EAMON FOR A CREDIBLE FUTURE
November 27, 2011The notion that the game of hurling in Cavan needs rejuvenating and greater vibrancy brooks no debate.
While the sincerity and passion of the small hurling family in the county is beyond question but for the game to survive and prosper, more disciples are needed. Disciples like Eamon Dalton.
Eamon is a long-time hurling mentor with Mullahoran Saint Josephs and a good servant of county team managements over the years.
His appetite for the small ball game is undiminished and indeed lifts him high above the common place. The likes of Eamon Dalton are, sadly, few and far between in football dominated Cavan.
In 2011 he acted in the role of club Secretary. He was along the sideline last September when Mullahoran secured yet another county league title. He was also on hand to witness Mullahoran's unsuccessful bid to win their 22nd consecutive Cavan SHC title.
Without a hint of irony, Eamon has consistently stated that Mullahoran's dominance of senior hurling in Cavan wasn't healthy for the game locally and though he didn't court defeat for his beloved Mullahoran in the SHC final this year, he reckoned Ballymachugh's achievement in forcing the Saints to a draw in the league final just a couple of weeks before the championship final was both ominous and telling.
Mullahoran's 1-6 to 4-8 in the blue riband hurling final marks a sea-change in the annals of the game in Cavan but the big question is will it mark a watershed for the game, county-side?
"The gap has closed between us and the likes of Ballymachugh and Woodford Gaels over the past couple of years but you'd like to think that there'll be the same healthy competition in the county again in 2012," Eamon says.
"Overall, a lot of what's needed to develop hurling in the county is down to the county board. Promotion of the game has to be driven by the county board and they have to be seen to be grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and driving it forward."
More than most in Cavan over the last 30 years, he has experienced at first hand the highs and lows associated with Cavan hurling.
The past year saw hurling's profile in the county dip by dint of the decision not to field a team in the Ulster SHC. It is understood the decision was taken on the back of hugely disappointing results in the 2011 NHL when the likes of Fermanagh, Leitrim, Longford and South Down all gave the Breffni county a good going over.
"On the basis of the results over the past year, it's difficult to see any light coming through the tunnel for at least a couple of years," Eamon opines.
"My own gut feeling at the present time is that there won't be a Cavan senior team playing championship hurling in 2012 either and it might not be 'till this year's minors come through in a couple of years that we see a Cavan team compete again at senior championship level," adds Eamon whose sons Jonathan (26), Edward (22) and Derek (16) are all fine hurlers.
Mention of the 2011 Cavan minor team resurrects arguably the stand-out hurling episode for the county during the past 12 months. The minors shocked even those to the action.
In defeating Monaghan by 3-6 to 1-7 in their Ulster MHC clash at Kingspan/Breffni Park, the Breffni blues gave Dalton and other die-hards a real shot in the arm.
The Pat Halpin-managed Cavan squad went into the game as raging hot underdogs but tore up the script with a tremendously gutsy and determined display.
Seldom before at headquarters has a Cavan team - in any code - played with such fire in their bellies and while Monaghan were arguably the more skilled crew, the hosts' true grit and sheer will-to-win proved an unbeatable cocktail on the day.
In perfect conditions, save a greasy sward, all 17 players used by the Cavan team-management played their part in engineering a result which may just have given Cavan hurling the kiss of life.
The game was a nip and tuck affair throughout with Neasan Neary and Monaghan's Fergal Rafter (free) exchanging points to help leave the sides deadlocked by 0-3 apiece after 17 minutes.
Cavan hit the jackpot shortly afterwards when John Carney caught the puck-out, drove forward and parted to James Galligan who clinically goaled to give his side a 1-3 to 0-5 lead.
One minute later, Fiachra Hughes was fouled and Adam Mulcahy converted the subsequent free to tighten the screw.
Monaghan enjoyed the lion's share of possession over the course of the hour-plus and while the Cavan goal lived a charmed life at times, the team's rearguard was rock-solid for the most part.
Indeed, it was backs-to-the wall stuff for the Cavan defenders for most of the second half as Monaghan laboured to eat into Cavan's 1-4 to 0-5 interval lead.
