3G is Fourmidable!
December 30, 2010An observer bided his time at the conclusion of the U13 hurling blitz that evening as he waited for his young charges to 'tog in' the rear of Headquarters.
As he waited patiently, he could hear the crackle of the crowd in the main stand as they prepared to watch Kingscourt and Ballinagh lock horns in the ACFL Division One semi-final.
Scanning the evening sky, he noticed it was all aglow with an array of floodlights brightening up a night pregnant with drizzling rain.
The seasoned clubman, from his vantage point on the 3G, was left to exclaim: "this sight wouldn't be out of place at a Premiership club."
Months earlier, the official opening of the 3G facility at Kingspan/Breffni Park had made Cavan a peacock-vain county.
Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan became the first ground in Ireland to have its 3G pitch confirmed as meeting the new GAA standards on synthetic surfaces, as adopted by Congress in 2009.
May 3rd was an epochal occasion for all gaels in Cavan as the magnificent all-weather playing pitch and accompanying spectator stand was officially opened.
Cavan senior footballers faced reigning Leinster champions Dublin on the May Bank Holiday Monday with GAA President Christy Cooney honouring Cavan GAA County Board with his attendance for the festivities.
The new facility cost over 1 million euro and was immediately rated as the best of it's kind in Ireland.
Although officially opened in May last, the 3G had already been extensively used since the previous January.
Over the course of 2010 it was seen that the major benefit of the 3G in Kingspan/Breffni Park was that players could train and play games on it during the winter months and during unseasonal weather conditions during the summer which, in turn, lent itself to helping the development of young and senior players alike.
The official opening would be annointed by the visit of Pat Gilroy's Dubs in a match which certainly whetted the appetite of local football fans for the subsequent provincial championship and all-Ireland SFC qualifiers' campaigns.
Along with the senior football challenge match, an under 17 Development Squad match between Cavan and Dublin was organised.
In addition, a new One Wall handball court at the back of the stand was officially opened; the occasion marked by a series of exhibitions involving some of the top handballers in the county.
A number of rounders and scor exhibitions were also set down as part of an event which captured the imagination of players' families and all Cavan GAA supporters in general.
And then there was a poc fada competition, face-painting, rounders, scor and hurling. Kingspan/Breffni Park was en fete.
Activities began at 12.30pm with the throw-in for the Cavan v Dublin clash timed for 3.30pm and, in the best cliche of local newspapers' correspondence, "a good day was had by all."
As things panned out, the Dublin senior footballers arrived in Kingspan Breffni Park for the second time in three days with decidedly different results.
Pat Gilroy's men had attended the All- Ireland Under-21 final on the Saturday night previous as Dublin claimed just the second such title in the county's history.
However Monday's red-letter day for Cavan GAA left the Dubs with the blues as their experimental side lost out by 0-10 to 0-14 to Tommy Carr's Breffni blues.
For the record, the Cavan team honoured with playing on the 3G on official opening day was as follows:
F Reilly; D Sheridan, D O'Dowd, E McPhillips; Paul Brady (0-1), E McGuigan, J McCucheon; R Cullivan, D Givney (0-1); R Flanagan, G Smith (0-2), M McKeever; C Mackey (0-2), D McKiernan, Phillip Brady (0-2). Subs: C Galligan (0-2) for Givney (22), M Brides for Paul Brady (57), B Fitzpatrick for Phillip Brady (57), R Galligan (0-1) for McKiernan (57), A Clarke (0-1) for McGuigan (58), E Smith for McPhillips (62), M Brennan for Mackey (67), Philip Brady for Flanagan (68). Tweet
