Kick-outs likely to be key battleground

Tactical focus

Damien Donohoe looks at the tactical battle ahead of Saturday's Cavan v Armagh clash.

The last time Armagh came to Kingspan Breffni for an Ulster championship game was in 2020 when they were comprehensively beaten by Donegal in the semi-final. They were after gaining promotion to Division 1 of the National League and had beaten Derry in the quarter-final but with expectations high that they could get the better of an admittedly-fancied Donegal, they fell well short.

Armagh are coming into Saturday’s clash with Cavan in a somewhat different position. They have just been relegated in the league but are off the back of a comfortable win over Antrim, who beat Cavan in March this year. The bookmakers have placed Armagh as strong favourites which will suit Cavan but with both sides operating in Division 2 next year, the 9/4 price may flatter Armagh slightly.

Ethan Rafferty, in goals for Armag,h has transformed so many aspects of their play. We all know what he can add with the high wire sweeper keeper act.

Remember when you were younger playing a game of football at lunchtime in school but nobody wanted to play in goals? You’d draw straws to see who had to go in as “fly keeper”. More often than not the person who drew the short straw would end up playing as an extra out-field player who just sprinted back when his team lost the ball.

That’s Rafferty but with a lot more planning and organisation to minimize the risk of him getting caught. Cavan’s on-field communication will have to be finely tuned to deal with him as he joins open play.

His kick-outs are a part of his game that is over-looked but Cavan can’t afford to make that mistake this weekend. Against Antrim, who as Cavan know are a big physical side, Armagh won 86% of their own kick-outs. They use the now routine ‘centre spine and break to the wing’s formation a lot of the time but in that system, Rafferty’s excellent range of kicking is demonstrated.

Antrim went man-for-man some of the time and tried to stand on the outside of the spine other times to get a headstart on the runs to the wings. Armagh’s movement when Antrim stood outside the spine was clever because they overloaded one side with runners to create an advantage and usually won the ball.

When Antrim went man-for-man, Armagh, on occasion, drew the Antrim players towards the ball and Rafferty had the boomer kick to hit a player between the far 65 and 45-metre lines. This kick resulted in scores for the Orchard County as it took out over half the Antrim players from the defensive half of the field.

Cavan have two options on the Armagh kick-outs as a result: press them or step off and force them to work the ball through 15 Cavan players. Cavan have gone man-for-man on opposition kick-outs this year when pressing and if they choose to do the same this Saturday, the defenders will need to step in front of their man to be first to the ball if Rafferty decides to send the boomer over Cavan’s front eight or ten players.

On Antrim’s kick-outs, Armagh applied two systems but there may be a third used when they are behind which we didn’t see against Antrim. The first was generally after a score in open play. They would step off to force Antrim to go short with the kick-out which meant Antrim had maximum distance and players to overcome to get to the scoring zone.

The second system was a zonal press which was generally deployed after a scoreable free. It varied in its formation but it was clear that it was effective and well-practised. After starting in an area and trying to deter the keeper from kicking it to that area, every player was in motion when the ball left the tee. If the ball was coming to the right side of the field, all players on that side moved to get the breaking ball while the players on the left side sprinted back to a defensive position and vice versa.

Raymond Galligan’s kicking accuracy, distance and his decision making will be tested if Cavan are in the lead and after free kicks. Thankfully it doesn’t look like anything that he wouldn’t have seen in his 109 appearances to date but the outfield players will need to be smart with their movement. The template is there as we’ve seen Roscommon create a goal from the Armagh press in the league so there is an opportunity to exploit.

At the back, Armagh are set up in open play not to concede goals as they generally play with 13 or 14 players behind the ball. In the Antrim game, from the throw-in you could see Stefan Campbell and Jason Duffy sprint back to get into a defensive position straight away. Midfielders McPartlan and Crealy are also back there when Armagh are without the ball along with two and sometimes three of the remaining forwards.

In their defensive set-up, Armagh play a full-time full-back or deep sweeper whose sole role is to be there to meet a player that breaks through on goal. This may have been introduced after the league game against Galway where they were caught out by a high ball to the square. Against James Morgan and Greg McCabe, Cavan could win frees as they tackle physically and extremely aggressively.

Even with this mass defense set up, Armagh allowed Antrim to get 30 shots away but through poor shot selection, they only converted nine of them. In the opening hal,f Cavan may have to be patient to work the scoring chance and not take wild shots from outside the scoring zone like Antrim did.

Armagh’s attack wildly hinges on whether Rian O’Neill plays or not but from Mickey Graham’s point of view, they have to prepare for him playing. From what we saw against Antrim, Conor Turbitt has to be watched; he finished with eight points to his name. Turbitt is generally the player they try to leave up the field when defending but he’s a confidence player who has been prone to an off-day too.

Coming from deep, Duffy, Campbell, Grugan and McPartlan all offer Kieran McGeeney’s side a scoring threat. Then Rafferty joins the mix in open play and offers a scoring option if left free and can deliver quality passes to the forward line with time on the ball when out the field.

In every battle the team or person that wants it most usually get the reward and Saturday will be no different but there should be no shortage of desire in either side. Armagh haven’t won an Ulster Championship since 2008 and it is unlikely that they progress as a team to win Sam Maguire without achieving this first. For Cavan, the only way to compete for Sam Maguire this year is by making an Ulster final so a win is imperative.

On Saturday it is most likely that Jason McLaughlin will make his 100th appearance for Cavan and in doing so he will be the seventh player on this year’s squad to achieve that remarkable feat. He has been a super servant to Cavan and a shining example to young boys and girls around the county, of what being a Cavan player should look like.

With all that experience, this Cavan side must now use it to their advantage in these championship days and go and achieve what they have been aiming for. There’s no doubt they have the ability - and there is no time like the present.