Buried in the Garden
March 01, 2010Many Breffni followers will remember 2009 as a the year in which Cavan had their best chance to reach a first Ulster final in eight-long seasons, but an appalling display against Antrim in Clones come the end of June proved the beginning of the end for Tommy Carr's charges, as a parallel performance against Wicklow down in Aughrim in the All-Ireland qualifiers followed a fortnight later, which saw another season crumble in mid-July.
After exiting at the hands of Mick O'Dwyer's men, impulsive calls for Carr's departure whirled around the Breffni County, but Cavan's lowly demise in recent times does not just come down to one man, or one season for that matter.
In hindsight 'Things To Get Worse Before They Get Better' should have sat at the top of the last edition's senior football piece, but, really, who could have envisaged last summer's championship to unravel the way it did? After a rousing win against Fermanagh, Cavan went from the possibility of an Ulster final place alongside the All-Ireland champions to being shown the exit door by two - albeit vastly improving - Division Four counties.
Going by form, Cavan themselves enter into this decade as a Division Four team in everything but name. Were it not for vital wins against Down and Limerick last season they would indeed be a complete fourth tier package.
2009 started with the Breffni men being taught a lesson by the students of Queen's University, Belfast on January 3 in the opening round of the Dr McKenna Cup. The game, which saw the Belfast boys storm to a 3-13 to 0-12 win, was the first competitive one played by any inter-county team in the country in the New Year.
It was Redhills ace Paddy Gumley's contribution of 1-3 the next day out which proved decisive against Antrim at Casement Park - a game which saw the return of a 'wily old fox' (according to Carr) in Larry Reilly. The Knockbride maestro had been left out Donal Keogan's plans the previous season, but would go onto become one of Cavan's top scores in 2009 alongside star attacker Sean Johnston.
However, with additions came withdrawals. After defeating Armagh in the final round of the McKenna Cup, where Nicholas Walsh's late winner snatched a second win in three games, fellow club man, and Cavan veteran, Anthony Forde made it clear to Carr that he would not be lining-out in a Cavan jersey for the National League or All-Ireland championship due to work and family commitments. The weeks ahead also saw Paddy Gumley and Mark McKeever also withdraw for contrasting reasons.
Cavan were starting the National League with, arguably, a weaker panel then they had for the McKenna Cup. They made the trip to Longford without the likes of the experienced Forde, Dermot McCabe and James Reilly (injured) and faltered to three well-timed goals from the hosts.
Despite the shock of the loss, this was not to be Cavan's worst performance of the season by a long shot - in actual fact they had played worse and still won games. There were superb contributions by Drung midfielder Ciaran Galligan and new-look target-man David Givney, but it was Cavan's full-back line that was exposed as frail, as Longford struck their goals at devastating times from a Breffni prospective to take the result on a score-line of 3-6 to 0-12 at Pearse Park.
Two weeks' later and Carr's home county were the visitors to Kingspan Breffni Park, where Sean Johnston would make his first start of the season in a Cavan jersey after recovering from injury. With the Cavan Gaels ace in the ranks, Breffni supporters were confident of their team opening their account in the league against Tipperary, but a leaderless Cavan side were pushed aside as Tipp attacker Barry Grogan stole the show with seven points to inflict Carr's men with a second consecutive defeat by 0-13 to 0-11.
Just two games in and the signs were already ominous for Cavan's season ahead, but Carr refused to panic, saying: "That day is gone where you can expect to beat teams, you can't. That's not the way it happens. There are two bands of teams in the country, one is the top five or six and then there is the rest who can all beat each other on any particular day."
The players and management seemed to accept the fact that promotion back to Division Two was already out of the question at this early stage, and next up was a daunting trip to Newry, where they would go in search again of their first two points to lift themselves from the foot of the third division.
In the high winds and lashing rain of a stormy March night at Pairc Esler, a new-look Cavan side put Down to the sword with what was the county's most admirable display of the 2009 season.
A 'Man of the Match' display from Cian Mackey - acting in a playmaker role at wing forward - was closely followed by Sean Johnston, who, along with returning veteran Larry Reilly, helped to tear the Mourne defence to shreds throughout the 70 minutes.
Cuchullains youngster Eugene Keating announced his arrival as a Cavan senior as well, by coming off the bench on the half-hour mark to kick three points from play, while utility man Ray Cullivan added Cavan's other score on the night whilst being deployed as a third man at centre-field, where Ciaran Galligan and David Givney shone furthermore.
At the back, Carr made changes from numbers one-three from the Tipp defeat, with James Reilly, Michael Hannon and Dermot Sheridan all giving whole-heartened displays alongside Keith Fannin, John McCutcheon, Jonathan Crowe and Ronan Flanagan to curtail the likes of Daniel Hughes and Benny Coulter. Perhaps the fact that the only withdrawals on the night came down to yellow cards and injuries sums up Cavan's showing better than anything else.
