OPINION: 'The firm' are following in a noble Cavan tradition
Paul Fitzpatrick
It was 1967, Ulster final day in Clones. Cavan and Down had vied for provincial supremacy throughout the 1960s and here they were in St Tiernach’s Park, going at it again.
One of the mainstays for Cavan was Ray Carolan, regarded as the pre-eminent midfielder in the game at that point. Carolan can still remember the ferocity of Cavan’s play on that occasion.
“James McCartan was coming through with the ball,” Ray said, “Peter Pritchard came across and hit him a shoulder and, before he straightened up, Andy McCabe came across and hit him from the other side.”
Pritchard and McCabe were hard men on the field, defenders who relished the physical challenge. Every successful team has them and in Cavan, there has always been a tradition of backs who, in the parlance, took no prisoners.
In the 1940s, Willie Doonan was that man. A terrific ball-player who had played a lot of soccer in the war years, Doonan is commonly regarded as the best footballer to come out of Cavan Town.
He was from what was termed ‘the Half Acre’, a deprived area where kids got tough quickly. Swarthy, rugged, tremendously powerful, he once proffered a new word for the English language when, playing against Roscommon in the 1947 All-Ireland semi-final, he drew a line in the mud with his boot heel and told his opponent that if he crossed it again, he would be ‘f**kalised’!
Previewing the 1948 semi-final against Louth, The Anglo-Celt would use three words to describe Doonan: “Knows no fear."
A few weeks later, he played in the All-Ireland final against Mayo with a heavily bandaged hand, having been cut and burned while rescuing two people who were trapped when a house caught fire in Mitchell Street, Cavan, a few hundred yards from Doonan’s home on ‘the terraces’ overlooking Breffni Park. Willie had been mooching around, waiting for a pal to buy some cigarettes, when he spotted the fire in the nearby house-cum-shop. He sprinted across the street, broke through the shopfront window and carried the woman out in his arms. One person lost their life and at the inquest, Doonan was hailed a hero.
“Willie Doonan played a man’s part on the night,” noted the deputy coroner, “but what else would we expect from a member of the Cavan All-Ireland team?”
There were many other players who filled the role. The likes of Paddy McGill, Ollie Brady and Dermot Dalton were hard as nails on the 1970s teams who were unlucky not to make a breakthrough. They were the sort of men who rose the crowd with heroic interceptions, full-blooded tackles and drives out of defence.
Later on, Bernard Morris, centre-back on the successful Cavan team in 1997, was in many ways the pulse of a side who were who were top-heavy with brilliant forwards. Morris was fair but when he hit an opponent with one of those shoulders, ‘yer man’ stayed hit.
Why do we bring this up now? Because a thought struck us on the way home from Portlaoise on Sunday, just around the Red Cow Hotel when we started to thaw out.
Cavan held Laois, who were playing with a gale at their backs and had some vaunted players in their forward line, to just three points in the second half. The defence was outstanding.
It was not a day for fancy dans but the Cavanmen got stuck in and never took a backward step. At one stage, the Laois goalkeeper – whose acceleration was eye-catching - ran about 80 metres in possession before Killian Brady lined him up and met him with a shuddering, clean shoulder.
It prompted one of the biggest cheers of the day from the travelling supporters and sent out a clear message: Cavan were here to get the job done and go home with two points. Business, not pleasure.
The loyal fans who made the long journey south in the bitter cold were rewarded with a memorable win. Suddenly, it appears, things are not as bad as some feared.
While the Breffni men, like Sunday's opponents, have lost a lot of good players – notably Clarke, Moynagh, McVeety, Rehill, Mackey and the injured Niall Murray – they retain a solid spine, principally at the back.
Mullahoran’s Brady seemed to get a raw deal in recent seasons but has always been one of the best man-markers in the county and a robust presence in defence, brave to a fault.
Beside him, Padraig Faulkner is arguably the leader of the team now. Like Willie Doonan on the night of that tragic fire, he plays a man’s role.
And Ciaran Brady is a player supporters love to see – totally whole-hearted, honest and aggressive in the tackle and always looking to get forward. Together, they form a triumvirate of combative, teak-tough defenders.
At the outset of last season, writing on these pages, Michael Hannon suggested that Mickey Graham would be well-advised to fill his defence with the most athletic players he had, mature men who could be relied upon in a one-on-one situation.
The knock-on effect of that, he reckoned, would be to reduce the need to flood bodies back and therefore allow a more free-flowing, attacking style of play. The wisdom of that theory was clear to be seen on Sunday last.
Of course, that trio’s steel was counter-balanced by the sheer athleticism and class of Martin Reilly and Gerard Smith to form an excellent rearguard, with Oisin Kiernan bombing forward any chance he got.
At the other end of the field, Cavan remain a work in progress and it is here that the absences are most keenly felt. But while the quality in some sectors is questionable, the effort cannot be doubted. True supporters recognise and appreciate this.
Of course, one win over an over-hyped Laois does not amount to all that much either and nothing will come easy in Brewster on Saturday night. Fermanagh have turned it into something of a fortress. If the defence replicates Sunday’s performance, though, Cavan should be well on the way to winning.
Behind them against Laois, captain Raymond Galligan was assured too and saved a crucial penalty. But for our money, Brady, Faulkner and Brady – it sounds like a solicitor’s firm – were the foundation on which the win was built. ‘The Firm’ would be a catchy name for them, in fact.
Regardless, they are following in a noble tradition and are a credit to the blue and white jersey.
Long may they wear it.