Missed chances proved costly but there were positives despite the result

Analysis

Damien Donohoe

It’s never nice to see Cavan lose any game and if it gets to the point that we, as local media and also the supporters, don’t have a negative reaction to losing, then the county will be in a very bad place.

With such change in our forward line from 2024 with the absence of Paddy Lynch, Oisin Brady, Cian Madden, Cormac O’Reilly and Caoimhin O’Reilly, who all started games last year, there will naturally be a bedding-in period. Throw in the rule changes and it becomes even more difficult to hit the ground running.

There are a couple of areas that Raymond Galligan and the backroom team will be focusing on improving this week ahead of Sunday’s game in Navan. Our conversion rate in front of goals is a big one. On Saturday night last, we created and took 32 shots and scored 16 times which is a 50% conversion rate. Monaghan hit less shots with 26 and scored 19 times (74%).

Elsewhere in Division 2, Roscommon shot 30 times and scored 21 (70%) while Down in the same game shot 18 times and scored 15 (83%) but lost. Cork took 24 shots, scored 19 (79%) and Meath took 40 shots and scored 20.

So, Cavan took the second highest number of shots across three of the games in Division 2 but had the joint lowest conversion rate. This can be looked at two ways from a coaching point of view. The first is to tell the players that the shot selection was wrong, and they need to be closer to goal or have more time on the ball before they take a shot. The other is to tell the player they were right to take on the shot, but their execution needs to be better.

Each situation is different, but I’d prefer to be in the situation that a player needs to improve their execution than their being afraid to shoot.

Cavan players were brave enough to take on the shot on most occasions and if they continue to do so, the scores should increase as the season progresses. You’re only one step away from scoring if you take the shot and miss but you are two steps away if you don’t take the shot on.

In his post match comments, Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan said that even with an eight-point lead in this game it “never felt comfortable”. A big reason for that is the increase in the number of scores per game and the addition of the two-pointers from outside the 40-metre arc. In two minutes in the first half, for example, Cavan turned a draw game into a four-point lead with two-pointers from Dara McVeety and Killian Clarke.

That was followed by Monaghan hitting two doubles and a single. So, in a seven-minute spell without any goals, there was a nine-point total scored in the game. With these rules, eight points is probably closer to four points in the old rule which puts the result in a different light.

Cavan hit four two-pointers from four different players in the first half which should stand to them in the coming rounds as defenders start to get closer, which should leave more one-on-one battles near to goal.

Monaghan hit five doubles in total with Rory Beggan accounting for three of them. In other games in Division 2, Cork landed two two-pointers to better Meath’s one. Roscommon used the wind in the second half to hit three after Down sent over an impressive six in the first half. Westmeath raised the orange flag three times as they lost out to Louth who converted a pair of two-pointers.

Beggan’s influence on the game in Kingspan Breffni was the difference between the sides in the end. His long-range kicking saw him finish as the game’s top scorer with a six-point total but his contribution in open play enhanced his influence. His ability to get inside the Cavan 45-metre line and create an overlap lead to a number of scores, particularly in the first half when Monaghan were playing against the wind.

The balance to that positive for Monaghan is that being so involved in open play leave his goal wide open. Cavan will be disappointed that on two occasions they should have punished a Monaghan error with a goal but didn’t convert either.

One of the aims of the FRC was to create more contests and kick-outs are the aspect of the game that people wanted to see this in. On Saturday night, Cavan remarkably won more of Monaghan’s kick-out than the Farney did. This was down to a really good structure where Gary O’Rourke came out to block one side of the field and, of course, the Cavan players fighting hard for breaking ball. Killian Clarke, Padraig Faulkner and James Smith (in the second half) lorded the air and the groundsmen were hungry for the breaks.

Roscommon, in the second half, pressed up and won 42% of Down’s restarts while Meath did superbly by winning 56% of the Rebels’. The term ‘restarts’ was introduced to Gaelic football because they had become a way of securing possession from a kick-out and winning 80 or 90% was almost routine but with these rule enhancements, the kick-out is back - and Cavan edged that battle.

The game now favours the brave, the fast and the skilful in whatever form that might take. Catching the ball from a kick-out is now a big asset to a team and so that skill is now more valuable. A sticky defender who doesn’t give a forward an inch and gets a hand in to deny him possession or dispossess him is now a huge asset.

A player who has the speed and skill to take on his man is now a must and we saw Dara McVeety doing that to great effect on Saturday night. The other player that did it repeatedly was debutant Sean McEvoy. He may be looking at his couple of missed frees and seeing a negative in his performance, but his overall contribution was extremely encouraging.

When you consider that he has played next to no Gaelic football for the last three years and limited football even before that because of his exploits in soccer, he hasn’t begun to scratch the surface of how good he could be. His desire to take on his man and ability to get by him showed pace, power and skill. His point in the first half where he started close to the sideline and cut straight to the D before tapping the ball over on his left foot had Cavan supporters on their feet.

He will need to be given time to adjust and improve his skill level, but it’s been a while since a debutant scored five points (one a two-pointer) for Cavan in a league game and that’s exciting. On the same note, Luke Molloy and Evan Crowe showed in their debut that they are moving in the right direction and could be a future midfield partnership for the blues.

Given the Meath result against Cork, this Sunday becomes a really big game for Cavan. If they improve the conversion rate and reduce the number of times they were penalised for dissent, they should come away with the win.