The well-spoken Carr summed up his side's performance that day with just three words: "Attitude. That's it."
Another hard fought win at home to a Limerick outfit - underestimated by many at the time - lifted the Breffni men out of the relegation zone in Division Three for the first time. Cavan looked to be back in that essential winning routine heading towards April, but then the unthinkable happened again.
A week after edging past Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's team, Cavan travelled to Tullamore with another set of valuable points on their minds to avoid any chance of the drop, but came back home on the receiving end of a six-point defeat from an Offaly side, who were made to look good by their opponents.
A sluggish start always left Cavan playing catch up at O'Connor Park, where a missed penalty from Sean Johnston before half-time and a John Reynolds goal ten minutes from time proved pivotal in the result going Offaly's way, as they ran out 1-16 to 0-13 winners on the day.
That dire defeat was bad timing on Cavan's part, after a promising Under 21 crop had just crashed out of the Ulster championship at the hands of Armagh. Disappointed supporters and wannabe pundits across the county voiced their opinions on the team and management in local media and website message boards.
Cavan, to their credit, stuck to their guns a delivered a resounding home win over a disappointing Roscommon side, which saw Paul Brady, Micheál Lyng and Sean Johnston all make a huge contributions to the performance; not to mention the crowd being lifted by sight of Dermot McCabe coming on as a substitute for his first appearance of the season.
The convincing 0-14 to 0-6 win over the Rossies gave Cavan their third set of points in Division Three, but also left them in some limbo as they travelled to Drogheda for their remaining fixture against Louth knowing that a win could see them promoted, while at the same time a loss could see them demoted to the bottom tier - depending on other results in the division.
Ahead of his side's meeting with the Wee County, Carr called for his team to improve on their ruthlessness in front of goal. Cavan had failed to find the net in their first six outings of last year's National League and it took just four minutes for the team to answer their manager's call when Padraig O'Reilly broke down the right flank from wing back to collect a pass from Sean Johnston a drill the ball to the back of the Louth net.
Seven minutes later and Micheál Lyng poked home another three-pointer for the Blues, but the home side responded in emphatic fashion and netted twice themselves via Ross Carroll and Darren Clarke to hold a 2-5 to 2-3 at the break. The second-half developed into a shoot out between Johnston, Eddie O'Reilly and Martin Reilly and Carroll, David Reid and Clarke, with the latter handing their side a 2-16 to 2-13 victory.
After the full-time whistles across the country that April afternoon Cavan were safe at the expense of Limerick, but only just as a superior scoring difference to the Treaty men meant they would be playing Division Three football again in 2010.
With a little over six weeks to get things right before Fermanagh visited for an Ulster quarter-final showdown, Cavan kept themselves occupied with useful challenges against the likes of Westmeath and Galway.
A month from the Fermanagh game news broke of Dermot McCabe's decision to withdraw himself from the panel after playing a minimal part during Cavan's league campaign.
"He (McCabe) hasn't been around for the last two weeks. He was due to be with us in Galway on Sunday, but he didn't come. As far as I am concerned that is the end for this season," Carr commented on the matter at the end of April.
A dramatic return from the Gowna stalwart looked unlikely during May as Carr continued with his side's preparations for their provincial opener against the Ernesiders on June 6, naming 22-year-old Castlerahan talent Ronan Flanagan as team captain ahead of the All-Ireland championship.
With the crunch clash against their neighbours edging closer, Carr felt the mood to be strong in the camp and would have a full hand to pick from for the game bar Paul Brady through handball commitments and the luckless Micheál Lyng through a hamstring strain picked up in training.
Despite fielding a team effectively Under 26, bar Michael Brides and James Reilly, Carr only handed out two Ulster championship debuts to John McCutcheon and Eugene Keating, who would both be operating the half-back line alongside Padraig O'Reilly.
Cavan grabbed the lead inside two minutes after Sean Johnston gained early possession and curled over an outstanding point, but down the other end the worst possible start was endured when Eamonn Maguire reacted quickly to a smart Darryl Keenan free which the corner-forward punched over James Reilly to the Cavan net.
It was a wake-up call that Cavan benefited from though. Instead of going through the motions for the remaining 65 minutes, the Breffni men moved through the gears with their lively trio of Johnston, Martin Reilly and Cian Mackey pointing them towards a 0-8 to 1-4 lead at the break.
A minute into the restart and Johnston landed another beauty of his left boot before Martin Reilly darted over two frees into the wind from the floor, while the likes of Dermot Sheridan and McCutcheon doing brilliantly at the back to hold Fermanagh scoreless for 13 minutes to help open up a four-point lead for the would-be winners.
