Progress made, but still more to do
March 01, 2010It was 'progress' which was always likely to be made once Clare man John Hunt succeeded Michael 'Bricker' Wall in the months after Cavan's exit from the 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup at the hands of Monaghan. Hunt came into the job with a fine pedigree in club and county management, particularly with Meath who he managed for two years.
However, although much interest and excitement surrounded the October appointment, the Tulla native quickly let it be known that he was "no messiah" and if there was to be any 'messiah' then it was going to be the players.
Hunt's idea behind progressing the Cavan senior hurling scene was quite simply to find around 25 players within the county who were willing to train and put in the commitment required if they wanted improvement and eventual success. The early signs were promising, but Hunt wanted more and sought outside the county to try and spruce up his squad.
New recruits included Hunt's fellow clubman Ciaran Brennan - younger brother of Clare goalkeeper Philip, Adrian McManus (Meath), Michael Carr (Galway), Richie Fitzsimmons (Offaly) and Michael O'Gorman (Kildare). Brennan and McManus would offer Cavan a real scoring threat up front, an area which their new manager identified as an early weakness soon after taking the reins.
Veteran forward Mark McEntee, who also swapped his native colours for the blue jersey after switching from Kilmacud Crokes to Mullahoran St Joseph's almost ten years ago, concurred Hunt's theory after leading the line for the Breffni hurlers for almost a decade.
"We had two or three new lads come into the panel as well as the likes of Adrian McManus, who has done well since he's come in. I think it's important to try and make the squad as strong as possible, even if it means bringing in outsiders, because if you train and play with subs then you'll end up a sub," insisted McEntee.
"A lot of people don't realise it, but Cavan do have some really quality players. The likes of Paul Sheridan is as good as anyone on their day, and they are really looking to win something with their county sooner rather than later."
Cavan kept their preparations for the National Hurling League low-key as they faced a very doable test at home to Fermanagh in Ballyconnell, where they would look to get off to a winning start in their Division Four campaign. An impressive challenge win over Longford in the New Year looked to set the Breffni boys up nicely for their meeting with the Ernesiders in the coming weeks before injuries ravaged the panel and saw Ronan O'Hagan (groin), Mick O'Gorman (back), Michael Carr (ankle) and several others cast as serious doubts.
Hunt was, understandably, glad too see the game called off once February came around due to heavy rainfall, but two weeks' later a trip to Inniskeen for their opening game of the season would end in a heavy assault against Monaghan, where only 2-3 from new sharpshooter Adrian McManus would save his adopted county from an utter hiding.
It was a poor performance for Hunt to mark his debut as Cavan manager with. Cavan had pushed Frank Brady's men close twice in the Ulster championship and Nicky Rackard Cup competitions the previous year, and initial thoughts may have been that the Breffni County had taken a step backwards under its new senior management.
From the start of the year, Hunt said that he had been very pleased with commitment and preparation shown by the players, so was this just a load of fibs another outside boss was telling supporters so he could collect his cheque from the County Board at the end of the year?
The answer was: no. Hunt was there to help Cavan's cause, and two weeks after the loss to our Farney neighbours he steered his new team to a morale-boosting 2-14 to 2-9 win over a South Down side who the Breffni men received a thumping off just 12 months prior. McManus top-scored on the day with 1-11 and was already looking like a gem, but the real positive for Cavan's management was the fact that the team had five different scores to the Ashbourne sharpshooter, which was an improvement on the overreliance on Kevin Downes for scores down the years. The exiled former Cavan Gaels attacker hadn't worn the Cavan colours at all at the start of '09 and would eventually complete his transfer to London hurlers to coincide with work commitments.
The victory over South Down began to generate interest away from Cavan's footballers towards the county's hurlers, as Tommy Carr's side had lost their opening game of the NFL away to lowly Longford and would then go on to lose to hurling counties in Tipperary and Offaly. Echoes of "well, at least the hurlers are winning" could frequently be heard in Cavan GAA circles at the start of March, which was such a rare speak for so many years within the Breffni borders.
Hunt didn't mind the praise, just as he took in the criticism. The former Meath boss just looked to keep the momentum going with his new side and the following week brought about his side's re-fixed meeting with Ulster championship opponents Fermanagh, where they finished on the wrong side of a two-point defeat.
Once again McManus led the way up front with 0-10, but the disappointing aspect for Cavan was that they let their lead slip in the final five minutes of the game, which would have saw them record a historic two wins on the trot in the NHL.
Any chance of escaping from the bottom of Division Four was put firmly to rest in the weeks ahead when Cavan fell to Leitrim by 0-15 to 0-12 in Carrick-on-Shannon despite having six different scores on the pitch. It was another positive performance without the result for Hunt's team and a daunting task against Nicky Rackard champions Sligo, needing a win to force a play-off with Monaghan at the top of the division, came last.
The Yeats men were dealt a rude awakening at First Ulsters Park when Breffni talisman Paul Sheridan rolled in the first goal after three minutes, but after that it was all Sligo as ace Keith Raymond starred with 1-4 from full-forward to inspire the Connacht side to a 2-15 to 1-7 victory. The defeat wasn't about to spoil Cavan's season though, as Hunt's side knuckled down and prepared for another meeting with Fermanagh in the Ulster SHC on May 11 at Brewster Park.
Cavan's hurling devotees made the short trip across the border hoping for a performance at the least and a win at the most, and they so nearly got both. After dominating for the 35 minutes in Enniskillen, the Blues only managed a 0-7 to 0-6 lead at the interval namely due to the precision free-taking of Fermanagh's Niall Bogue and the excellent saves of 'keeper Peter McEvoy.
McManus, Eugene Hill and Anthony Sheridan contributed the points for Cavan, who should have had a penalty before the break when Philip Brady was tripped up by the Fermanagh defence in their square, but for the referee to wave play on.
