The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

Tom Joad

willabur wrote: »

Happy new year guys!
Was chatting to one of the panelists over Xmas, the boys are training hard 'Flat out' according to him. He is still u21 this year so when I asked him about taking home the big one (u21 all ireland) he said 'we really have to, don't we'. Determination won't be lacking

interesting that hastings cup is now 16 teams this year - kerry have signed up for it

good to hear that kind of mentality in the camp - it will be tough but really hope the under 21s can deliver the big one (oh and find a free scoring forward who can step up to senior soon would be nice too!!).

Cavan playing Kerry in Portlaise on the 10th Jan in the Hastings - should be interesting and Roscommon the following week in Killeshandra. Nice to get games against quality teams in January.

willabur

yep, also meath this sunday in kingscourt?

lycan238

What do people think would be a good year for the senior team between now and Monaghan in Ulster Championship?

Tom Joad

willabur wrote: »

yep, also meath this sunday in kingscourt?

Yes Sunday afternoon in Kingscourt -although celt has it down for Virginia

Tom Joad

lycan238 wrote: »

What do people think would be a good year for the senior team between now and Monaghan in Ulster Championship?

• Stay in Division 2,
• lose no more players from the squad between now and then,
• find a settled midfield partnership,
• find the best option up front and hopefully have then hit form during the league

That will do me

celt262

According to the Celt Raymond Galligan is on the panel as a Goalkeeper - Discuss

Tom Joad

celt262 wrote: »

According to the Celt Raymond Galligan is on the panel as a Goalkeeper - Discuss

Bizarre if true - afaik he has moved to Dublin - he was running a pub in Ballinagh until recently. If you wanted to pick a keeper from that end of the county from leftfield it would be Declan Beard - good shotstopper and a good kickout and less bizarre than Raymond Galligan!!

Thought we had enough competion between James Farrelly (who would be my number 1), O'Meara and Gilly!!

celt262

Tom Joad wrote: »

Bizarre if true - afaik he has moved to Dublin - he was running a pub in Ballinagh until recently. If you wanted to pick a keeper from that end of the county from leftfield it would be Declan Beard - good shotstopper and a good kickout and less bizarre than Raymond Galligan!!

Thought we had enough competion between James Farrelly (who would be my number 1), O'Meara and Gilly!!

The only reason I can see behind it is to kick frees.

willabur

Tom Joad wrote: »

Bizarre if true - afaik he has moved to Dublin - he was running a pub in Ballinagh until recently. If you wanted to pick a keeper from that end of the county from leftfield it would be Declan Beard - good shotstopper and a good kickout and less bizarre than Raymond Galligan!!

Thought we had enough competion between James Farrelly (who would be my number 1), O'Meara and Gilly!!

its an interesting choice. Goalkeepers are fast becoming more valuable for their distribution as much as their more traditional skills of shot stopping and around the box presence.
Gilsenans has a poor kick and is not a great footballer. He is a massive man but thats not enough any more. Farrelly looks good from what I have seen, kicks off both feet but is liable to have his own brain farts also. O'meara is a good shot stopper but is a small guy and is error prone

Tom Joad

actually that's a good point celt re the frees - Raymond is a really good free taker and has plenty of experience in the league so from that point of view there might be method in the madness!!. Can't really fault the management team for being creative and trying new things.

Gilly took a lot of frees but for me he is not a natural freetaker and I'm guessing that he his conversion ratio is poor enough.

celt262

Tom Joad wrote: »

actually that's a good point celt re the frees - Raymond is a really good free taker and has plenty of experience in the league so from that point of view there might be method in the madness!!. Can't really fault the management team for being creative and trying new things.

Gilly took a lot of frees but for me he is not a natural freetaker and I'm guessing that he his conversion ratio is poor enough.

I'd imagine its worth a try in the Mckenna Cup anyway.

willabur

celt262 wrote: »

I'd imagine its worth a try in the Mckenna Cup anyway.

certainly worth a try and its worth giving the guy time to bed into the new role, he is bound to make mistakes. Its important for people to realise it is an experiment and it takes time for the results to come through.
And as i said previously his distribution skills could prove invaluable aswell as his frees

KeepTheFaith

Ramond Galligan is an outstanding free taker. As good as is in Cavan for the past number of years. He has never made a Championship panel because he doesn't offer enough pace or power or energy from open play and you can't afford to carry a man in the front 6. I'd imagine the thought might be that if he can prove himself to be in some way competent at stopping shots and minding his square he could be a decent option as a number 1 and primary free taker.

