'There is nothing to be gained by looking back'

Interview

The Cavan senior footballers will attempt to end a 42-year wait for a championship win over Tyrone this Sunday at Healy Park, Omagh – but manager Raymond Galligan insists that the historical head-to-head record will have little bearing on his side’s preparations.

Cavan are rated as 9/2 outsiders to get the win today (Sunday, throw-in, 4.15pm), despite pushing the Red Hands to extra time in the quarter-final last year.

“Well, I think, firstly, we will definitely not, I suppose, put too much stock on previous results,” said Galligan, who was speaking at the Ulster SFC launch.

“I think there's nothing to be gained by looking back and I feel that our big focus will be that it's just another game, it's 70 minutes plus football, and we just need to be make sure that we bring our very best performance. You know, we came up short last year but it's a new game, it's a new competition. And for us, it's about just making sure that we tick off all the boxes over the next three weeks and on the day, we’ll be expecting that we will give a good enough account of ourselves to get the result.”

While changes to the scheduling and format have meant a downgrading of the provincial championships to some extent, Galligan said that Cavan, in the 100th year of the Anglo-Celt Cup, will be giving it everything they have.

“I think now that we've drawn a line on the National League, it gives us an opportunity over the three-week block to re-evaluate, review and really put our best foot forward going into the Ulster Championship.

“It's a competition that has huge tradition in Cavan, there's fantastic memories all through the ages for Cavan teams, and I think we need to give it the due respect and really apply ourselves to bring a really, really good performance against a Tyrone team that have new management and new players involved - so we can't take them lightly, and it's up to us to really give it everything on the day.

“We’ll definitely take confidence (from the close match last year). We know that we certainly have been narrowing the gap. We've had quite a positive league and we kind of feel that there are areas in our game that we've been improving on.

“We know there are areas that we can still work on and look now at opportunities that we find that we could expose against Tyrone. I think regarding last year, we take great confidence that, we were a match for them for large periods. But look, it's a new game so we can’t take a whole pile of stock from last year either.

“Definitely we know Tyrone will be strong at home, good home support. But look, we'll be looking forward to the challenge and we certainly are going there with the full focus to try and get a result.

“There is an advantage playing at home and but I suppose in one sense, it takes pressure away from Cavan. We can go there, we can give it absolutely everything. And as I say, it's a competition that we really, really respect and we have a proud tradition in so we want to give a real good account of ourselves.”

The new football rules have seen more of an emphasis on attacking play, Galligan agreed, and managers probably have less control once the players cross the white line, with rigid systems trickier to implement now.

“I think with new rules, it's all about performing, and it's really about kind of backing your forwards.

“There probably is that element to the game now whereby control is less prominent. Having 11 v 11 means that there is constant pressure being applied by the opposition on our attackers.

“It gives less time to make decisions when you're on the ball so you really have to back the skills and make sure the skills are on point that, you’re giving the quality ball into the forwards and making sure that you're playing that percentage pass, because there is space now and there are opportunities to get the ball in fast, there are less opportunities to have your sweepers in place.

“So I think it's about trying to win that primary possession around midfield as much as possible and retain  possession as a whole and certainly just making sure that when you get that opportunity, that you back yourself because it's really the turnovers that are the big takeaway for us in the National League.

“Getting turned over is very difficult to recover from because you're doing a double take, really, in your running capacity.”

An interesting sub-plot to the contest is that Cavan’s forward coach and selector is one of Tyrone’s all-time greats, three-time All-Ireland winner Stephen O’Neill.

“Stephen is a very proud Tyrone man. He’s won it all, from Player of the Year to All-Star awards. He's done it all with Tyrone and I suppose it's definitely a tricky one for him playing his home county. But he was very professional last year in his application to making sure that it was the Cavan forwards who were giving the best account of themselves.

“And I suppose, again, no different than what we did last year, and no different than we did in the league, we just definitely are putting our best foot forward in the sense of making sure that we're best prepared. The focus really would be more about ourselves rather than Tyrone. That has been the way we've applied ourselves over the last while and Stephen will be doing likewise going into this game.”

A talking point in the county has been how close Cavan came to promotion, with some suggestions that Galligan’s charges dodged a bullet in not going to Division 1.

“Look, at the time, we never really put a huge emphasis on getting to Division 1, because, I suppose, our backs were to the wall after round two, and it was week by week by week. Thankfully, going into Cork, we were in a position whereby if we had to do our job, we would have given ourselves a chance, similarly to Meath and I suppose we are both in the same position today.

“We were very disappointed, absolutely, when the opportunity arises, you want to grab it with both hands. But that would have been next year's problem, in the sense whether you're ready or not, time would tell. But definitely, we're very disappointed we just didn't get our job done and get that result.

“But in saying that, now that we're in Division 2 next year, it's a really good competition. We have huge opportunities to push ourselves and test ourselves again.

“But I definitely don't think it's a step back for Cavan football, because we've blooded 29 players this year in the league, and whether you can do that in Division 1 is really unknown now, it is a very, very competitive league, when you see Tyrone getting relegated with seven points... Look, we are disappointed, but yeah, that's hindsight, I suppose.”

Over the last three weeks, Cavan have had a chance to heal some sores and really focus on this match.

“I think, definitely, with the new rules and the relentlessness of Division 2 and, I suppose, the way we put ourselves under pressure early doors, we're really glad to get this break, albeit it’s not a break really for the players, but it's a break from competitive games because we have picked up a few minor injuries.

“And it's an opportunity for us now to really look at our game, do a root and branch review of the league, and make sure that we take the learnings from the games.

“And it gives an opportunity, really, to get on the training field and get working because it's been very difficult week on week, to continue to load more and more information on players, so it's just a chance now to kind of have a more pragmatic approach and making sure that we're best prepared going into Tyrone.”