‘Knowing Cavan ladies football, you can see the talent that's there’

Interview

A new year brings with it new hopes and dreams. In ladies football in Cavan, coming off the back of a magnificent 12 months at underage and club levels and a disappointing season for the senior county team, there is a growing sense that further progress can be made for the flagship side.

That has been bolstered in recent weeks as word has seeped out that new senior manager Emmet Daly from Lurgan has succeeded in assembling a panel which, on paper, looks very strong. Previous incumbent Michael O’Rourke and his backroom team dealt with something of an exodus of experienced players last year; Daly has now brought many of them back and with a few underage graduates ready to step up, things are looking promising at this early stage.

“Yeah, look, it's so far, so good,” Daly said.

“Everything is going very well. We had a very big buy-in and interest from the girls that come into trials. I think, a total 70 something girls trialled, and we reduced the panel then more recently, down to 36 and thankfully, that's our final panel so far this year unless we see any injuries. But yeah, so far so good. Let's just hope it stays as positive as it has been so far.”

Daly cut his teeth with Ramor United, for whom he played, and Lurgan ladies before winning the Meath Junior B Championship with Carnaross last year. He would have liked to continue with the north Meath club but when the Cavan position came up, he jumped at it.

While it’s early days, he is enjoying the adjustment to inter-county management and the added responsibility that goes with it.

“There's probably a lot more work involved in December than in the club scene. With Christmas, you'd enjoy it a lot more. You wouldn't be thinking about football. You'd be taking your time off. But this year, it's all go over the Christmas, you're trying to organise things and get them ready for after Christmas when we come back, challenge games and everything, and setting up training plans and all that sort of craic.

“So, yeah, it's been busy, but it's what I signed up for, and it's what I enjoy. A big change from the club scene, I'd have to admit that, getting the lay of the land down in Breffni Park. And you're dealing with a lot more people in terms of strength and conditioning, nutritionists, full-time physios and things like that. And obviously you have a bigger backroom team as well that you're dealing with and making sure that everyone is on the one page, and we're all working together and all organised. So, yeah, it's busier than the club scene, obviously, but it's county, that's what you expect.”

Daly has served a good apprenticeship to this point in his managerial career.

“I started off coaching with Ramor underage, it is probably 15 years ago or more, and moved on then to Lurgan Ladies underage and was involved at Lurgan all the way up until U16, we've been in Féiles, we've won underage titles, and I’ve been heavily involved as Coaching Officer with Lurgan ladies for, I don't know how long, I stepped away this year, thankfully.

“And then I took over the Lurgan ladies seniors in 2021, Lurgan were probably in transition that year, they lost a few players and I probably had the knowledge of some of the underage players within the club and  brought them up to the senior level over 2021 and 2022.

“We actually won the Junior B championship in ’21, we had a lot of those new girls, and they thankfully went on and started on our senior team in ’22 and we won the Senior Championship, when probably people thought that the conveyor was nearly finished, and I think it was only starting really if you look at what has happened since.

“I was with Carnaross men over the last two years, and we won the Junior B there last year. It was the first adult title that they won in 31 years, which is a massive achievement. A great club to be involved in, extremely talented footballers there. I probably would have liked another year with Carnaross, but I think this Cavan job was the only job that was going to take me away from that and look, thankfully I'm here.”

Cavan are firmly established among the leading underage counties in ladies football nationally but the breakthrough has been slow to arrive at senior inter-county level, with a number of near misses before, ultimately, a weakened squad stayed up in the Intermediate Championship in a relegation play-off last year and found themselves demoted to Division 3 of the National League.

“Knowing Cavan ladies football, you can see the talent that's there. Managing your county is obviously always an ambition for any manager or coach. But, you look around Cavan ladies football, and you see Lurgan there and they got to an Ulster final this year, but they barely got over the line against Crosserlough in the county final. Mullahoran won an intermediate Ulster championship and the likes of Kingscourt nearly pipped them in a semi-final. So the talent in Cavan is just massive.

“And ladies football is brilliant. And if you look at all the underage clubs in Cavan, a lot of them have two, three teams at U10s, U12s, U14s. Seven, eight years ago, that wasn't happening. So to me, ladies football in Cavan is just massive. And to be involved with that, to me, it's just great. So that's probably one of the main reasons I went for it.

“And there's obviously those underage successes that have been happening in the county too. If you leave that aside, there has been massive talent that mightn’t have won All-Irelands that maybe some people are forgetting about, focusing on these All-Irelands that have been won.

