USFC Round 1 : An Cabhan V An Dun

[mylestheslasher]

There corresponding game was a year ago this weekend, I almost died in a car crash afterwards, but out of something bad came something good, I found the GAABoard while recuperating at home  . A year is a long time in football, it is one year that many didnt think I would see. I made it, Down will make it eventually.
See you all in Breffni next week. 

Jesus, you must have been layed up for a good while to contribute 1300 posts to the board . Well have a safe journey down to Breffni this time.

[Fuzzman]

Any team news Lads?

Trying to finalise my Fantasy GAA team and need a few scoring Defenders? Brady?
Who will be in goals for both teams this year?

Who are yer free takers this year? Brewster or Rory Gallagher?
Is this guy Pierson as good as ye all say? Where's he play, CF?

What about Down?
Think ye'll go far this year. Will the winner beat Monaghan?

[mylestheslasher]

From a Cavan viewpoint I would say our best scoring options from defence would be Keith Fannin at wing back. He can also play corner back so there is a bit of doubt where he would play. He plays FF for his club. Paul brady would be good enough at scoring I suppose. The best would be Anthony Forde from wing back but he has been placed at FB in the abscence of our number one FB Darren Rabbitte. If he is moved out of there (as often happens as he is not suited for that position) then he would be a big scoring threat going forward as he is really a natural forward. Pierson can be devastaing if he is on form but to date he hasn't done it this year and indeed fell out of favour at the end of the league. Seanie Johnson is a good corner forward too and is good for 3/4 points in a game. Free taking with Cavan is a bit of a laugh. Gallagher will take them of the ground if he plays, but I personally don't think he deserves his place. Pierson and johnson take frees of the right. Cullivan of the left. Then there is big Dermot who sometimes decides hes going to take all the frees, sideline balls, penalties, kick outs . Then sometimes McKeever takes frees of the left too. Normally all these players have a go at a free or two every match so who knows which of them to pick.

I reckon the winner of this could take Monaghan and maybe even Derry. The loser will probably be deflated and go nowhere in the qualifiers. I think Down will win but I hope Cavan will.

[cavan4ever]

lyng and jason will try one or two if they play.  It's a bit comical .

[Orior]

There corresponding game was a year ago this weekend, I almost died in a car crash afterwards, but out of something bad came something good, I found the GAABoard while recuperating at home  . A year is a long time in football, it is one year that many didnt think I would see. I made it, Down will make it eventually.
See you all in Breffni next week. 

Thats awful. Has your life changed?

Up Down!

[cavanmaniac]

Cavan have to turn this into an absolute war of attrition around the middle and get in around the breaks with an industry and organisation they haven't shown all year.

Either side has the forwards to expose what are weak enough full back lines, especially in Cavan's case at any rate. When you think we scored 0-14 against Ros with a beaten midfield, and a good few wides as well, it shows we can score a bit if we get ball. Hence why we need to have some sort of new tactic for around the middle to get us an even share.

If we manage that we'll win by a point or two, if not we'll lose, simple as.

[illdecide]

Cavan will beat Down on Sunday no problem, i'm going for 1-14 to 0-10 win and lump on in the local bookies as well

[Orior]

If Down have managed to keep Benny Coulter out of the bookies, then they might just sneak it.

Cavan 2-10 Down 3-8

[thewobbler]

Cavanmaniac, I doubt either of these sides is capable of a war of attrition, and although this means neither will be in the shake-up for honours this season, it should make for an exciting, entertaining contest on Sunday.

On pure ability, I'd put Cavan ahead, principally because they have the more dangerous forward line. Benny Coulter will be the pick of the forwards on show, by some distance too, but Cavan have more potential match winners. When Cavan finally get six fully-fit, in-form forwards on the field together, they'll be too strong for just about anyone, let alone Down. This is far from all doom and gloom for Down though, as it seems to become a Cavan forward, you have to a) suffer alarming dips in form at regular intervals, b) suffer from a career threatening injury at least once every two years, or c) suffer from both a) and b). The 2007 edition look intent on maintaining this tradition.

As we know, both defences will do well to keep their opponents to less than 14 scores, so the game will most likely hinge on a combination of the breaking-ball tally and the wide count - although it could be argued with some conviction that these rules apply to every game of football.

