senior level would refuse to play for the school.
Hopefully we have turned the corner in that regard and we can continue making strides at underage.

[rodney trotter]

Yeah that was the first year of the development squads at flanagans age group, i was invlolved with them squads at u15 and u16.. the coaching was decent from what i remember but i heard its at a higher standard now and that all the players on the squads are given there own individual program on strength conditioning to work on. Andy Mcgovern and Finbar Reilly are doing good work with the schools and the underage squads..

[boojangles]

Yeah that was the first year of the development squads at flanagans age group, i was invlolved with them squads at u15 and u16.. the coaching was decent from what i remember but i heard its at a higher standard now and that all the players on the squads are given there own individual program on strength conditioning to work on. Andy Mcgovern and Finbar Reilly are doing good work with the schools and the underage squads..

Sorry I forgot about Finbar.

Best of luck to the Cavan Juniors tomorrow evening. Kildare won't be easily bet in Newbridge but as the last few years have shown Cavan have as good a footballers at this level as any other county and I hope they can go at least one better than last year.

[BigMac]

Yeah there definitely was an Under 15 development panel that year with Flannagan and Mackey. I was knocking around it under 15 and 16 aswell. Infact Boo it was your brother who was playing a part in running that set up. The county was divided into 3 sections, mid, west, east I think and they would meet up during the week for weights and circuits and then at weekends there would be a collective meeting for football and running etc. It was your brother who took the mid cavan group.

[rodney trotter]

I remember we played tyrone in a challenge game in our first game as a development squad at u15 and got hammered they had been together for a year from u14s and it showed big time.. Yeah it was more regional squads, east west and mid cavan.. then the whole squad would train maybe once a month in st pats, it was a good experience at the time.

[Westside]

So it's being reported (Star Newspaper today) that Hyland has stepped Down as joint manager of the Senior side but will still Manage the U21s and continue on as a selector with the Senior side.

[put-it-up-again]

So it's being reported (Star Newspaper today) that Hyland has stepped Down as joint manager of the Senior side but will still Manage the U21s and continue on as a selector with the Senior side.

Anyone hear anything about this locally?

[Celt_Man]

So it's being reported (Star Newspaper today) that Hyland has stepped Down as joint manager of the Senior side but will still Manage the U21s and continue on as a selector with the Senior side.

Anyone hear anything about this locally?

Any word about this? Haven't heard a word

[mylestheslasher]

Maybe its a load of made up rubbish. I think if anyone should be leaving its Andrews. Hyland has a decent record as a manager, especially compared to Andrews.