Another goal by the strapping Galligan (34th) added to Monaghan's woes as two goals, 2-5 to 0-5, now separated the sides.
Monaghan played a slow-to-the-boil type game and they got a lift four minutes later when Niall Garland's long range effort found the Cavan net.
The Oriel county continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession in the final ten minutes but a 48th minute goal from substitute Conor Crowe - after an inviting delivery by Aiden McFarlane - upped the ante in a big way.
The Cavan defence performed heroics in the dregs of the game while at the other end of the field, Monaghan 'keeper Murphy pulled off a brillant save to deny Kevin Reilly after the latter received a hand pass from John Carney.
It was all hands to the pumps for Cavan in the dying minutes as Monaghan attempted to find the net from four successive frees which were blocked in turn by the mass ranks of the home defence.
Monaghan did score a brillant point three minutes from time but it was a score that was of cosmetic significance only as by that stage, Cavan were home and hosed.
Cavan (Ulster MHC v Monaghan):
Oran Duffy (Woodford Gaels); Gary Cronin (St. Felim's), Niall Farrell (Woodford Gaels), Killian Galligan (St. Felim's); Aiden McFarlane (Ballymachugh), James Brennan (Mullahoran), Kevin Reilly (Mullahoran); Gregory McGovern (Woodford Gaels), Anthony Baxter (Ballymachugh); John Carney (Cootehill Celtic), Adam Mulcahy (Mullahoran, 0-3, all frees), Neason Neary (Woodford Gaels 0-2, one free); Fiachra Hughes (Cootehill Celtic), James Galligan (St. Felim's 2-0), Joseph Kelly (Cootehill Celtic 0-1).
Subs used; Stephen Harten (Ballymachugh); Conor Crowe (Woodford Gaels 1-0).
Cavan were subsequently well beaten (4-20 to 1-4) by 2010 provincial finalists Armagh in the semi-final but even that defeat couldn't take the lustre off the county's first round triumph.
"You have to try and build a tradition and a winning one is even better and fair play to the minors, they lifted hearts all-round with that win over Monaghan," the former Mullahoran football star comments.
"There were a lot of good players on that minor team and I was pleasantly surprised by how well they played during the summer.
"The players looked to be well organised and anxious to do well. The result against Armagh was expected 'cause they're at a far more advanced stage than ourselves but the whole episode with the minors was heartening and great to see."
Of course, even allowing for the minors' aforementioned progress, most of the focus in any given county centres on the premier adult teams and even among as small a hurling fraternity as that in Cavan, the senior county's business is invariably top of the agenda.
In that regard, Eamon firmly believes that the footfall on the training pitch must be of a sufficiently high level to provide some inspiration or even hope.
"The first thing a team-management has to do is get at least 25 players committed to being on the training field on a regular basis from the start of the year and that just didn't happen in 2011 and the league results reflected that.
"In fairness to PJ Martin (2011 senior county manager), he was never going to be in a position where he could give the county board or anyone else a guarantee that the lads were going to show the commitment to training and unfortunately Cavan doesn't have the kind of pool of players that you can bring in a replacement if someone isn't pulling their weight."
Under new rules set in place by Croke Park back in 2009, Cavan, in tandem with other weaker counties, were able to bolster their squad with some new blood at that juncture and in subsequent years.
New recruits like Kieran Brennan (Clare), Adrian McManus (Meath), Richard Fitzsimons (Offaly), Michael Carr (Galway) and Michael O'Gorman (Kildare) who all claimed Cavan parentage bolstered the Breffni blues and results improved accordingly under the management of Clare native John Hunt in 2009/2010 and assisted by Eamon as a selector along with fellow selector Michael Wall (Cavan Gaels).
"It's important that Cavan use the parentage rule to the maximum," opines Eamon who got a taste for hurling from attending matches at Croke Park as a gasun with his Limerick-born Uncle.
"It's only fair that if Kilkenny can use the rule for football, we should be able to use it for hurling. The fact is we haven't got enough of a pool of talent to compete consistently well, even in division four of the league.
"Hopefully the bigger effort that is going into the underage scene in the county will pay off in the next while because there's no doubt that the structures have to be put in at that level or else there won't be much of a future for the game." Tweet
