Persistence in the face of adversity

Saturday afternoon in Tullamore was an occasion I’ll never forget. The Cavan U18 girls winning our first ever All-Ireland A title at this level and doing it with a target on their back the whole way was simply amazing. To hear a Kerry journalist asking what was the secret of Cavan’s success in underage ladies football made the hair stand on the back of my neck.

Since 2015, Cavan have won five ‘A’ All-Ireland underage ladies titles but have won three of six in the last two years. Since 2015, only Galway (seven) and Cork (six) have more under age national A titles and both those counties have made senior All-Ireland finals since then but neither have won one.

In the world of LGFA, we are now the county that everyone is watching and expecting to win underage titles and in turn win senior titles in a few years’ time. That puts a welcome pressure on us as a county to create the right environment for these young girls to continue their development to becoming top inter-county footballers.

In the past, we haven’t mined enough out of our underage success at provincial level where we have been more than competitive for a few years. Transforming the confidence that underage success brings into a culture and a desire to become a top inter-county player is going to be something Cavan LGFA, the clubs and the players must work together to achieve.

This is another big step in the right direction for Cavan ladies football but it is no guarantee that it will produce success at senior level. For this talented group, hopefully they won’t even talk about it in 20 years’ time because they have senior All-Ireland medals to speak of but to do that they will have to make it a priority and be persistent in adversity.

Looking back at the game on Saturday, Cavan’s work-rate was the key to the victory. Cavan’s desire to run hard and win dirty ball stood out, particularly in the first half. While leading 3-6 to 2-2 at the break, Cavan had missed six further scoring chances compared to a single wide for the Kingdom.

Creating 15 scoring chances in the first half and restricting Kerry to five is a better reflection of the first half. It was clear that Kerry wanted to keep Ellie Brady and Emma Tolan out of the game after their performances in the semi-final but they under-estimated the rest of the Cavan girls. With the Kerry kick-outs trying to stay away from Brady, Lauren Miney was a target but before half-time came it was clear it was a tactic that wasn’t working as Miney dominated her battle.

With Emma Tolan double-marked a lot of the time, Kate Fegan and Katie O’Meara were left in one-on-one situations and they thrived, scoring 2-1 between them.

Early in the game, it was clear that Leah McMahon was the danger forward for Kerry and once Sinéad Kelly matched up with her, McMahon was forced further out the field to get involved, which worked in Cavan’s favour.

Sarah Clarke, Katie Mai Reilly and Ella Sheridan in the Cavan forward line worked so hard when Kerry had the ball that it set the tempo for the rest of the team. The Cavan defence as a unit were on top until the last 10 minutes of the game as they kept Kerry scoring chances to 15 for the game.

This side’s ability and desire to rectify mistakes or play in the moment was evident throughout the game. There were two brilliant examples of this in the final quarter. Ella Sheridan, in a rare mistake, gave away the ball with a kick pass in front of the stand. Without giving the error a second thought, she sprinted forward to the Kerry player in possession and blocked down her kick.

Abby McDermott was being put under pressure for the Cavan kick-outs and for the majority of them she executed perfectly but when one did go wrong and Kerry worked it to a shot on goal, McDermott pulled off a super save.

While work-rate and resilience were key to the victory, the levels of athleticism and skill of the team were exceptional. Ellie Brady’s running power stood out again as did Alex Peters’ and Cora McDonnell’s, coming from deep. The full-back line had to be physically strong and the stamina of Ella Sheridan, Sarah Clarke and Katie Mai Reilly were top notch.

There were many examples of the high skill level of the team from Kristina Grigorenko’s tackling to Katie O’Meara, Kate Finnegan and Emma Tolan’s score-taking and ability to win the ball and take on their marker. But one stand-out moment of skill for me was four minutes before the half-time break.

Ella Sheridan took two solos on her right foot approaching the Kerry 45. The Kerry defender positioned herself to send Sheridan out to the wing but with a drop of the shoulder, the Killinkere player switched to her left to play a perfect left-footed pass to Kate Fegan in a one-on-one, resulting in Fegan’s goal. It happened so fast and seamlessly that it looked easy - but it was anything but easy.

This group met in December to set out their goals for the year and came up with five they wanted to achieve. The last four were to win the Ulster A championship, to win the All-Ireland semi-final, to win the All-Ireland final and to win every game. They were ambitious but now we can say they were realistic and to hit those four goals is an unbelievable achievement in any year.

The first goal the group set out was to have fun. What a goal that was to chase. Talking to some of the players, it was a constant part of the journey and having seen the group together after the semi-final and final it was clearly achieved.

The enjoyment they had training together in the early months before a game was played bonded the group and the stories from the journey and not just the final, will see these girls remain friends for life. Friends and All-Ireland champions for life. There’s a nice ring to that. Bravo!