Galligan positive after McKenna Cup opener

GAA news

His first match over, new Cavan manager Raymond Galligan moved on to his first post-match interview.

The Lacken clubman was happy overall with the performance on the evening but disappointed not to get at least a draw out of it.

“There were lots of positives. I think lads worked really hard, we put the game plan into practice to a large degree. At the end of the day, we were on the home stretch at a point of the game, we probably could have got a little bit more luck but so is life,” Galligan said.

“We put in a good show, we got six debutants – Cormac McKeogh, Liam Fay, Jack Tully, Emmanuel Shehu, Peter Smith, Mark Magee – so we’re delighted with that and the lads really stepped up when they got their chance.

“Going in three down, we probably could have been a little closer having lots of possession and lots of opportunities. Look, Derry are a really good, top side, back-to-back Ulster champions, and they’re very well drilled and possession is key.

“It was a bit disappointing that they kicked a number of scores in the first half off our turnovers. We probably forced that pass inside, it probably just wasn’t on and it left us then chasing because we were trying to commit boys to the attack rather than sit back.

“When you do that, it’s high risk but the reward for the opposition is good too. Little areas like that we need to work on and tidy up on.”

Asked about the performance of Niall Carolan, Galligan said: “Niall is a fantastic footballer, his line-breaks, taking on his man… And then the way he can recover, get back and defend, he’s a fantastic footballer. Unfortunately he’s very busy with college, it’s really about trying to keep these players healthy. There is a lot expected of him at this time of year and if you throw exams on top of that, it’s a very busy time so we have to look after lads like him.”

Derry goalkeeper Jack Cassidy played a lot of football out the field, a growing trend which Galligan, Cavan’s number one until the end of last season, has been watching closely.

“It’s definitely something that is really evolving in Gaelic games now, we’re going to see it a lot more, especially being in the higher divisions. It gives the opposition that extra opportunity to get out of defence and create that overlap. For us, we didn’t shy away from it, we didn’t give him too much possession that he was getting himself in a scoring area so I think the boys really adapted to it as the game went on, to get a little bit more pressure on him so that he wasn’t a scoring threat.

“Albeit Odhran Lynch wasn’t playing today but the style over the last couple of years is that Derry have been getting scores off their keeper so we eliminated that threat today which was a positive.”

Galligan ran the bench late on and was happy with how the subs did.

“We had a heavy week coming into the game, lads were tiring in the last few minutes which I expected so I suppose it was about backing and trusting the guys who have done the work over the last few weeks, they’re well able to step up and keep going, keep the momentum that we’d generated over the previous 20 or so minutes.

“It came down to one last kick-out and someone didn’t have a gumshield, they get an opportunity to get a pass out and it’s a two-point game rather than maybe a potential draw. They’re the small fine margins and they’re things that we need be aware of getting all right the next day.”

Next up is a trip to Páirc Esler, Newry to take on Down tomorrow (Wednesday, 7.30pm).

“We’re hoping the likes of Ryan Brady will be back the next day, Conor Rehill, Killian Clarke certainly and hopefully we might have a few more in the weeks ahead,” he said.