Blue through and through
December 30, 2010This past summer the journey west to the US proved too much to resist for many of Cavan's Under 21 footballers, with ace players like Gearoid McKiernan (Swanlinbar), Brendan Fitzpatrick (Belturbet) and Daniel Graham (Cavan Gaels) transferring from their clubs for a stint to play in California, while Eugene Keating (Cuchullains) and Rory Dunne (Redhills) moved a bit closer to home in 'The Big Apple'.
Between scorching weather for the months of June, July and August and unforgettable train rides on the San Francisco BART (consult YouTube), most came back home boasting the trip of a lifetime with their friends and for Keating and Dunne on the east coast it was so nearly one that ended with silverware.
Mike Reilly's story of his first few months with the Cavan team in New York stretches a bit further back, after his minor days with Ballymachugh and helping the Carrigallen club in Leitrim to championship successes at both junior and intermediate level.
"I came here first in 1989," explained the now Queens business man.
"I started playing with the Cavan team in New York as soon as I came out. In 1994, I got involved with the management team at junior level and I suppose you could say I've been involved here for the last seven years as well."
It didn't take long for Reilly to adapt. After his first year playing with the Breffni men around the five boroughs, he was named 'Player of the Year' for 1992 - two years after Cavan had captured their fifth ever New York Senior Football Championship crown, and first in eight long years.
As the years rolled by, so did the chances for Reilly to help Cavan to NY SFC glory and he has since turned his attentions towards management, beginning with the junior team in the mid-90s before starting up his own construction company in 1996, which now employs up to 30 workers in the summer months.
In 2007, Mike received Guest of Honour for Cavan at the annual dinner dance and just two years later he took over the reins as Cavan senior manager to go along with the already heavy burden of running 'The Dug Out' and 'Maggie Maes' establishments in Queens, which provide sponsorship towards Cavan GAA in New York every year.
"I was manager of the senior team here this year and the year before," he explained.
"This year we had a good run, but we lost eight players through injury in the latter stages of the championship and it really depleted us. We had lads like Rory Dunne and Eugene Keating, who had been brilliant for us all summer, that got injured before the semi-final.
"It's not only Cavan lads that we have on the team here tough. Kevin Smith from Longford, Eoin Carew and Frankie Barry, who are both from Kildare, and Kevin Carden from Sligo were all playing for us this year. We also had a few other transfers that came in as well like Paul Lambe from Magheracloone and Ciaran Sheils from Mullahoran."
With those players at his disposal, Reilly believed he had the right ingredients necessary to steer Cavan to a first senior title in 20 years and things got off to a perfect start when the Breffni men met Donegal in the opening round in July and finished at the full-time whistle with an emphatic win to underline their intentions early on.
The next day out a slender one-point defeat to championship favourites Leitrim didn't derail Cavan's charge in slightest as they scored a huge victory over old rivals Kerry the following weekend to keep themselves on track for a semi-final bid.
On the day, Keating was superb for the Blues, striking 1-5 from corner-forward, while Mullahoran pair Nobby Smith and Ciaran Sheils were solid in the full-back line and Knockbride's Alan Carolan was sound at number seven alongside Dunne, who lined-out at centre-back.
"We played Donegal and hammered them in the first round. After that the results were up and down," Reilly admitted, "but we still managed to get into the play-offs.
"The next game was against Leitrim and we lost it by a point and after that we played Kerry and won by eight. Cork beat us the next day and then we lost to Tyrone by two points, but we beat Sligo by two in the last of those games to make sure we were in the play-offs."
In New York, the Senior Football Championship formats slightly different to back home, with six teams going through to a play-off while the two top from the group go directly into the semis, with the rest battling it out for the two remaining places in the last four.
In a thrilling contest, Cavan overcame Tyrone after extra-time to reach their semi-final against Cork, who, like in the All-Ireland SFC in 2010, would bring the curtain down on the Breffni County's campaign.
"We lost to Cork by four points and we were missing eight of our starting team that day, so it was disappointing. Leitrim went on to win the final and hopefully we can be there next year, because we have the players to do it," Reilly stated.
You can be sure that Reilly and his management will also be keen to welcome new additions to the squad, with the attraction growing for players in such a harsh Irish economic climate.
Reilly, whose nephew Gareth 'Nesty' Smith impressed in his debut season for the Cavan seniors under Tommy Carr in 2010, is adamant that there is little to choose between with regards to standard when it comes to club football in Cavan and the championship play-offs in New York.
"Club football is at a poor standard in Cavan at the moment and it's every bit as good over here as it is at home, especially when it comes to the play-offs," he claimed.
"The standard is very good here considering what you have to work with. When the economy goes down back home, you have lads coming over here looking for jobs and they get in with football clubs if they're any good.
"In 1989 I came out here and it was the 1990 Cavan team that went out and played a combination of three south Cavan clubs in Ballinagh. They played the county team at that time as well and only lost to them by four points," added the Finea native.
Reilly suggested another meeting between the Cavan senior team and Cavan NY could be in order soon, although he did admit that immigration would be a problem for the US-based players. For now, he just focussing on trying to end what will next year be a 21-year wait for Cavan in capturing that elusive NY SFC crown, and you can be sure by the time next summer arrives he will again have more young players arriving off the plane at his disposal.
Tweet
