Hannon optimistic for 2011
December 30, 2010It's often cited as the job nobody wants, but down the years Michael Hannon has excelled in keeping some of the top forwards in the country quite for the Cavan cause. The likes of Benny Coulter, Dessie Dolan and Ronan Clarke have all tangled with the shrewd corner-back in the past and had their influence in games completely restricted.
Back in July, when Cork were having a field day against Cavan at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Hannon managed to keep ace attacker Daniel Goulding scoreless from play for 70 minutes. Three months later and Goulding was named 'Man of the Match' for his scorching performance, which saw him score 0-9, for the Rebels against Down in the All-Ireland SFC final.
The Drumgoon man doesn't read into such things too much though, particularly after the manner of the defeat to Cork, which saw Cavan make the long journey home from Leeside on the receiving end of an 18-point defeat.
"I remember looking around after about four or five minutes in that game and just realising that none us believed we could win it," Hannon recalled.
"That for me was the lowest point of the year and hopefully it's something the new management coming in will be able improve."
The defeat brought down the curtain on another disappointing year for Tommy Carr's men, with five wins and five losses between league and championship forcing another season to crumble for Cavan by mid-July.
It had all started so well for the Blues though, after commencing their competitive season with a rousing 2-20 to 1-10 win over would-be Connacht champions Roscommon at Dr Hyde Park, which signalled a chance for an early promotion push to Division Two of the National Football League.
"Our objectives at the start of the year were pretty much the same as every year, but they probably weren't specific enough to be honest considering we were in Division Three in the league. We probably just should have set out to get promotion because at the end of the year we could have done it," said Hannon.
"Yeah, we got a great win over Roscommon at the start, but we fairly came down to earth after the game against Antrim. We were way behind them that night in Breffni Park and it showed.
"We didn't really sit down and start playing until after the Louth game when we had a bit of a meeting. There was some good performances, but then we still lost a few of those games. In the Sligo game we had played well and kept ahead of them until the end and they got a late goal to win the game."
The defeats to Antrim and Louth dented chances of promotion, before victory at home to Wexford offered a glimmer of hope which was eventually shut out by Sligo full-forward Kenneth Sweeney, whose late goal made sure the Yeats' men would be in the running to reach the NFL Division Three final at Croke Park, while their neighbours would be needing at least two points to assure their safety in the third tier.
A 0-20 to 0-14 win over Offaly made sure that Cavan were staying put and also nullified their remaining league game against Ulster SFC opponents Fermanagh.
"That game was definitely a bit of a dead-duck," Hannon said, "we couldn't get promotion at that stage and they were already relegated so it didn't matter. There was also a lot of shadow-boxing in the game before the two teams met in the championship.
"It was still good to get the win and the mood going into the championship game was alright. We were the last two teams playing in Ulster so we had a good few weeks to prepare for it. In between that there was a couple of club matches as well, which, to be honest, didn't help. I had some sympathy for Niall Lynch, because he was trying to organise important training sessions ahead of the game and maybe only 18 or 19 lads were showing up that were fit to train."
Ranked as favourites, Cavan were calm in their approach and were ahead by half-time at Kingspan Breffni Park thanks to the scores of Gareth Smith, Sean Johnston and David Givney.
As the second-half wore on, the hungrier team began to emerge and in the end it was Ryan Carson's late goal that made all the difference for the Ernesiders.
Hannon, who had to rush back from Galway after acting as 'Best Man' at his brother's wedding in Galway, gave a fair account of where the home team went wrong in the game:
"To be honest, I just think we were outfought and outthought that day - the same way we had done the previous year to them. I think because we beat them last year people were putting us down as favourites, but that game was always going to be a banana-skin for us after the way the last two games had gone against them."
It didn't take much for the players to lift themselves again once the qualifier draw had been made and Wicklow were picked out of the hat for a second consecutive year.
"We were certainly very wary of them and going by the papers and what the Wicklow players were saying, maybe they were a bit complacent going in against us," Hannon suggested.
"It was an unusual game. The first sending-off came at a bad time for us, but when we had another man sent-off the shackles were off and we could play football. We're a young team and the three boys that came on that day probably had the most experience between them and it told in the end."
While Hannon had played a solid role at the back for Cavan that memorable evening for Breffni supporters, it was substitute Sean Johnston that stole all the headlines by scoring 0-6 to lead Cavan to a savoured victory in a superb display which was closely followed by fellow replacements Mark McKeever and team captain Martin Cahill.
It was exactly the lift Carr and his players needed, but when the second round draw was announced the former Dublin captain would be left ruing a "cruel" assignment for his team away to favourites Cork.
"I can appreciate what Tommy was trying to say," said Hannon.
"You're on such a big high and then you get brought back down to earth when you draw a team that would eventually go on to be All-Ireland champions. But we needed another game just to get a bit more confidence going in against them."
A 1-19 to 0-4 defeat hardly summed up Cavan's season by any means, but it did highlight the gulf between the two teams. It also made the decision of the manager to step down in the days after an easier one to make.
"I think the performance of both teams that day really demonstrated the difference in strength and conditioning, because there was nothing magical about Cork. They were just physically stronger and kept on bursting through and winning soft frees which really killed us.
"After he (Carr) spoke in the dressing-room, I was 80 per cent sure that he was gone. To be fair to him he came in and identified most of the problems, but he didn't really find the solutions to them and sometimes that's what you need to find.
"We do have some good players in this county and over the years when Under 21 teams have been concentrated on there has been improvement, so hopefully that can start to happen from next year onwards.
"Val Andrews and Terry Hyland are both shrewd enough operators and they'll call it as they see it. I definitely think they'll improve things," he added.
As for where he believes Cavan's priorities should lay in 2011, Hannon, who coached DIT to a Sigerson Cup final appearance in 2009, says a strong bid to get back to Division Two in the NFL would certainly help get the ball rolling before their provincial championship opener at home to either Donegal or Antrim.
"I wouldn't even look at the championship at the moment," he said. "Promotion is definitely achievable, but we can't keep going on and losing league games by a point or two. I think the championship takes care of itself, but Division Two football should be a priority for us.
"Even when Donal Keogan was in charge and we lost every game in Division Two, we still had a good win over Antrim in the Ulster championship and should have beaten Kildare, who went on to an All-Ireland quarter-final. Since then, Kildare have went one way and we've gone the other, so I think playing at a higher standard would definitely help us."
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