“But those girls aren't all ready for adult football yet. There is a big core of players that won maybe an U14 All-Ireland back in what, 2014, 2015, that are in their prime now. So trying getting those girls back, enjoying their football (was a goal) and hopefully we’ll reap the rewards and benefits and have Cavan ladies in a good place for those talented underage All-Ireland winners to come into in the years ahead.”

Plater retention was a challenge last year and that was the first thing Daly addressed.

“Well, look, it's like going into any management thing, getting your best players playing football. And in fairness to Mickey who was with Cavan last year, he didn't have all the best players at his disposal. Thankfully, this year, after a few phone calls with some of those experienced girls, they have come on board, and it's up to me now to try and keep them.

“With the panel we have, and with these underage girls, you're not going to develop them unless you have those experienced players there so we have quite a good balance there now at the minute, it's just a matter now of building that bond and keeping them there for the years ahead and hopefully Cavan will push on and get out of Division 3, and, be contesting an intermediate title and getting back up to senior where they should be.

“It is going to be a work in progress but I think with the strong panel that we have now compared to maybe previous years, that we definitely have potential to do that.”

Already, Daly says it’s clear that the return of the more experienced players has helped.

“Oh, without a doubt, you can see the leadership skills that that they bring and they do bring it up that bit, that higher of a level, like if a drill or something's not going right, one of those girls will step up and say something, which is what you want.

“So far, we haven't really done anything too technical or anything like that. But, you're doing your hard runs, and you see those girls pushing the younger girls on, and setting those standards so it's great to see them there. And hopefully they do stay for a good few years. I don't want to just be a one-year wonder, we want to keep those girls involved as long as we can, because they are, at the minute, your experienced players. They're extremely talented as well.

“You want them there as long as you can, until these other girls are able to step up and become those leaders as well. So yeah, it's great to have them around and long may it last.”

A quartet of All-Ireland minor medallists have been added to the senior panel, Daly confirmed.

“From last year’s minor team, we have four up. We have Alex Peters, Sinéad Kelly, Ellie Brady and Sarah Clarke all moving extremely well at training.

“They have their Leaving Certs this year as well so that'll be their priority, but it's getting them into this set-up and getting them playing at a very high level. And all those girls will be pushing for a lot of game time this year, and I'd expect them all to push on, because they are a good, talented group of girls. So yeah, that's the four we have brought up.”

The team will be captained by Crosserlough defender Shauna Lynch, with Mullahoran’s former AFL star Aishling Sheridan vice-captain.

“I don't think Aishling needs much introduction, a professional footballer and back playing with Cavan this year. So a thoroughly deserved position for her. And the captain then is Shauna Lynch from Crosserlough. Shauna is an extremely talented footballer, she was the captain of Crosserlough in 2021, they beat Lurgan in the final.

“She's a good leader, tremendous footballer, hard-hitting defender, she's not someone you're going for 50-50 ball with. She's definitely a good fit. And we all sat down together as a management team, and we picked those two girls quite easily. There were a few debates with different girls but I think we've made that the right decision.”

Daly has his own philosophy on the game and how he likes to coach teams to play it.

“I don't know if people have watched any of the teams that I've been with playing but we like to attack, we try and get our defence to be able to man-mark and play on the front foot. They’ll be a hard-working team. Fitness is something that we'll be working on, Donal (Farrelly) and the coaching team are big into that. So you'll expect to see a very fast, fit Cavan team, hard-working as well. That's it - and hopefully play with a smile on their faces as well and after that anything can happen.”

Daly’s backroom team contains a number of people he has worked with previously as well as several new faces.

“It's massive and thankfully, we have a good team put together,and everyone is kind of singing off the same hymn sheet in that we're happy in how we want to set up. And we have all sat down and highlighted our plans and our targets. And everyone that's there, you've Donal (Farrelly) as the head coach, Matty Cahill, you've Killian Tracey helping out with the coaching and you've Bronagh Sheridan then as selector and she brings with her a wealth of knowledge in terms of ladies football, and the other girls respect her.

“Gavin Tobin is over the strength and conditioning with Aodhgan Fox overseeing it and they're two good lads to be involved. Aodhgán is obviously head of the men's set-up in Cavan so his knowledge that he's able to pass on is extremely vital.

