‘It’s only round three, we’re not going to get carried away’

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Cavan manager Emmet Daly remained measured in his assessment after his side’s emphatic win over Carlow. The Breffni ladies delivered a dominant performance, racking up an impressive 6-17 to 1-4 victory, but Daly insists there is no room for complacency.

“Look, it’s a very big win. We were expecting maybe a little bit of a tougher game, but we just came out and performed—that’s it. Carlow maybe didn’t play to their best, and we played our best so far this year, so that’s the way the scoreline went,” he said.

Despite the margin of victory, Daly is adamant that his squad will not get carried away.

“It’s only round three of the league; we’re not going to get carried away with that. We’re going to be playing tougher games—it’s three points on the board, that’s all we wanted. That was it.”

The performance was a marked improvement from their sluggish start to the campaign against Louth, a game played in difficult conditions as the storm wreaked havoc across the country. Daly acknowledged the impact of the disruption on his team’s preparation for the first round.

“The Louth game was round one of the league in poor conditions. I think Catherine said in her interview that half the girls were coming from houses with no electricity, the heating was cold on the bus and everything, so yeah, we had a slow start,” he said.

“It was round one, and we were focusing a lot on trying to start well in games. We’ve done that in the last two games, and it’s great, but it’s only round three—we won’t be getting carried away. We have bigger games ahead of us. Three points is all we wanted, and we got them.”

Cavan’s forwards were in ruthless form, carving open Carlow’s defence with ease to amass an extraordinary tally of 4-16 from 25 shots. Daly was full of praise for his attacking unit but stressed that their scoring prowess is nothing new.

“There are top-class forwards there. They’re well able to shoot and score, and once they back themselves, they’ll get them. A lot of them were double-marked at times, Carlow had a lot of players back, and we did open them up at times. They’re top-class forwards, they’re well able to score, and they did today.”

Beyond the performance on the pitch, Daly was encouraged by the growing support for the team. With large numbers in attendance and young fans eager to engage with their heroes, he sees a bright future for ladies’ football in the county.

“Seeing the kids waving the girls out when they’re coming onto the pitch, and now getting jerseys signed and all, it’s great for ladies’ football in Cavan. Hopefully, that keeps going for all our home games, and hopefully, some of them might even brave going to some of the away games as well. It’s great to see it. It’s Cavan ladies’ football, it’s Cavan football, and it’s great to have that support.”

With a competitive panel at his disposal, Daly made it clear that squad depth will be crucial in the weeks ahead. When asked about squad rotation, he reaffirmed his belief in the strength of his group.

“She could have played, but we weren’t going to risk it. That’s what our panel is for. Kerri McCormack slotted in there instead of her and put in a fantastic performance. Yeah, we have a great, strong panel, and if someone is carrying a niggle… it will be up to Catherine now to push herself to get back on the starting team because there’s a lot of competition on the panel.”

Looking ahead to their next fixture against Wexford, Daly is under no illusions about the challenge that awaits. With both sides level on points, he knows his team will need to deliver another strong performance to keep their promotion push on track.

“Yeah, Wexford are ahead of us on score difference. They had two wins out of two before today. It’s only round four—three points are up for grabs. If we get them, we get them; if we don’t, we don’t. We’ll see what happens. We’ve a two-week break, and we’ll get the niggles sorted.

We’re looking forward to a weekend away in Wexford as well.”