Cavan GG News

Thomas Clarke wrote:What are the thoughts within Cavan on Peter Donnelly, JS?  It certainly looks like he has them fit.

(For those not familiar with Peter, he was an outstanding AI minor winning captain for Tyrone in 2001, playing midfield in the AI U21 final a week later.  Hovered around the Tyrone senior panel for several seasons, but was never able to make the step up.d  He is now living in Cavan, and is the trainer for the Breffni senior team.)

The general consensus is that he is a fantastic coach and has been vital to the progress made by Cavan this year. The players are very quick to attribute a lot of credit to him for the success achieved this year.
I've always heard that Hyland is a great man for surrounding himself with the right people and it appears Donnelly is one of the best appointments made recently.

This is only really year 1 of the development plan. Next year Killian Clarke will be the only member of our starting team who will be unavailable for the league due to U21 commitments, that should be a boost going into the League and with the Championship experience gained this year and with another year of strength and conditioning under their belts these young lads should have very realistic expectations of heading for Division 2.

It's also worth bearing in mind that we've reached the AIQF this year without our talisman and arguably our best player in Gearoid McKiernan, it's hard for any county to deal with a loss like that never mind one as small as Cavan.

Thanks JS. I'd love to think that someone like him would be involved with Tyrone in the near future. A good fella as well, and real winner.

There are a lot of Tyrone trainers doing well at present. Paddy Tally in Derry, Ryan Porter with Monaghan and Donnelly with Cavan. Lorcan Martin is with Fermanagh, although I wouldn't rate him as highly. Then you have Martin McElkennon who is taking a year off at present.

It used to be Derry coaches and trainers everywhere, but Tyrone men seem to be the flavour of the month at the moment.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Thanks JS. I'd love to think that someone like him would be involved with Tyrone in the near future.  A good fella as well, and real winner.

There are a lot of Tyrone trainers doing well at present.  Paddy Tally in Derry, Ryan Porter with Monaghan and Donnelly with Cavan.  Lorcan Martin is with Fermanagh, although I wouldn't rate him as highly.  Then you have Martin McElkennon who is taking a year off at present.

It used to be Derry coaches and trainers everywhere, but Tyrone men seem to be the flavour of the month at the moment.  

Hands off for another while! McLoughlin and McVeety came on yesterday and looked like two U16s taking to the pitch, strength and conditioning for the likes of those lads will be very important.

Is Donnelly a full time strength and conditioning coach in the Cavan do you know TC?

Hi guys,

Tactical preview of Kerry vs Cavan up here
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Emmet

emmetryan wrote:Hi guys,

Tactical preview of Kerry vs Cavan up here
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Emmet

Can I ask why you focus on Dunne and don't even mention Keating? If anything Keating is more of a 'go to' man that Dunne given his size and power. Dunne doesn't have amazing pace and is incredibly slight for this level, his trickery and ability to shoot from both feet are where he excels but he rarely if ever goes by his marker. Keating is much much more dangerous if he's left isolated, he's anything but ruthless in front of goal (understatement of the week) but if I was Eamon Fitzmaurice I'd be happier to double up on Keating than Dunne.

The reason I'd double up on Dunne is because Keating, despite his superior physique, is less reliable as a scoring threat. For Cavan to pull the upset they need Keating to be much more accurate so Kerry can't double up on Dunne.

emmetryan wrote:The reason I'd double up on Dunne is because Keating, despite his superior physique, is less reliable as a scoring threat. For Cavan to pull the upset they need Keating to be much more accurate so Kerry can't double up on Dunne.

Malachy O'Rourke agreed with me. A tenacious marker can give Dunne a rough time and he doesn't have the strength to tolerate a physical battle for an entire game, not too many defenders will handle Keating's physicality in a one on one situation.

I really think Keating, if not crowded out, has the potential to be a serious goal threat. I think it's a shame we don't seem to use the long early ball into him more often. Annoyingly we kicked about 3 hopeful balls in on top of Dunne on Saturday.

Jonsmith wrote: Is Donnelly a full time strength and conditioning coach in the Cavan do you know TC?

I'm not certain JS, but I think that he is.

I've been lent and completed a thoroughly enjoyable read called "The Fairytale in New York" by Redhills native Paul Fitzpatrick which traces and recounts the events surrounding the 1947 AIF in the Polo Grounds.

A smashing read, extensively researched, packed with related little sidebars and written in a style that I found meshed the whole expedition beautifully presicent. I don't know the price of it but would peg it at about €20 which even the most frugal Canan follower would declare money well spent.