Sean Corrigan levelled Fermanagh seconds into the restart and McManus and Bogue traded points to keep things on an even keel until the Ernesiders moved to pull away midway through the half. Two more frees from Bogue were backed up by the points of Jason McManus, Paul McGoldrick and Dermot Curran that left Cavan trailing by four.
Hill looked to keep Cavan in the hunt with another superb point from play, but the deadly Bogue was quick to cancel it out with an eighth placed ball flying over Darren Sheridan's crossbar.
Hunt made three switches towards the end in Michael Carr, Edward Dalton and Sean Og Brady and it almost paid dividends when the latter crashed the sliothar to the net after Dalton dropped his puck in on the Fermanagh square.
With the game in its added minutes, the visitors looked to bring the game into extra-time when they drew a foul just outside the '65' but McManus was unlucky to see his effort fall the wrong side of the post, as Fermanagh held on for victory and a trip to Ruislip to take on London in the next stage.
Cavan (Ulster SHC v Fermanagh): Darren Sheridan; Daithi Neary, Joe Lafferty, Barry Ryan; Ronan O'Hagan, Anthony Sheridan (0-1), Paul Sheridan; Andrew Nelligan, Eugene Hill (0-2); Philip Brady, Dominic Crudden, Ciaran Brennan; Adrian McManus (0-6), Mark McEntee, Ritchie Fitzsimmons. Subs: Michael Carr for Anthony Sheridan, Edward Dalton for Ritchie Fitzsimmons, Sean Og Brady (1-0) for Ronan O'Hagan.
Cavan had three weeks to lick the wounds from their devastating Erne defeat and prepare for a meeting with Donegal in Letterkenny in their newly adopted Lory Meagher Cup competition. Before the game an angry Hunt hit out at the "powers-that-be" for their decision to fix the game on the same day as Cavan footballers' Ulster championship quarter-final with Fermanagh at Kingspan Breffni Park
"The game is taking place in Donegal, which is rather strange, to be honest. It's not the ideal situation for us - they should have scheduled the game to take place before the Ulster championship game," the Cavan manager said at the time.
"The powers-that-be are showing very little respect to Cavan by doing this. I'm only being honest: we need all the chances and opportunities to do well as a team. All this is doing is suffering us, really.
"The County Board need to get tough and ask the question: 'why are we being sent to Donegal on Ulster championship day?'."
Despite the fixture giving plenty of cause for compliant, as well as Cavan being without their top marksman Adrian McManus, goalkeeper Darren Sheridan and attacker Richie Fitzsimmons for the game, Hunt and the team got on with the job.
In the absence of McManus, captain Paul Sheridan led the way in the scoring stakes for Cavan from wing back with seven points - three of which were from play - as his team looked to take the game to Donegal, who were only superior via the frees of the deadly Kevin Campbell, who finished the game with 0-15 to his name.
The visitors trailed by 0-12 to 0-6 early in the second-half when they showed just what they are capable of, as Sheridan and McEntee popped over a point each before Ciaran Brennan and Sheridan reduced their arrears to a mere two points.
Stephen Boyle registered the hosts only point from play in the second-half in response and the following 13 minutes saw Campbell punish Cavan's indiscipline at the back by sending over six unanswered frees, which was always going to be the killer blow for Hunt's men at that stage in the game.
Sheridan sent over his fourth free down the other end, and moments later Philip Brady did brilliantly to set-up Michael Carr for the game's only goal, which added some respectability to a 0-20 to 1-12 scoreline in the end.
Hunt's charges were sent crashing into the qualifiers of the competition, where anyone could be drawn from the hat…Sure enough it was Fermanagh.
Seven days later, the stage was set for Cavan in their first competitive outing of the year at Kingspan Breffni Park for a revenge mission against the Ernesiders, but, arguably, their worst defensive display of the year would let the home side down and saw their season finish up prematurely on June 13.
A fired-up Cavan side raced into a six-point lead in the opening minutes with skipper Sheridan firing over all of their points, but Fermanagh would manage to turn the game on its head with an astonishing and unanswered 1-9 in 20 minutes. In a bizarre first 35 minutes of hurling, Cavan managed to pull a goal back when Mark McEntee set-up Edward Dalton for an acutely angled goal just before the break, which left them trailing by two.
The hosts endured a disastrous restart when David Slevin netted inside three minutes of the second throw-in and when a superb save from Peter McEvoy denied McEntee the net ten minutes later the signs were looking ominous for the Blues. Hunt switched it around to try and improve things at the back in the final quarter, but Brendan McGarry's goal saw Fermanagh over the finish line, as the game would go on to finish on a sour note when a melee broke out resulting in one Fermanagh player and three Cavan players receiving red cards.
Cavan (Lory Meagher Cup v Fermanagh): M Curry; D Neary, M Carr, B Ryan; A Nelligan, A Sheridan (1-0), B Dalton; J Lafferty, D Crudden; E Dalton (1-0), P Sheridan (0-9), P Brady; S Og Brady, K Brennan, M McEntee (1-0). Subs: A McManus for D Crudden, D Crudden for A Nelligan (inj), G Clerkin for S Og Brady, M O'Donnell for P Brady, J Rosney for E Dalton.
As he had explained earlier on in the season, Cavan's elimination from the Lory Meagher Cup saw John Hunt finish his short term as manager with the county's senior hurlers.
Hunt, who said he agreed to come on board for a year with the Breffni County, joked that he was "too old" to consider a return to management elsewhere and left a brief departing message for Cavan's hurlers and supporters.
"I've enjoyed my time (with Cavan) immensely," he said. "There are five or six players there that are as good as anywhere."
Progress has certainly been made, now it's time to join the level our northern neighbours are at. Tweet
