What's another year?
March 01, 2010Year after year, it's been a case of so near and yet so far for the mid-grade team. Last March, a squad talked up locally as one boasting great potential failed to justify their admirers' expectations.
Fact is, Cavan's miserable record in the Ulster U21 championship is just marginally better than the blues' minor and senior provincial pedigrees over the past 30 years.
Amazingly though, Cavan have only won the Ulster U21 FC title on two occasions, in 1988 and in 1998.
And yet, for the umpteenth year - in the best tradition of sporting cliches - no stone was left unturned in shaping Cavan's assault on the competition.
Sadly, for the fourth year in a row, Cavan failed to reach the U21 provincial semi-final by dint of their 0-12 to 1-11 defeat to Armagh at the latter's newly-refurbished Athletic Grounds.
In 2008 Cavan's under 21s lost out in their opening round tilt with Tyrone by three points. Against Armagh on Wednesday, March 18th last, the margin was two points but does the margin of defeat really matter?
The truth is, the margin of defeat for Cavan was irrelevant because the end-result was all that was important. The scoreboard didn't lie. Cavan's continuing angst at U21 level was well and truly cemented last spring.
In the run-up to the championship tilt with the Orchard County, what was always going to be a tough assignment seemed to morph into something potentially less arduous as news of Armagh's selection headaches wafted their way south of the border.
One of the Orchard County's leading lights, Stefan Forker, was definitely ruled out due to suspension and a string of first-teamers were fighting to get rid of niggly injuries.
Cavan weren't without their pre-match concerns either though with 2008 ace Enda Gaffney (Crosserlough) also ruled out of Tommy Carr's equation.
As things panned out, both sides received boosts just prior to the throw-in with team-captain Ray Cullivan and Barry Watters both recovering from viral infections. However the loss of Dane O'Dowd from the centre-back post was not what the doctor had ordered.
For Armagh, key players David Cumiskey, Sean Clarke and JJ Clarke all borrowed time from their studies in college to line out against the match underdogs.
Though the match statistics may mask the truth, those of a blue hue present at the match will doubtless concur with the view that Cavan managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of defeat by virtue of their failure to unearth the killer punch when most required.
Painfully, Cavan engineered a raft of chances to put their hosts to the sword but dallying in possession, taking the circuitous route and a lack of vision in the last third of the field proved fatal.
Armagh were workmanlike at best on the night but, in fairness, their stoicism, greater efficiency of effort and admirable resilience proved to be a match-winning cocktail as they emerged 1-11 to 0-12 victors.
The tone of the game was set from early on with Cavan enjoying a bounty of possession but labouring to convert it into the hard coinage of scores.
A fired-up Ray Cullivan - fit again after a flu virus - was at the helm of an energetic Cavan opening and points from Robert Maloney-Derham and Declan McKiernan left the blues very easy on the eye.
However Armagh hit back with interest in the 6th minute when the impressive Jamie Clarke was johnny-on-the-spot to find the net.
There didn't seem to be a whole lot of danger when a high ball dropped into the middle of the Cavan backline but when it was merely blocked down, instead of being cleared, the alarm bells really came into their own.
And in the blink of an eye, Clarke made the ultimate use of his possession to blast the ball directly to the Cavan net.
To their credit, the visitors refused to panic and in the 11th minute Cavan found themselves back in the lead with a Ray Cullivan point in the 11th minute leaving the words 'steady' and 'ship' reverberating among the sizeable travelling support.
In what seemed to be destined to be a nip and tuck affair, Shane Carroll's fisted point had Armagh level again as the pace remained relentingly high.
Goalscorer Clarke then came into his own as he used all his experience of playing for Crossmaglen in the All-Ireland club final the previous day.
The precocious talent led the way up front and was to finish with a 1-6 tally, three of those points admittedly coming from frees.
At the same end of the field, Cavan were fortunate not to concede a couple of goals and a string of points too as Armagh's marksmanship left a lot to be desired at times too.
Cavan proceeded to up the ante in the second quarter as they sought to eat into Armagh's lead and Eugene Keating converted two more frees.
Then moments later, Cullivan fired over a point from play just before half-time served to cut Armagh's lead to the minimum, 1-5 to 0-7, at the interval.
Cavan were forceful and ambitious and spirited in the second half but Clarke's goal always seemed likely to be the blues' ball and chain.
The Breffni side went onto gain parity on two occasions in the second half but, that said, the lead could and should have been theirs on several more.
In the second half, Cavan had some decent chances to steal a march on their opponents who, one must say, were there for the taking on the night.
Cavan hadn't the best of luck on their side either, hitting the woodwork on three occasions in the one move before David Givney eventually fired over.
Cavan continued to at least gain parity from the battles to win possession but too often scoring chances were squandered from open play and frees.
Armagh looked more threatening and efficient going forward but Cavan created more than enough chances on the counter-attack to chisel out a win.
The battle for supremecy in the cockpit was particularly intriguing but, it must be said, Cavan were really up against it in the shape of Kieran Toner.
The Armagh ace came into his own in the second half and left the blues having to do with a lot of scraps with which to supply their hungry forwards.
The signs weren't good early on in the second for Cavan as Armagh's leverage via Toner and his lieutenants around the middle was all too obvious.
Between the 36th and 47th minutes, Armagh knocked over four points with the aforementioned Clarke bagging two of them in a real tour de force.
The Cavan think-tank endeavoured to change the flow of the tide and a raft of changes were made in personnel but the scores still proved elusive.
Cavan worked feverishly hard to unsettle Armagh but the blues seemed to lack the strength and the guile to de-rail their opponents' plans.
Agonisingly for Cavan though was the fact that good, promising, approach play often died a death in front of goal due to the lack of a cutting edge.
Cavan did fight to the bitter end and with two minutes left, Eugene Keating pointed a free to leave just one pont between the sides.
Sadly for the blues, Armagh showed their class and their strength of character too by ratchetting up their challenge to close out the match.
The nail in Cavan's coffin came after a blues' attack floundered and Armagh showed a clinical touch to put the icing on the cake.
Armagh raided up field and crafted a decent goal chance to leave Shane Carroll bearing down on goal as Cavan's defence backpeddled furiously.
However, the Armagh corner forward, mindful of the advancing long whistle, elected to fist the ball over the bar, one minute into injury time.
Referee Gerry McCarron (Monaghan) signalled the end of proceedings shortly afterwards, leaving another Cavan dream in smithereens. Tweet