While the book naturally devotes sections to the heroes of the time (John Joe, Tighe, Higgins, Duke et al) the lesser lights, such as West Cavan's TP O'Reilly, Owen Roe McGovern and Eunan Tiernan get great mention to boot. I knew the late TP O'Reilly in his latter life and to say Cavan football broke his heart wouldn't be an idle statement.

All in all, a smashing read for Gaels of any county. JS Snr. would no doubt enjoy it also.....

2014 will be Cavan's year....Start a Rosary someone.

Good start to the year in Cavan.
I was in Killeshandra last weekend where the U21s strolled past Offaly. A huge panel took part in the warm up. 1-15 put in a massive shift and it's obvious competition for places is fierce within the squad. Best in Blue were Enda Flanagan (brother of Senior Player Ronan) Aaron Watson and Conor Madden.

Today the U21's made short work of Mayo in Bekan, I'm informed that Arva's Kevin Bouchier and Michael Argue (who appeared for the Seniors v Derry and Kerry last year) were the pick of the bunch. A win against Longford next weekend would see us into a Semi-Final.

Good start to the year for the Seniors too with a nice win against Antrim, don't think we've beaten them since... 2008? We play Down tomorrow in Kingscourt, Terry has named a similar team to last week. Don't expect much changes as he winds up for a shot at promotion from Division 3.

Just starting the book now Boxty, already showing a serious level of research from Paul Fitz. I've mentioned him on here before, the guy can write!

Huge year for Cavan, especially the first few months. Whatever about the summer, promotion to division 2 is a must for this talented young bunch to start playing better sides on a more regular basis. No reason why they can't be a major force over the next couple of years.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Huge year for Cavan, especially the first few months.  Whatever about the summer, promotion to division 2 is a must for this talented young bunch to start playing better sides on a more regular basis.  No reason why they can't be a major force over the next couple of years.

Aye, a big year for Cavan indeed. I heard, prior to JS's comment, that they had a massive panel for the U-21 game in Killeshandra. Competition for places is always the best shot in the arm you can get.
Enjoy the book JS, I surely did. It's a tremendous insight into the Polo Grounds final, married to a great grasp of football affairs in Cavan.

Boxtyeater wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:Huge year for Cavan, especially the first few months.  Whatever about the summer, promotion to division 2 is a must for this talented young bunch to start playing better sides on a more regular basis.  No reason why they can't be a major force over the next couple of years.

Aye, a big year for Cavan indeed. I heard, prior to JS's comment, that they had a massive panel for the U-21 game in Killeshandra. Competition for places is always the best shot in the arm you can get.
Enjoy the book JS, I surely did. It's a tremendous insight into the Polo Grounds final, married to a great grasp of football affairs in Cavan.

I wouldn't be confident of promotion but there's no reason we can't give it a rattle. Second season syndrome being the big danger.

The U21 squad is massive. Cavan filled the dugout, row of lads hunched on the ground in front of the dugout. Offaly had about 6 lads on the bench. In the first two Hastings Cup games I'd say 25+ have featured for Cavan. Early days yet though, Mayo were poor today I heard. The Rossies seem to be flying demolishing Kildare today. Our Ulster draw couldn't be much worse with Derry (who apparently really fancy their chances this year) and then the always competitive Tyrone waiting if we got past Derry. 4 in a row is a massive ask, something has to give at some stage.

Jonsmith wrote:
I wouldn't be confident of promotion but there's no reason we can't give it a rattle. Second season syndrome being the big danger.

You should be confident, as you are easily the most likely winners of what is this year a very weak division 3. Failure to go up would be a dreadful result, and may have longer term consequences.

Sligo, Limerick, Longford and Offaly won't trouble you, and I don't think that Fermanagh have much (despite this year's return of Seamie Quigley). That leaves Wexford who are not as strong as they were a few years ago, and the Rossies who are never sufficiently organised. You've only 3 home games, but 2 of those are against the Rossies & Fermanagh, 2 of your main rivals for promotion. I'd be shocked if Cavan don't go up.

Jonsmith wrote:

Boxtyeater wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:Huge year for Cavan, especially the first few months.  Whatever about the summer, promotion to division 2 is a must for this talented young bunch to start playing better sides on a more regular basis.  No reason why they can't be a major force over the next couple of years.

Aye, a big year for Cavan indeed. I heard, prior to JS's comment, that they had a massive panel for the U-21 game in Killeshandra. Competition for places is always the best shot in the arm you can get.
Enjoy the book JS, I surely did. It's a tremendous insight into the Polo Grounds final, married to a great grasp of football affairs in Cavan.

I wouldn't be confident of promotion but there's no reason we can't give it a rattle. Second season syndrome being the big danger.

