'In five or six years' time, I want Cavan winning a senior All-Ireland'

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At this stage, supporters are running out of superlatives to describe the all-conquering Cavan U16 ladies, who claimed their second successive All-Ireland crown in dominant fashion against a game but out-gunned Mayo side on Saturday last in Ballinasloe.

For manager Michael Lee, however, a description came easily to mind.

“I suppose the only word I could use is pride, pride in the girls,” stated the Shannon Gaels clubman.

“They’re just a phenomenal group of players. The way we started, there were jitters in the dressing-room obviously but we got out and warmed up and as soon as the game started, my total confidence and trust was in them. No problems whatsoever.”

To put the achievement in context, Cavan won the second-ever U16 All-Ireland championship in 1977 and lost finals to Tipperary in 1979 and Galway in 2003 prior to these last two magnificent successes. In 2012, Cavan won the B All-Ireland in the grade, a notable achievement in its own right but to compete so strongly and win so convincingly at the A grade a dozen years on really speaks volumes about the growth of the game in the county of late.

Cavan tore into their opponents from the off, with captain Emilia Mussi winning the throw-in and driving at the Mayo defence, which set the tone.

“Emilia is a savage player at midfield. I was asked who would be Player of the Match and someone said ‘number eight is definitely in with a shout’,” the manager said.

“She covers every blade of grass, that’s what she gives the team, she’s a just a worthy captain, she’s absolutely fantastic.

“Caitlin (Crowe, Player of the Match) is up and down the pitch too – those girls don’t get enough credit, Caitlin buried her grandfather and turned up at training that evening. That’s what the group means to these girls.

“I told them on Thursday at our final training session that it’s about the people, it’s about your friends, football is just the sideshow really when you’re all together as a group.”

Cavan were relentless on the day, tackling ferociously even when they had a comfortable lead. That came from an engrained work ethic and a simple, effective philosophy as to how the team should play.

“They compete for every ball. Every ball is there to be won and that’s exactly how we have gone from start to finish throughout the year. We’ve gone with the mantra of giving the ball to the player in the best position and that’s what the girls are trying to do all the time.

“We’re looking for that next pass, where’s that next pass coming from, and that’s where the girls are three supporting each other and you can see that, it’s evident there today throughout the game.

“The plan was to create as many scoring opportunities as we physically could. Keep creating, keep creating… and if it came a goal or a point, it didn’t matter. As long as the ball went dead, well then we were going for another kick-out, that’s what we were looking for.”

Lee feels that Cavan should now be striving towards winning a senior All-Ireland given the conveyor belt of talent which is coming through at all levels, from U14 right through to minor. “It's savage. It just shows the girls are there, the players are there. It’s just about keeping them enjoying their football and keeping them coming through the ranks up into the senior squad, that’s what we want.

“In five or six years’ time, I want Cavan winning a Senior Championship, that’s what we need to be aiming towards and I think the girls are on that trajectory.”

For Emilia Mussi herself, this was a dream come true. The Mullahoran lass, whose grand-uncle John Wilson also played midfield on All-Ireland winning Cavan sides in the 1940s, led by example on the day as she picked up her second All-Ireland medal.

“It’s class, so delighted. The girls put in so much work throughout the game and never gave up. Mayo were good opposition, the best we’ve had so far but we pushed through that and never gave up and kept chipping away at the scores to win it,” stated the Cnoc Mhuire, Granard student.

“We were trying to rattle them from the start. We did that against Dublin as well, straight away we got a point and a goal and we did it again there, we got a goal straight away. It really rattles a team when you do that so we were trying to do it again, to win the throw-in, push forward and then press the kick-out and keep going like that.

“Yeah it’s crazy, two in a row. Not many people get that in their lives, I’m so happy. Never thought that would happen. We said from the start we’d win it again but we were still thinking about last year’s win – and now we’ve won it again, it’s just amazing.

“It's class, our senior team for Cavan will be outstanding. The U14s have got to the All-Ireland final, the minors are in the All-Ireland final now and there are just so many young players coming through.”