Minors face Tyrone in Ulster opener

GAA news

Kevin Óg Carney

Cavan’s bid to climb to the summit of minor football in Ulster for the first time since 2011 will begin this Saturday (3pm) at Kingspan Breffni when reigning champions Tyrone visit Kingspan Breffni.

The O’Neill County will be aiming this year to make it a hat-trick of blue riband title successes at under 17 level and, subsequent to their 5-7 to 1-10 victory over Cavan in the Ulster Minor Football League last month, will go into this weekend’s championship opener as firm favourites.

In that aforementioned game at Garvaghy, Cavan paid the ultimate penalty for some ruinous defending, coughing up soft goals to an admittedly slick and clinical O’Neill County.

Cavan team-manager Seanie Smith is confident though that his charges will wear the label of match underdogs on Saturday with energy and vigour and believes that if the blues work their socks off, an upset is possible.

“The league was a learning tool for us but no team wants to concede five goals along the way although better to lose like that in the league than in the championship,” the Mullahoran clubman told the Anglo Celt this week.

“Tyrone have a very impressive underage pedigree over the years and their players are all quite comfortable on the ball so we have to make sure that they are put under pressure when in possession.

“We have to work as hard off the ball as we intend doing in retaining possession and its really important that whenever we attack that we get some reward from it.”

In the modern game of football, at every level, the ebb and flow of the game can resemble the hurly burly of basketball where the attainment of scores from each attack is paramount.

Reflecting on Cavan’s scoring power to date against big hitters in the league, Tyrone and Donegal, team-manager Smith concedes that his charges have to “at least get 15 scores” to put it up to the defending champions.

“We scored 1-9 in going under (by four points) to Donegal in the league which wasn’t enough and I don’t think the 1-10 we got against Tyrone in the league will be enough on Saturday either.

“Goals are very important; they lift a team and give you a three point cushion and it’s crucial that we take any goal chances we creates, especially when playing the likes of Tyrone. At the other end, we have to be mindful that keeping the goals out is crucial too,” adds Smith, a senior countyman under Val Andrews and Eamonn Coleman and the winner of a Dr. McKenna Cup medal (2001).

Smith and his think tank of selectors Barry McGahan (Cootehill Celtic) and Killian Brady (Mullahoran and Cavan defender), plus lead coach Liam Brady (Ramor and Cavan ‘keeper) and strength and conditioning coach Dan Wharton (Cornafean) have been putting their 36-strong panel through their paces four times per week since the end of November last.

With just days to go before the first round tie, Smith says that “it’s now all about fine tuning”. If things go to plan Cavan will find themselves preparing for a provincial quarter-final match in mid-May.

“Over the coming weeks – starting with Saturday – it’ll be about us trying to get the type of performance out of all the players that will be good enough against Tyrone and the rest of the teams in the group.

“It’s a great opportunity for all the lads. Saturday will hopefully be a great day for them and their families. Some of the players might not get the chance to play for Cavan again so it’s up to them to make the most of their opportunities they will get this year with us.

“Because it’s not a knock-out competition and we’re all guaranteed three games, it’s not all about Saturday and how things go against Tyrone. It’s still a very important game for us in terms of preparing us for the games against Antrim and Armagh down the road.

The 44-year-old Dreadnought is pleased that Saturday’s set-to isn’t a do-or-die game and he regards it as disappointing that Cavan’s under 20s got just one bite of the cherry in this year’s Ulster championship; bowing out to Monaghan.

“When you consider all the time and energy that goes into preparing and playing the games, for young lads to just get one game in the championship is a big shame in my book.

“I think everyone should be guaranteed at least three games in the championship, at whatever level, ‘cause the idea is that these underage competitions are about developing young talent.”

So what exactly does he feel Tyrone’s young talent will bring to the table on Saturday?

“They’re difficult to dispossess for a start,” the three-time SFC medallist with Mullahoran opines.

“They’re a slick team. They don’t kick the ball an awful lot. They carry the ball at pace and have good footballers throughout the team which doesn’t surprise me given the success their schools have had at Hogan Cup and Vocational Schools levels over the years.

“But we will go into the game against them, taking the spirit of Cavan football with us and the passion too that the county is famous for but, at the end of the day, we have been really pleased by the commitment the lads have given us over the last few months and I really hope they can express themselves on the day and do themselves justice.

“It’s good that we’re playing in Breffni. It’s a definite advantage being at home and is much better than having to go to Healy Park. With a good crowd behind us, the lads have a decent chance of upsetting the odds.”