Personally, I'm worried about big Dermot. If the fella has ever played poorly against a Down team, I haven't seen it. Like a bull, when he sees red, he goes mad. The fact that Down cannot pair him off with anyone of a similar physical presence will only play into his hands. Here's hoping he'll be in one of those moods, as mentioned above, when he's more concerned with hitting sideline balls inside his own half than plucking high balls out of the sky.

One other point re midfield. When we met last year in Casement, Dan Gordon entered that game in a rich vein of form from the National League. Cavan had a very deliberate ploy of checking Gordon as he went to make a run for a kick-out. It worked a treat, and allowed for the possession that was one of the main reasons the Breffni men were still in it towards the end. We didn't find a way around it last year, so let's hope we've learned a lesson. Like most Down folk, I reckon we'd stuggle at midfield against most top club sides if Gordon is contained.

But for all my downbeat notes above, I still reckon Down will put in a performance on Sunday that should take the honours, no doubt partly due to the aloof Down man in me. This isn't a vintage Down team, and all evidence so far suggests it is badly organised and full of players out of position. But it is quite a skilful team, and they all love the red and black. They'll be well up for it. And I reckon if they can shed any fears they have, and play with something approaching a 'gay abandon', they could produce a big performance.

I'll make sure I have quite few pints beforehand in any case, just to soften any potential blow.

[No1]

I'll make sure I have quite few pints beforehand in any case, just to soften any potential blow.

An excellent approach to take, I think I'll do the same.

Down by 4, Jackie Lynch to roast McCabe.  One of those predictions I half-heartedly believe!

[mylestheslasher]

I would think that McCabe will be FF with Nicholas Walsh and Lorcan Mulvey midfield. The other possibility is that we will play the 3 of them in the middle and leave a 2 man FF line. The semi final of the league showed us once and for all the Dermot doesn't have the legs to do the running around the middle, although with some help he may still be able to out field many. We'll see. I would say down by 3 pts, but I hope to God I am wrong cos I'd love to have a crack at the mushroom men!!

[An Cloch Scoilte]

Any word on the Down minor team??

See the Cavan Minors in the IN today. They should be strong, backboned by the Virginia Markey Cup winning side!!

[Uladh]

There corresponding game was a year ago this weekend, I almost died in a car crash afterwards, but out of something bad came something good, I found the GAABoard while recuperating at home  . A year is a long time in football, it is one year that many didnt think I would see. I made it, Down will make it eventually.
See you all in Breffni next week. 

Thats awful. Has your life changed?

Up Down!

Life didnt really change, a lot of broken bones and a punctured lung. The fact that I was driving such a good car helped a lot. 120mph to a sudden stop isnt the most pleasant thing that can happen, but it was alot worse for the drunk driver who hit me. 
I signed myself out of hospital on the Friday before the Donegal game and had a couple of weeks in Cuba recuperating immediately afterwards. Sadly I came back for the trip to Sligo.

Anyway back to football, any news on a likely XV for Sunday.

You were doing 120?

[cavanmaniac]

See the Cavan Minors in the IN today. They should be strong, backboned by the Virginia Markey Cup winning side!!

All Cavan minor teams since circa 1995 have been 'strong' but have won sweet f**k all. I'll believe in a Cavan minor team when they're lifting the trophy, never before. Jilted one too many times by now!

[Cloc Mor]

The Down Minor team should be quite strong this year, though no Martin Clarke's in their squad.  They had a decent run in the Minor League.  With the Down schools very quiet in the MacRory this year only St Columban's Kilkeel did anything in Ulster.  These lads are still under 16 though and may not figure.  Notable absentees from the squad would be the Abbey MacRory captain Daniel Clarke and players on both the Abbey and College MacRory squads - yet the son of one of the selectors, Ross Mc Garry, who is still under 16 and Paddy O' Rourke's lad made the cut.  Both decisions smack of favouritism and were not made for the good of the team.

I would like to think that the team with forwards like Ben O'Reilly, Sean Murdock and Paul Mc Polin.  No doubt they will be run very close and by all accounts this is a very useful Cavan side.  Looks like this game will go down to the wire.  Should be quite a tussle.