Great win for the U21s today, hammered Meath. Ryan Connolly Tom Hayes and Conor Madden all to the fore. That's a Championship Quality inside forward line

Tom Joad

KeepTheFaith wrote: »

Ramond Galligan is an outstanding free taker. As good as is in Cavan for the past number of years. He has never made a Championship panel because he doesn't offer enough pace or power or energy from open play and you can't afford to carry a man in the front 6. I'd imagine the thought might be that if he can prove himself to be in some way competent at stopping shots and minding his square he could be a decent option as a number 1 and primary free taker.

Great win for the U21s today, hammered Meath. Ryan Connolly Tom Hayes and Conor Madden all to the fore. That's a Championship Quality inside forward line

Good assessment of Galligan - if he can do a decent job of the bread and butter he would be a serious asset in terms of his free taking ability. McKenna cup is the time to be trying things like that out. Will be an interesting experiment.

Didn't make the under 21 game but beating Meath by 13 points and still missing a lot of players is a good start. Heard Ryan Connolly hit about 1-6 or thereabouts - he is a great prospect.

KeepTheFaith

I suppose ability to kick accurately is probably the number one skill for a keeper these days.

Connolly seems to be very highly rated. He was drafted into the panel for the All Ireland Junior Final last year but didn't play. Good win today without most of the spine of the team, I'd imagine Faulkner will be full back, Ciaran Brady centre back and Argue and Buchanan midfield.
I still think the panel isn't as strong as last year. Very difficult to replace lads like Clarke Dillon and Moynagh. Still, lads like Faulner and Watson improved in leaps and bounds when they were given a chance hopefully more lads can do the same this year. I see Thomas Galligan who starred in the Southern Gaels Ulster run is on the panel, a fantastic prospect by all accounts.

Hammar

KeepTheFaith wrote: »

Ramond Galligan is an outstanding free taker. As good as is in Cavan for the past number of years. He has never made a Championship panel because he doesn't offer enough pace or power or energy from open play and you can't afford to carry a man in the front 6. I'd imagine the thought might be that if he can prove himself to be in some way competent at stopping shots and minding his square he could be a decent option as a number 1 and primary free taker.

Great win for the U21s today, hammered Meath. Ryan Connolly Tom Hayes and Conor Madden all to the fore. That's a Championship Quality inside forward line

Ray Galligan has a terrific pair of hands/ is very strong in the air,so he would have no problems there. Shot-stopping as you say would be a concern.

Tinkerbell4484

Great result for the lads today in newry

Cavan 2-11
Down 1-9

KeepTheFaith

Good result. Martin Reilly man of the match with a penalty and a goal from play. Galligan came on for Farrelly in goals, put 2 kickouts out over the line. Barry Reilly had a bad day on the frees and was taken off them after missing 2 and dropping 1 short. Ronan Flanagan playing sweeper. Gearoid got his usual few scores. Tom Hayes came on early for Bud Fitz and played very well. Although I think playing him after he also played in the Hastings Cup yesterday is questionable management.

Thunderbirds

I'd have had Ronan Flanagan motm but it was tight between the two for it.

Tom Joad

Didn't make it up to Newry yesterday but was talking to a few who were at it and the overall feedback was positive - I know it's only January.

On Galligan - it will probably take him a wee bit of time to get used to kicking from the tees and hopefully this just needs a bit of practice. I heard he looked solid otherwise and caught a few balls under his crossbar so sounds like he got a good workout.

I'd love to be wrong but I just can't see Barry Reilly getting a jersey come championship time - he just doesn't have the power or physicality needed at Ulster championship level.

Anyway, not a bad first weekend in January for Cavan football.

Question for those at the game - was there a noticeable difference in tactics or was it still very defensive minded?

cavan4sam

KeepTheFaith wrote: »

Good result. Martin Reilly man of the match with a penalty and a goal from play. Galligan came on for Farrelly in goals, put 2 kickouts out over the line. Barry Reilly had a bad day on the frees and was taken off them after missing 2 and dropping 1 short. Ronan Flanagan playing sweeper. Gearoid got his usual few scores. Tom Hayes came on early for Bud Fitz and played very well. Although I think playing him after he also played in the Hastings Cup yesterday is questionable management.

