Cavan 140 minutes away from Tailteann success

Tactics Board

Mark McGowan

Though the comfortable win over Down did little to alter Cavan’s Tailteann Cup favourite tag, a trip to Brewster Park was the most difficult tie that Monday’s draw could’ve thrown up. But to win the competition outright, the local rivals would likely stand in their way at some point and the quarter-final meeting ensured that complacency wouldn’t be an issue.

Mickey Graham’s men were brought down to earth in last year’s league opener as the Sean Quigley-inspired Ernesiders recorded a deserved one-point win over the then Ulster champions, but with Ryan McMenamin – who managed Fermanagh for the previous three seasons – now part of the Breffni backroom panel, Cavan would have little excuse for being under-prepared.

Having been dropped from the starting line-up against Down, Cian Madden returned to the first 15 and Niall Carolan made his first start in senior football, with Luke Fortune and Martin Reilly dropping to the bench, while Conor Moynagh remained unavailable through injury. Again, Ciaran Brady started and this was another valuable 35 minutes in the Arva man’s recovery, as the 2020 All-Star nominee has a long way to go to reach the levels set prior to his cruciate injury some 14 months ago.

The threat posed by Quigley was obvious, but Fermanagh full-forward Darragh McGurn also has the potential to wreak havoc should he get the desired service, so Padraig Faulkner’s physicality and competence under the high ball meant he was tasked with stopping McGurn while Killian Brady got to grips with Quigley.

Despite his size, the Roslea man prefers being watched by footballing inside-defenders, so the dogged persistence of Brady made him the perfect foil and despite being sinbinned for 10 minutes, the Mullahoran man was able to keep Quigley scoreless from play – something we’ve seldom seen in the target man’s decade-plus in the Fermanagh full-forward line.

In the wake of Shaun Patton and Rory Beggan's refusals to go long against Derry and Mayo respectively, Ray Galligan's kick-outs illustrated the value of sending the ball well past midfield with regularity. The Lacken veteran's long-range frees failed to match the standards of the previous week - but to be fair, the bar was set extremely high - but there are few better at picking out runners between the 45s or landing it on top of his desired target some 60 metres away when that runner isn't on.

Thomas Galligan made a statement of intent from the throw-in, and recognising that his cousin had the upper hand in physicality and confidence, Raymond knew that Cavan were favourites to win anything in his general area. When you add in Gearoid McKiernan - whose high fielding may be the most criminally underrated part of his game - Killian Clarke, and James Smith dropping deeper for kick-outs, then the team captain is really spoiled for choice.

So often, a short kick-out secures possession comfortably but leaves 15 opponents between the ball and goals. Going long will generally reduce this number by half, and occasionally will catch the opposition with just three or four defenders goal-side, and if you have powerful runners like Thomas Galligan and James Smith tearing through the centre, simple points and goal chances will arise. Galligan’s fourth and final point of the day was a perfect illustration of how to play to your strengths. On another day, and with the game in the balance, I suspect we’d see the big midfielder go for goal like he did from the throw-in, but it’s hard to be critical when just keeping the scoreboard ticking over was going to be enough to see Cavan through.

Much has been made of the performances of Paddy Lynch and James Smith at the business end of the field, and rightly so. The Crosserlough clubmates have been a devastating duo and their presence inside has been instrumental in the development of the kick-passing game that has served Cavan well this season.

Fermanagh manager Kieran Donnelly trusted natural full-back Jonny Cassidy to mark Lynch whereas tall centre-back Richard O’Callaghan dropped back to pick up Smith, no doubt due to Smith’s aerial prowess. While Smith still arguably got the better of his duel with O’Callaghan, his shooting was uncharacteristically erratic. Lynch looked lively in the early stages, but Cassidy is a very tight marker and a great attacking threat as he launched attack after attack with direct runs through the middle third and into Cavan territory, and this dragged Lynch into areas of the field where his skillset is not utilised to its fullest.

Despite one of their main targets being so well marked, Cavan still looked to deliver long and fast ball into the forward line at every opportunity, with Galligan drifting in on occasion and causing consternation in the defence.

Cavan’s second goal was similar to those conceded against Donegal as a half-blocked (and possibly miss-hit) shot by Padraig Faulkner dropped near the edge of the square where Galligan had found his way and he was able to bulldoze his way to teeing up Faulkner for a soccer-style close-range tap-in.

And perhaps the score of the day came from a Gerry Smith diagonal ball that Lynch fetched at full stretch, turned and stroked over despite having Cassidy hot on his heels as he was all afternoon.

I wrote earlier how McKiernan’s high-fielding may be the most underrated part of his game, but his ability to find pockets of space and stroke the ball over the bar is a close second. Barely eight minutes had passed and the Swanlinbar native had breezed into open space and clipped two beautiful scores and was seeing lots of possession and Donnelly was forced to move Ultan Kelm to centre-back for the remainder of the game. Kelm’s pace and physicality helped curb McKiernan’s influence somewhat, but he was still able to add a further three points from play in the second period, scores made even more impressive given how closely he was being watched by Kelm.

In the end, it was comfortable enough for Cavan whose Tailteann Cup drive shows no signs of slowing down. A county who traditionally have struggled with the favourites’ tag have brushed aside fellow Ulster opposition in both rounds and now a Croke Park clash with the competition’s surprise story in Sligo is just on the horizon.

I wrote a few weeks back that the only way to show that Cavan are too good for the Tailteann Cup was to go and win it.

Well, they’re only 140 minutes away now.