The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

DJIMI TRARORE

Another instantly forgettable 70 mins , poor quality, poor entertainment, poor atmosphere, poor refereeing, Castlerahan manage to hang on to the title but Ramor kicked it away 15-4 in wides some of which u12s would score, McQuillan bottled any big decision when it mattered

mugsymugsy

DJIMI TRARORE wrote: »

Another instantly forgettable 70 mins , poor quality, poor entertainment, poor atmosphere, poor refereeing, Castlerahan manage to hang on to the title but Ramor kicked it away 15-4 in wides some of which u12s would score, McQuillan bottled any big decision when it mattered

Pretty spot on analysis. Wet conditions didn't help but overall pretty poor final.

cavan4sam

It actually sounded ok on the radio , any idea of what the attendance was ?

Thunderbirds

cavan4sam wrote: »

It actually sounded ok on the radio , any idea of what the attendance was ?

7700

Cavan_King

It’s been a poor club championship at all levels. Very few standout games and a lot of one sided affairs. The top four teams in the county did make the League and senior quarter finals though.

Be interesting to see how our sides fare in Ulster. I hear Castlerahan have the Donegal champs away which is probably the toughest draw they could have got.

County players have failed to stand out but that seems to be the case in ally of counties.

Yevon wrote: »

Would keeping the games out of Breffni have made any difference to the championship as a whole or was last year just coincidentally a great year?

Without a doubt, it affected the games. There’s no atmosphere in an empty Breffni Park. In grounds like Crosskeys last year, you had the supporters on top of the players.

rrs

No the game is in Cavan. It will still be a big ask. Gweedore v Glenties final next weekend. Gweedore could have beaten Corofin last year. That'd the standard Castlerahan will be facing

piplip87

Extremely poor game. I'd say the lack of atmosphere was down to Caslterahan holding onto the ball for 5 minutes at a time, kicking it backwards, sidewards and everywhere else. It worked for them today. It's not easy on the eye but effective.

Ramor on the other hand 15 or so wides and possibly 10 of them where very kickable points. Ramor are still a young team so would expect them to kick on and win a few in the next few years.

Mc Quillian bottled a few big calls today. A clothesline is a yellow card, elbow in the face is nothing but a drag back in midfield is black ?

All in all a disappointing championship with little or no new faces putting hands up for selection come the National League

Cavan_King

piplip87 wrote: »

Extremely poor game. I'd say the lack of atmosphere was down to Caslterahan holding onto the ball for 5 minutes at a time, kicking it backwards, sidewards and everywhere else. It worked for them today. It's not easy on the eye but effective.

Ramor on the other hand 15 or so wides and possibly 10 of them where very kickable points. Ramor are still a young team so would expect them to kick on and win a few in the next few years.

Mc Quillian bottled a few big calls today. A clothesline is a yellow card, elbow in the face is nothing but a drag back in midfield is black ?

All in all a disappointing championship with little or no new faces putting hands up for selection come the National League

It's at the stage now where even club football is too serious for players. You see intercounty lads come back with battered bodies but even the club lads will be glad of a break at the end of the year.

A lot of the enjoyment has to be gone out of it for lads.

Thunderbirds

piplip87 wrote: »

Extremely poor game. I'd say the lack of atmosphere was down to Caslterahan holding onto the ball for 5 minutes at a time, kicking it backwards, sidewards and everywhere else. It worked for them today. It's not easy on the eye but effective.

Ramor on the other hand 15 or so wides and possibly 10 of them where very kickable points. Ramor are still a young team so would expect them to kick on and win a few in the next few years.

Mc Quillian bottled a few big calls today. A clothesline is a yellow card, elbow in the face is nothing but a drag back in midfield is black ?

All in all a disappointing championship with little or no new faces putting hands up for selection come the National League

That clothesline tackle is always given a yellow. It's a boarderline red. The elbow was in front of ref. Also one Castlerahans players nose was targeted a lot and no card.