“Corey Smith is goalkeeping coach, first year working with him, and I'm extremely impressed by Corey. Goalkeeping coaches are few and far between, and he is top class and has a good way about him and is a massive asset for Cavan ladies - he's going to be involved with the underage teams as well, which is great because developing goalies at a young age is very important. They're they're hard come by in ladies football, especially of high of a high calibre and so yeah, that's my background team, and it's quite a good one.

“We all work extremely well together, which is great, just a matter now of getting the girls to work with us too, but pushing on because it's not just management or players that become successful, it's everyone, from the committee, even back to the clubs and the whole county.

“You need everyone working together and supporting those girls out on the field and getting to games. We've three home league games coming up and thankfully, two of them are being put into Breffni Park, which is massive for ladies football so you'd be hoping that you'll get a lot of people from around Cavan out to support them.

“We're all trying to go in the same direction and hopefully be competitive and start bringing a few wins back to the senior team.”

The standard in ladies football rises year on year, with high expectations now around preparation.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, it's probably where, men's football was maybe five or six years ago and it's just getting bigger and bigger. And, girls have standards too and the day of some lad showing up with a pair of wellies and a whistle is gone because ladies football, to me, it's better than men's football, to watch and everything. It's far more enjoyable.

“There's always been the second class citizens but I think there's a lot of people coming to realise that this girl's football, or ladies football, is a lot more enjoyable to watch than the men’s side of things. And hopefully that'll bring more support to it, because we talk about equality and everything, which is very important, and something that I’d very big on but unless supporters start going to games, it's hard to make an argument for equality, when the supporters themselves aren't coming and supporting these girls on the field, because they work just as hard as the men, and some even harder.

“They're as talented as the men, so, yeah, they just need everyone else to row in behind them and push on because, ladies football is massive, as I keep saying, and it's just getting bigger.

“You compare my own club Lurgan to Ramor there. Lurgan have 420-something members, I think, while Ramor have 480-something, so it's not much of a difference there in in terms of membership.

“Ladies football is getting to a very high level and it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger so we need everyone just supporting that and pushing it on.”

Momentum

Looking from the outside in, it appears Cavan are well placed to build momentum during the league and have a real rattle at the Intermediate All-Ireland, which the county last won in 2013.

“Honestly, that's our plan as well. Look, it's going to take time to gel these girls together, and for us as management to identify what's our strongest team and what works for us. We’re probably going to use the league a good bit to develop a lot of girls too and kind of have one eye set on championship as well.

“But I do honestly think that we will be competing at the very end of that league and it is the target we have set ourselves, and hopefully it works. But we're ambitious and we're realistic as well and we definitely think we're more than capable of competing in Division 3 and getting out of it in our first year.”

Cavan’s opening clash is against Louth on January 26; while Daly and his management will do their due diligence, he is not one for overly-obsessing on opposition.

“Louth are a good team. I remember watching them last year, the girl who plays at 14 is very talented. There's one or two actually, very fast players attacking from the half-back line.

“Look, I don't dwell too much on opposition. I get a couple of match-ups right, and I will have girls that are well able to handle some of their better players but we'll be focusing a lot on ourselves. And as I say, we'll be playing on the front foot. And if you look at the speed and the talent we have in our panel, I wouldn't like to be thinking about who's going to be marking who on our team. So that's the way I look at it.

“It's the first round of the league. We'll have two challenges before it and I won't be expecting us now to be shooting out the lights or anything like that, but it's a process, and the league is step one more or less, and it's about getting better with every game and learning with each game. So, yeah, look, a one-point victory, I'd be happy with it in any game.

“It's about building that, bond among the players, and identifying what works for us and what doesn't work for us. Just keep progressing, getting better and learning. And if you don't win a game, you learn from it, and you move on and you focus on the next one. I'm not going to dwell too much on Louth or Carlow or any other team, it's Cavan. We have to get Cavan back to where we want to be and until we have our own backyard in order, I'm not going to be worried about any of the other teams and we’ll see where that brings us.”

That said, it won’t be a quick fix, he insists. This is a longer-term project.

“Look, you could go out and you could put out your best 15 and leave them on for the whole game and not develop anyone on the rest of the panel. And what good is that for the future of Cavan? So the way we are looking at is trying to develop all these girls.

“You’d be obviously trying to get the balance right that you're still staying very competitive in the league but you want to be giving girls game time and giving them the opportunity to show and express themselves on that field.

“Some girls will be making their debuts and stuff and it mightn’t work out for them in the first game or two. But you have to be persistent because you know the talented players that these girls are and it also doesn’t work overnight. It's not just a matter of putting on the Cavan jersey and going out and being exceptional.