I didnt make either game at the weekend but happy enough with the results , agree with you that there is no need to play any of the under 21 team 2 days in a row especially this time of year

KeepTheFaith

The tactics have changed it would seem. There seemed to be much more of an emphasis on playing long fast balls into the forward line. We still had Ronan Flanagan playing as a sweeper. Hard to tell for one game and to be honest if we are to get an Ulster run going we need to be prepared for a few dogfight defensive games.

Hayes played with U21s and Seniors, I think Conor Madden played with DIT as well as the U21s. That's too much and shouldn't be happening. I sincerely hope this is a once off. I was delighted to see Hayes coming on for his Senior debut, a cracking player, but I'd rather see him left on the bench and still be playing football come Championship time. And the management should be taking this decision out of the players hands. Argue played with Jordanstown only but both games were Saturday, Faulkner played with Maynooth.

A good few first teamers missing yesterday. Keating Dunne McEnroe Mackey and McDermott. Then you have Feargal Flanagan played with Maynooth, Moynagh with DCU. You'd expect most of them to be playing come championship.

Blue in hope

From Todays Belfast Telegraph. Down Manager does Not think we have changed our ways!

Down boss slams Cavan's blanket defence
06 January 2015

Down manager Jim McCorry says "it would be terrible for gaelic football" if other teams followed Cavan's lead.
The Breffni County claimed victory in McCorry's first competitive outing as Mourne County boss at Newry on Sunday and the home manager was not impressed by the negativity shown by the visitors:
"Against Cavan we came up against a sweeper and a double-sweeper at times while we instead wanted to play open football," he notes in The Belfast Telegraph. "I think it would be terrible for gaelic football if this is the way it is to be."

Tom Joad

Blue in hope wrote: »

From Todays Belfast Telegraph. Down Manager does Not think we have changed our ways!

Down boss slams Cavan's blanket defence
06 January 2015

Down manager Jim McCorry says "it would be terrible for gaelic football" if other teams followed Cavan's lead.
The Breffni County claimed victory in McCorry's first competitive outing as Mourne County boss at Newry on Sunday and the home manager was not impressed by the negativity shown by the visitors:
"Against Cavan we came up against a sweeper and a double-sweeper at times while we instead wanted to play open football," he notes in The Belfast Telegraph. "I think it would be terrible for gaelic football if this is the way it is to be."

Boo-hoo. Sounds like someone is trying to deflect attention away from his own team. Cavan scored 2-11 in January so couldn't have been all that bad.

manutd

Eugene Keating has quit the senior panel within the last few days.

Tom Joad

manutd wrote: »

Eugene Keating has quit the senior panel within the last few days.

Not really too surprised by that. He's injured at the moment and in the process of transferring clubs in Dublin. Hopefully he hasn't closed the door on coming back this year when the injury clears up. He needs to get a bit of stability into his club situation and focus on developing to the next level as a player - very similar situation to Givney.

U-21's have Kerry in Portlaoise at the weekend but not sure what kind of team Kerry will have out as they may need to use some of them for the seniors and the All-Ireland lads are away on a holiday.

celt262

Tom Joad wrote: »

Not really too surprised by that. He's injured at the moment and in the process of transferring clubs in Dublin. Hopefully he hasn't closed the door on coming back this year when the injury clears up. He needs to get a bit of stability into his club situation and focus on developing to the next level as a player - very similar situation to Givney.

U-21's have Kerry in Portlaoise at the weekend but not sure what kind of team Kerry will have out as they may need to use some of them for the seniors and the All-Ireland lads are away on a holiday.

What club is he going to in Dublin?

He has played very little club football since he joined the county panel.

Thunderbirds

celt262 wrote: »

What club is he going to in Dublin?

He has played very little club football since he joined the county panel.

He has joined Kilmacud Crokes. Didn't play at all last year with Sylvesters.

Tom Joad

celt262 wrote: »

What club is he going to in Dublin?

He has played very little club football since he joined the county panel.

Heard he was going to Kilmacud Crokes!

celt262

Anyone in at the game Saturday night?

Was a poor show and the lack of a physical ball winner in the forwards is going to be a major cause for concern this year.