The U21 squad is massive. Cavan filled the dugout, row of lads hunched on the ground in front of the dugout. Offaly had about 6 lads on the bench. In the first two Hastings Cup games I'd say 25+ have featured for Cavan. Early days yet though, Mayo were poor today I heard. The Rossies seem to be flying demolishing Kildare today. Our Ulster draw couldn't be much worse with Derry (who apparently really fancy their chances this year) and then the always competitive Tyrone waiting if we got past Derry. 4 in a row is a massive ask, something has to give at some stage.

Mayo were apparently missing a few of their key players and main scorers yesterday that includes adam Gallagher,Evan Regan and Conor O'Shea the Connacht draw is nicely set up for Galway to win out again as you said a tough one for Cavan. Dublin looks the most likely AI U21 winner.

Of all the divisions i think D3 is the biggest dogfight of the lot and it has history of unfancied teams gaining promotion however you could say Cavan holding back their U21s has cost them promotion in the past.

The bookies fancy Cavan anyway [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

6/6 for Cavan at Senior and U21. A relatively easy victory for the U21s v Longford yesterday in Abbeylara and a hard fought victory in Brewster today for the Seniors.

So the U21s take on what sounds like a very strong Roscommon side in the Hastings Cup Semi next Saturday and the seniors face a Tyrone team that seem to be flying it.

Cavan are putting out strong sides in the McKenna Cup with 10+ lads featuring who will be Championship starters, I assume Tyrone are much more experimental. What's the word from the Tyrone lads? A McKenna Cup victory would be a good boost for us after having gone so long with no titles at Senior Level. More importantly, this is all good League Preparation.

Tyrone weren't good today.  Got an early lead, but never really pushed on.  We were well beaten around midfield, with half-backs/forwards offering little in way of support.  The difference in the sides was the inside forward lines, with Tyrone doing much more with less possession.  Corner back continues to be a problem area - Cathal McCarron's absence means that we now have 2 slots to fill there.

If Tyrone play to the same level as they did today, Cavan will win next week.  However, there was bound to be some come down from the Armagh rout, and I think we will field a stronger side in the final (in the last 2 years, Mickey has more or less trialled his opening league selection in the McKenna Cup final).  This will be a very interesting game, especially with the Cavan lads having beaten all these Tyrone boys in the last few U21 championships.

All I've seen this week in the media has been Tyrone players talking up Cavan, while recalling the defeats we suffered at the hands of the Breffni lads in recent U21 championships. It will be interesting to see how Saturday night goes...

Thomas Clarke wrote:All I've seen this week in the media has been Tyrone players talking up Cavan, while recalling the defeats we suffered at the hands of the Breffni lads in recent U21 championships.  It will be interesting to see how Saturday night goes...

Out of the team that started v Monaghan Gilsenan, Turloc Mooney and Niall McDermott were the only lads that have beaten Tyrone at U21 level and the only 3 with underage medals.

Jonsmith wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:All I've seen this week in the media has been Tyrone players talking up Cavan, while recalling the defeats we suffered at the hands of the Breffni lads in recent U21 championships.  It will be interesting to see how Saturday night goes...

Out of the team that started v Monaghan Gilsenan, Turloc Mooney and Niall McDermott were the only lads that have beaten Tyrone at U21 level and the only 3 with underage medals.

I'd presume that Cavan will put out a pretty strong side on Saturday though? I'd expect Tyrone to field their strongest side so far.

heard there was a biting incident in cavan any news of it

champers wrote:heard there was a biting incident in cavan any news of it

Yerrah!! That was years ago after the Show-Day in Virginia when a winning bullock vanished. Old news.

Cavan have been fielding strong sides already TC! I'd say 2/3 of the team will be in the mix come Championship time. It's all about the league for Terry this year that much is obvious.
Flanagan and McLoughlin both injured. Clarke, Argue and McVeety will be with the U21s. Jack Brady is with DCU. Then you have Martin Dunne who will hopefully be fit to start.
We have a fantastic record in Brewster recently at all levels but I don't remember the last time we beat Tyrone at Senior level. Tyrone will likely play a strong team and it's going to be a huge step up. I think we'll give a good account of ourselves and depending on how strong Tyrone show on the night we could even turn them over.

The Sheepstealers need beating in the Hastings Semi Final in Ballinalee earlier the same day.. All donations to the petrol fund for this Saturday are welcome.

Both teams picked. Cavan same as last day - you're right, when I looked at it, I saw 8-10 regulars.

Tyrone have picked their strongest side so far, but not the strongest available.

I think we will be hoping for a big performance.

Another Cavan victory.....Begod he'll be a proud man handing Sam over to Cian Mackey in 2016.

No word from Jonsmith at all on this or other issues   

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