Cavan_King

McVeety gone travelling which I'd heard a few weeks back. Rumours of others not committing to the county this year. Anyone know any names?

cavan4sam

Any sign of the national league fixtures being released ?

Cavan_King

All three grade winners out of the Ulster club championships. I’m hugely optimistic but it says a lot.

Castlerahan, who are the best team in the county, beaten by a team who should have been dead on their feet.

rrs

Castlerahan were 7 behind at one stage in the second half. Glenties then tired which wasn't surprising and Castlerahan came more into it. The Castlerahan defeat the most disappointing. I wouldn't be saying at least they were competitive. They should have been doing better, well off the pace of it and only played in patches. If Glenties had more preparation they could have won comfortably.

DJIMI TRARORE

Its a good job the Glenties were tired

Crash Bang Wall

rrs wrote: »

Castlerahan were 7 behind at one stage in the second half. Glenties then tired which wasn't surprising and Castlerahan came more into it. The Castlerahan defeat the most disappointing. I wouldn't be saying at least they were competitive. They should have been doing better, well off the pace of it and only played in patches. If Glenties had more preparation they could have won comfortably.

Castlerahan very poor, and lacked intensity early on, evident most when Daly was strolling towards a ball as if it was a challenge match, got turned over, and Glenties scored. Would definitely have been a hiding had Glenties ahad a week or 10 days to prepare.

But had Castlerahan upped the intensity, were they good enough to compete? Or, would they be good enough to compete against a Glenties team at full tilt. I dont think so.

Castlerahan, and Cavan sides in general seem to lack the big physical players like McLoone and the Thompsons

I also though the referee was very poor, Castlerahan got early yellow cards, and when Daly was taken out before Paul Smith was possibly fouled for a pen, the ball was brought back, but no card issued.....also should Thompson not have got a black for a tackle on Sean Brady late on? And the slow kick outs....he threw the ball up once....surely to stop the slow play he needed to do it every time?

Had Castlerahan been more economical they could have won, but I suspect Clontibret would have given them a right clipping

rrs

Yeah the Glenties had good physical players, and bought on 2 subs who were part of the Donegal All Ireland winning squad in 2012,Brick Molloy and Marty Boyle
Leo McGloone and Anthony Thompson were obviously involved too, 4 players with All Irelands a good help for a club team..

The Castlerahan goalie Leahy made a great save in first half but his kickouts were terrible. They were poor in Co final against Ramor also, but Ramor didn't punish it..
1-7 of Glenties scores came as a results of poor kickouts

Cavan_King

Yevon wrote: »

At least we were competitive I suppose. The policy of getting a few weeks between the county final the the first round of Ulster needs to continue and hopefully we'll get a trophy at one of the levels in the next few years.

Castlerahan weren’t competitive. Glenties were blitzing them in both halves until they tired. Had Glenties been fully fit, I fear what the score line could have been.

I heard some pundits say before the game Glenties should be writing it off.

We’re talking about our county champions who had 3/4 weeks to prepare losing to a team who had to be dead on their feet and who were drinking 3 days before the game. It’s a farce.

I spoke to a man who was at the Clontibret Cross game after the Killinkere match. He said it was light years ahead of anything you’d see in Cavan in terms of intensity and quality.

rrs

Not sure what new players are in with County training?From watching a few games, there wasn't many standing out. James Brady was decent with Ramor and would be worth looking at, as would Cole but probaly not interested.

A few of the U20 team might be brought in. Cormac Timoney, Cian Madden, Patrick Lynch.

Outside of that, Evan Doughty, Ryan Connolly, Conor Smith would be worth a look. Smith back after injury was impressive for Killygarry. He's a bit small but serious speed.

The National League fixtures still not officially revealed, whatever that's about

Cavan_King

rrs wrote: »

Not sure what new players are in with County training?From watching a few games, there wasn't many standing out. James Brady was decent with Ramor and would be worth looking at, as would Cole but probaly not interested.