However, the inevitable fight back from the 2008 Ulster finalists saw Mark Little, Ryan Carson and Damien Kelly all fire over scores, as Fermanagh narrowed the gap down to one.
Carr sent on Under 21 stars Rory Dunne and David Givney to help stabilize things around the middle and when Johnston rounded Peter Sherry three minutes from the end to kick over his fifth point Cavan were afforded some breathing space.
With a minute to go James Reilly stood firm to deny Damien Kelly's tame effort hitting the net and undoing all of Cavan's good work, and when Johnston was once again quickest to possession the far side minutes later referee Rory Hickey blew the long whistle much to delight of the Cavan support and the players on the field whom had proved a point to them.
Cavan (Ulster SFC v Fermanagh): James Reilly; Michael Hannon, Dermot Sheridan, Michael Brides; John McCutcheon, Eugene Keating, Padraig O'Reilly; Nicholas Walsh, Ciaran Galligan; Sean Brady (0-2), Ronan Flanagan, Cian Mackey (0-2); Martin Reilly (0-4, 3f, 1 '45), Ray Cullivan, Sean Johnston (0-5, 2f). Subs: Rory Dunne for O'Reilly (63), David Givney for Galligan (63), Larry Reilly for Brady (66), Gerald Pearson for Mackey (70).
With an Ulster final place at stake, Cavan faced Antrim in Clones in the next round, after the Saffrons had left Donegal shell-shocked with a late goal at Casement Park to earn their place in the last four of the province.
Having played Liam Bradley's team twice already in '09, Cavan knew the fight were up against if they wanted to book a place alongside Tyrone in the province's showpiece at Antrim's expense. However, the players and supporters travelled to Clones quietly confident after registering a stirring win over Fermanagh.
On a sunny Saturday evening at St Tiernach's Park, where the Breffni contingent turned out in their thousands, Cavan attacked the town end goal for the opening half and registered three wides before Sean Johnston opened their account with a curled left-foot effort.
How differently things could have panned out if the Breffni boys had opened a 0-4 to 0-0 lead in the opening stages, but instead Antrim moved into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead by the 20-minute mark at which point Paul Brady was introduced, but the switch did little to stem the tide throughout.
Paddy Cunningham moved the Saffrons further in front before Martin Reilly eventually found the target with a point and Johnston lofted over a 40-metre free from the right side to cut the difference to 0-7 to 0-6 in Antrim's favour at half-time.
Cavan, for all their poor play, finished the second-half the stronger team, but found it impossible to keep the momentum going for the second-half, as Sean Burke and Cunnigham pipped them further back by three.
Carr's team were lost at midfield, but as they trailed 0-12 to 0-6 they were offered a glimmer of hope when Martin Reilly floated in a '45' which caused a scramble and substitute David Givney blasted to the net. An uplifting point from another replacement in Larry Reilly meant Cavan were within touching distance, but any hopes of a final place were dashed when Cunningham punished them with another free and Jason O'Reilly's half goal chance was snuffed out by the Saffrons' defence, as Cavan continued to take the wrong options.
Cavan were sent crashing into the qualifiers with that defeat, waiting in the second round draw to face a fellow defeated provincial semi-finalist or a victor from the first round of the open draw. And when the teams were plucked from the hat Cavan were handed a fixture that would have been routine in previous decades, but under Mick O'Dwyer Wicklow in Aughrim was going to be a stern test for the Breffni men to overcome.
Still deflated by their defeat in Clones two weeks previous, Cavan never looked like winning the game after Tony Hannon equalised Sean Johnston's opening point in the third minute, and had they stuffing knocked out of them after 23 minutes when some slack defending let Leighton Glynn cross from the right side into James Reilly's square and Paul Earls rose highest to fist to the Cavan net.
James Stafford and Thomas Walsh continued to dominate at centre-field for the Garden County in the miserable conditions and when Sean Furlong and Hannon finished off their scoring tallies in front of the 2,500 crowd - an estimated 200 travelled from Cavan - Wicklow marched on, while Cavan were left defeated again in the qualifiers and the football scene in the county at, arguably, its lowest ebb.
Cavan (All-Ireland SFC v Wicklow): James Reilly; Michael Hannon, Dermot Sheridan, Michael Brides; Rory Dunne, Paul Brady (0-1), Ronan Flanagan; Nicholas Walsh, Ray Cullivan; Ciaran Galligan, Sean Brady, Eugene Keating; Gerald Pearson, Larry Reilly (0-3, 3f), Sean Johnston (0-3, 3f). Subs: C Mackey for Keating (29), M Cahill for Dunne (38), D Givney for S Brady (43), E Reilly for Galligan (58). Tweet