“They are human beings at the end of the day so I'll be giving them as much encouragement and making them feel as comfortable as they as they can in the environment.

“As I said, it's a work in progress with a big panel of 36 and it’s trying to keep everyone happy and competitive and building the team and the panel for the years ahead. So, yeah, that's kind of the idea of it. And hopefully we'll be competitive as well along those lines, and I think we will be, yeah.

“My first goal as manager was to get the best players back and get them enjoying their football. And collectively, then we have identified the league, the intermediate Ulster and All-Ireland as possible championships and leagues that we can compete in to the very end. Look, setting your targets now is easy done, we all want to win championships, it's easy saying that.

“The work has started, and so far, so good. And if we keep this hard work and progress going, anything can happen. I think every other team is doing their interviews and they're saying the exact same thing, or perhaps in team meetings, but look, we'll be in a good position that, girls will be playing, they'll be fit, they'll be enjoying their football, and we've a very talented squad, so after that anything can happen.”

While there is pressure, Daly enjoys management and being involved in the game.

“You always have your moments. There's always some sort of crap thrown at you at some stage. And you just deal with it, and you get over it, move on and it’s the same for the girls, they'll always have a rough week or whatever.

“You never know what's going on in their lives. But if you create that environment that's supportive and there is good communication between players that, we've a good FLO there as well that's very good with the girls...

“We have the resources there. And I'm enjoying it. The lads are enjoying it, and so far, I think girls are enjoying it too. We'll just try to keep that going and see what happens.

“You play football or you get involved in football because you like it. So there's no point in, kind of pressurising yourself and being involved in something that's not a nice environment to be in. And that's not how I work.

“I try and keep it that you want to be there, I played football myself and you get to a stage in your life that you know you might not be enjoying it and you decide to leave. And then you realise, ‘why did I leave? I miss it now’.

“So you try to keep it as enjoyable as possible. It's obviously hard work, it's not about having the craic all the time, definitely not, but you do find that if you're putting in the effort and you're reaping the rewards, that that's very enjoyable as well.

“So we'll be pushing these girls to their limits, and they're reacting to that, they're pushing themselves too, and they're doing their own bits outside of here. And it's a good omen, you work hard, you reap the benefits. So that's all we're doing.”

Success always brings the crowds out but Daly would like to see Cavan football supporters getting behind his team from the off and sticking with them.

“I’d encourage everyone to get out and support them. It’s Cavan football, it's your county and we all have sisters or daughters or whatever.

“So bring them to it, and hopefully that will help these girls to push on and go that bit further when they see the support that they're getting within the county. So hopefully they come out. I can't put a gun to anyone's head and make them but maybe with a few victories and things going well, it might entice more people out to it.

“We’ll wait and see, but we'll do our job anyway, and whether there's big crowds or small crowds, we'll make sure that our work is done and we'll push on from there.”

The Cavan ladies senior panel for 2025 is: Evelyn Baugh (Lurgan), Ciara Brady (Lurgan), Aisling Sheridan (Mullahoran), Annie Denneher (Mullahoran), Hannah Gilsenan (Bailieborough), Aisling Gilsenan (Munterconnaught/Mountnugent), Ellie Brady (Ballyhaise), Mona Sheridan (Mullahoran), Catherine Dolan (Lurgan), Micheala Fitzpatrick (Drumlane), Shauna Lynch (Crosserlough), Keri McCormack (Kingscourt), Niamh Tolan (Lurgan), Sinead Kelly (Lurgan), Lauren McVeety (Crosserlough), EllyAnna Madden (Gowna), Sophie Daly (St Finbarrs), Deirbhle McCaffery (Cornafean), Caoimhe Madden (Gowna), Zara Fay (Drumlane), Niamh McCorry (Butlersbridge), Eimear Corcoran (Lurgan), Shanice Fitzsimons (Castlerahan/Denn), Sinead Greene (Templeport), Deirbhle Lynch (Killygarry), Aine Brady (Cornafean), Rebecca McLoughlin (Shannon Gaels), Alex Peters (Ballyhaise), Lucy Jane Grant (Ballyhaise), Lucy Crowe (Lacken), Sarah Clarke (Cavan Gaels), Hannah Fitzsimons (Castlerahan/Denn), Niamh Keenaghan (Laragh), Katie Mulvey (Knockbride), Sarah McCabe (Knockbride), Helen Corcoran (Drumlane)