A few of the U20 team might be brought in. Cormac Timoney, Cian Madden, Patrick Lynch.

Outside of that, Evan Doughty, Ryan Connolly, Conor Smith would be worth a look. Smith back after injury was impressive for Killygarry. He's a bit small but serious speed.

The National League fixtures still not officially revealed, whatever that's about

Cavan play Monaghan in a challenge for a charity in Clones on 1st December so we might get a better idea of the panel then.

I’m not too worried about the backs. Would like to see a new midfielder or two and a couple of corner forwards.

rrs

McGee back on the panel, Evan Douthy in and Cormac Reilly Mullahoran. A few have opted out. Anyone know who?

baconsarnie

Fixtures finally announced so we can all make some plans!!!

http://www.hoganstand.com/Cavan/Article/Index/306270

Thunderbirds

rrs wrote: »

Yeah the Glenties had good physical players, and bought on 2 subs who were part of the Donegal All Ireland winning squad in 2012,Brick Molloy and Marty Boyle
Leo McGloone and Anthony Thompson were obviously involved too, 4 players with All Irelands a good help for a club team..

The Castlerahan goalie Leahy made a great save in first half but his kickouts were terrible. They were poor in Co final against Ramor also, but Ramor didn't punish it..
1-7 of Glenties scores came as a results of poor kickouts

In county final Castlerahan only lost one of their own kickouts.

Cavan_King

rrs wrote: »

McGee back on the panel, Evan Douthy in and Cormac Reilly Mullahoran. A few have opted out. Anyone know who?

News this evening that Killian Clarke is gone. With him, McVeety & Moynagh absent next year, that’s three huge losses.

Then, on the other hand, some of the names called into the panel wouldn’t give me huge confidence.

It could be a long year ahead.

Cavan_King

Yevon wrote: »

I thought Moynagh was travelling but said he'd be back?

Clarke is a big loss and added to McVeety's absence that's maybe 20% of the core of quality placers that have been keeping us at a high level.

It's interesting that himself and McVeety have both said they have fallen out of love with the game the year after we reached an Ulster final. You would think that they would have loved the experience of a first Ulster Championship run in years and a day out for the final. Maybe the hammering from Donegal just soured it all and the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze.

Well hopefully some other lads will step up. We were in dire straights going into Division 2 a couple of years ago and came good. This year looks tougher though.

Getting terrible abuse off so-called “supporters” hasn’t helped I’d imagine. All that effort and very little thanks for it.

Conor Bradley gone to Dunboyne from Ramor too.

celt262

Yevon wrote: »

I thought Moynagh was travelling but said he'd be back?
/quote]

Mcvitty said the same but people are saying he is gone for the year.

baconsarnie

It's typical Cavan- always starting from scratch, never building from a platform. Despite the last two outings when we got shellackings, I was hopeful going into 2020. First full year for Mickey and the management to really put a shape on their panel. Best championship we had for years, solid back six to build a platform on with the hope that some forwards (Madden, Pierson, O'Reilly and Stephen Murray) could kick on with others (Bradley, Conor Smith) come back. Plus division 2 is more fun when we can actually put a few wins together!

However, almost all of my optimism has almost evaporated over the last few days. Three absolutely key players. Moynagh was close to a revelation this year, easily our most consistent player in league and championship (was head and shoulders above anyone on the park when we lost to Monaghan in the league).

Mc Veety has been our best forward since McGlennan accidentally placed him there against Donegal in the league in 2017, and was getting better and better in that role.

Clarke is much maligned but has suffered from never nailing down a specific place. He's adaptable and that has been to his detriment. I'm still not certain that he's an intercounty centre half back but his performances against Armagh were superb. I still think he's a full back but that's besides the point.

