Galligan delighted as team overcome adversity for statement win

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Cavan will be going all guns blazing to beat Cork next Sunday and hope that results elsewhere will see a return to Division 1 for the first time in six years, according to manager Raymond Galligan.

Cavan entered the contest missing a number of key players, with Oisin Kiernan, Jason McLoughlin, Darragh Lovett, Conor Madden and Killian Clarke all unavailable. On top of this, they suffered further setbacks during the game with injuries to Oisin Brady and James Smith, two pivotal figures in recent weeks, and the outstanding Dara McVeety going off for a period with a head injury.

But the Blues made light of those setbacks, with Galligan praising his players for “giving it everything”.

“We lost a lot of guys over the last 10 or 12 days, and they’re lads who would have been regulars in and out of the team,” he said.

“It was an opportunity for others to step up, and I think they did. To a man, they stuck to the game plan. The game ebbed and flowed, but you’d have to be very proud of them because they’re just giving it everything, and that’s all you can ask for, I suppose.”

While their early league form saw them endure some tough lessons against strong opposition in Monaghan (already promoted) and Meath (in the shake-up), Galligan believes those matches were not a fair reflection on his side and that the hard work over the winter months – including a series of challenge matches against leading teams - has only shone through in the last four games.

“It’s starting to show the value of having a really good pre-season. We took some harsh lessons in the first two rounds, but we knew having played top Division 1 teams that we were doing so much right, and we were blooding guys throughout it. And now some are only getting opportunities—the likes of Thomas Edward (Donohoe), the likes of Sean McEvoy, who hasn’t played in a number of weeks in the league. Boys are starting to really step up. Ryan O’Neill as well. So it’s great that they’re doing the business for us.”

Central to Cavan’s success was their approach to contests across the field. Galligan outlined how they prioritised disrupting Roscommon’s flow, particularly by making their kick-outs a battleground.

“I am a firm believer that, with or without a breeze, you have to create as many contests as possible. Different days you might step off, but against a team like Roscommon that has great quality forwards, we knew if we gave them cheap possession, it would be very difficult to get a foothold in the game. So we wanted to create as many contests out the field as we could. Look, lads were immense,” he said.

“I thought in the first half we got a huge amount off their kick-out, and it just kept us in the game. We left a lot behind us in the first half, but in saying that, so did they in the second, so I think it was a fair reflection at half-time.”

Going into the break two down, Galligan and his players sensed the win for there for them.

“We knew going in at half-time that we were in a great position,” he said.

The Lacken clubman was particularly pleased with Cavan’s conditioning.

“Roscommon got a good purple patch there midway through the second half, they won a lot of breaking ball. But I think what’s showing really well for us is we’re finishing strong. And the last three games now, lads are finishing strongly so I think it’s great to see that their fitness is kind of starting to come to fruition. And look, it just gives us good confidence going into the week ahead. I think we’re definitely safe, so that’s a major positive and we’re guaranteed to play in the All-Ireland series, so they’re huge boxes to be ticked.”

With safety secured, Cavan now turn their attention to their next challenge against Cork – and Cavan will not be resting on their laurels, he said.

“Oh God, yeah, we’d always be going out to win the game. We’ll give all our respect and attention to Cork, but I suppose this week for us is no different than every other week. It’s just full focus on ourselves, hopefully there will be a lot of lads able to come back from their injuries. There’s only one, I think, is long term. I suppose Oisin Brady today now is definitely out.

“But as I say, it’ll be trying to kind of repair a few bodies that were missing today and again, then just trying to tidy up lots of areas that we can improve on. We left a lot of scores behind and defensively, at times, they got through us.

“With the wee tweaks in the rules, it’s kind of left the game that turnovers are really detrimental. If you’re getting caught with a turnover, you’re on the back foot. We’ve put a big emphasis on that one-to-one defending and making sure that they stay in the game, making sure that the footwork is on point, and making sure that they’re not kind of getting turned. And definitely, the big key is moving the ball at speed, supporting the man on the ball.”

He highlighted the role of key runners in Cavan’s system – there are now line-breakers all over the pitch.

“Look, when you have the hard runners like Gerry (Smith), (Padraig) Faulkner, Ciaran Brady, Luke Fortune, it gives you great confidence as a management to know that you’re never going to be too far away when you’ve those men coming up at pace.”