I'm ignoring any chat of "Dublin / Kerry / Mayo lads don't drop off the panel" as that's not where we are at. I don't follow other counties at our level, but how often do the likes of Kildare, Galway, Laois, Roscommon or Westmeath consistently have key lads walk off their panel? I don't mean lads who are on a panel of 40 and get the hump that they never breakthrough. Yet again we have 3 starters throwing the towel in. Is that common? I can only remember Jamie Clarke doing it.

I've not heard any comments from Moynagh but from the We are Cavan interview with McVeety and Clarke's statement in the Celt both lads were totally burned out and had lost the passion for playing for their county. I'm not knocking their commitment, they are training and putting in hours none of us keyboard warriors could contemplate even when we were younger!

Is it linked with the ridiculously high expectations in Cavan for success that are not based on the last 50 years of reality? Did lads coming through really think the future was blue and are now thinking of walking away?

Surely other lads in counties where silverware is a pipe dream manage to sustain themselves surely on pride in their jersey. Declan Browne in Tipp is always the example used: probably the best forward of his generation but in a team that languished between division 3 and 4. To my knowledge he just got on with it (i will stand corrected if someone knows better).

Anyways, aside from all that, I still have high hopes of a decent division 2 run and maybe even promotion. While Division 2 isn't as poor as 2018, it's still no great shakes (and I would argue going into 2018 we were in a worse state, a total shambles really). The Rossies will be favourites to go up and maybe Kildare aren't far away. Fermanagh will struggle. Laois are no great shakes and we have nothing to fear from Clare, Westmeath or Armagh.

I genuinely believe that Mickey Graham will have us playing decent football. If we can sort out midfield (still prefer Gearoid on the 40), get more out of Gerry Smith, have the Holla back fit and raring to go, keep Niall Murray on frees and work on our kick out strategy, who knows....

Cavan fans in the last 10 years seem to have two emotions: either we are on the cusp of world domination or we are doomed before the ball is thrown in. I'm going for cautious optimism. Roll on Sunday, hopefully some new faces....

cavan4sam

Great post Bacon sarnie
maybe in a round about way it might be no harm with the lads walking away.
it may give other lads a chance to become key players where as before they may have felt shackled as a lot of our play went through moynagh & mc veety (deservedly so)

I don't think its all doom & gloom the pressure is now off us and hopefully as you said mickey will have us playing a nice style of football

Looking forward to sunday and rivalries aside Elaine & Anthony are great people and great gaels & hopefully the game gets great support and raises a lot of money
So folks wrap up well and support this great family

baconsarnie

cavan4sam wrote: »

Looking forward to sunday and rivalries aside Elaine & Anthony are great people and great gaels & hopefully the game gets great support and raises a lot of money
So folks wrap up well and support this great family

I'm raging I am going to miss it but will make sure to make a donation regardless. Am i right in thinking there will be a Patreon livestream?



But i think a lot of us are going cold turkey so a December match, regardless of the conditioning and conditions would be a welcome distraction.



Can't wait for a few McKenna cup games over the Christmas. That worked a treat last year.

rrs

Rehill had a good year in his first year so maybe a few will develop like him. Not sure if Adam O Connell and Mark McGee are involved, they are 2 good athletic players.

Conor Smith is a very good player, He just lacks size which is a problem with Cavan players.
James Smith had a year on the panel so maybe that year of being involved will bring him on next year same with Oisin Pierson and Stephen Smith.

baconsarnie

rrs wrote: »

Not sure if Adam O Connell and Mark McGee are involved, they are 2 good athletic players.

Good point made on the We Are Cavan podcast about naming the panel and ending speculation. Massive bugbear of mine. With Cavan these days its like the third secret of Fatima. Has such and such been called in? Is there a row in the camp and all that nonsense.

Name it, here are the players who were called in and have stepped up. No point moaning about who should or could make a difference (I await a David Givney has moved home rumor at some stage next week...).

Much like a defiant McVeety said in 2018, if people don't want to play for Cavan then we shouldn't be talking about them.