brendtheredhand
County: Tyrone
Posts: 10237

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You'll be disappointed for sure but theres a lot of positives that Cavan can take from that game today, hard luck and regroup for the qualifiers now.

Ach, to be honest Brend I'm sick of moral victories. Given the underage talent the manager has at his disposal he should be achieving a lot more with that group of players. In terms of ability there is very little between us and Monaghan yet they are among the favourites to make the last 4 of the AI series. We're a middle of the road division 2 team. Yes we have no McManus, but we showed today we're every bit as good as them. Manager is underachieving.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 24/05/2015 16:57:24    1727705

Yes a difficult pill to swallow but I would take great heart from today's game. Cavan played better football & for longer. Monaghan are more experienced & more wily too (no pun intended). They played for frees & have an ace in McManus but more than half their scores were from frees & they won't be happy with that.
Cavan's inexperience showed toward the end but nevertheless, they are building well. Thought Martin Reilly was excellent & very unlucky to get black. McKiernan too & Flanagan played well. Monaghan have many seasoned players, some of whom are nearing retirement & desperate for success this year to build from last year (& as a last hurrah for Clerkin, Finlay, gollogly) & that allowed them to dig deep when it mattered. Cavan have a lot of young blood coming through which bodes well & games like this will help them to grow. Thought Cavan lacked the belief in themselves to pull away but also, honestly thought the ref made a few choice decisions all in Monaghan's favour that swung the game. Monaghan's experience allowed them to capitalize on that & pull away toward the end but there was a hare's breadth in it. Well done Monaghan but sincere hard luck Cavan.

Glynners (Donegal) - Posts: 109 - 24/05/2015 17:35:52    1727726

Enjoyable game which Monaghan won due to their big match experience.

They should get through to the final from here.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 24/05/2015 17:58:06    1727746

In all seriousness Ned there was a lot more to that game today than a mere moral victory. When Cavan were running at Monaghan they were causing them problems and that's where their strength was. Yes Cavan are lacking scoring forwards, hey who isn't, but I saw more than enough to convince me that with the right draws and some momentum Cavan will still be playing football come August. An enjoyable game toady all in all played in some nice conditions in contrast to Ballybofey last week.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 24/05/2015 18:37:38    1727773

Same old cavan. They'll not win an ulster until they sort themselves out mentally.

Hopefully they regroup and go on a run.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 24/05/2015 19:05:18    1727793

Well done to Monaghan and a big hard luck to Cavan. Haven't seen the game yet but heard it was very good, a bottle of wine and TSG and that's me sorted.

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8596 - 24/05/2015 19:10:15    1727798

Monaghan were awful today but glad to get out of it with the win. The bench swung the game Monaghan's way. Monaghan seemed to very flat all over the field making stupid mistakes running into tackles slack passing we mad a lot of hard work for ourselves. We need a big improvement for the rest of the Ulster campaign, but it was nice to get out of the grave yard in breffni with a win playing badly and beating Hughes yet again.

shaggylegend (Monaghan) - Posts: 1928 - 24/05/2015 19:29:37    1727811

Playing half fit players today and not really showing up for first 50 mins almost cost us today. Looked very flat until Cavan went four points up then we woke up and had a good last 20 getting tight on a decent Cavan side. Big aim has to be arriving back in an ulster final in peak physical condition which we didn't do last year. Still on course for that.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1802 - 24/05/2015 19:32:30    1727815

Yes agree with other posters, very flat and when we got going we didn't keep it up, An example our first through scores through Manzy ,
Defence not are usual game but felt Drew done well on a man who I couldn't understand couldn't catch a few clean balls, Walshe was good when introduced along with Gollogly , brought some tempo to the game, Dessie was great and was an incredible point and couldn't of been in a better view of it,
O'Connell's runs were very good up the wing but only seemed to do it from the throw up of both halves,
Dick put in a good shift when he came on , and well McManus I don't have to explain, unreal..
The ref was poor for both sides and Cavan played well today the keeper was really hood ,played exactly as I expected them too, Goodluck for the rest of the year.

MonaghanGlory (Monaghan) - Posts: 738 - 24/05/2015 19:51:56    1727831

A few Cavan fans on here being a little harsh on their team. I'd say in a couple of days time they will give a more measured analysis of their performance and realise that they are capable of reaching the All-Ireland last 8 if they can produce performances of that level in the qualifiers.

On a side note, can I just say that the standard of football in the first couple of Ulster championship matches has been superb. I have really enjoyed both games. The quality of football in the north is getting better and I think we are seeing a brand of football which is evolving from the purely 'blanket-defense' type, into a more balanced and enjoyable 'counter-attacking with pace' style. I could be wrong, but this is my opinion on the first few games of the season.

MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 24/05/2015 19:53:51    1727834

Monaghan obviously have a bigger plan in mind as they were lucky to come out with a win today, They looked flat though you always felt a few subs would do the job. They are still depending a lot on the old brigade to pull them through and they will certainly need a big improvement to win Ulster. As it stands with 2 games played I would have them in second place.

border Gael (Monaghan) - Posts: 894 - 24/05/2015 20:50:55    1727863

MourneArmy
County: Down
Posts: 1600

1727834
A few Cavan fans on here being a little harsh on their team. I'd say in a couple of days time they will give a more measured analysis of their performance and realise that they are capable of reaching the All-Ireland last 8 if they can produce performances of that level in the qualifiers.

The key difference Mournearmy is that we're not harsh on the team as such, but I personally felt that last year the manager should have left. He has brought a very negative defensive style of football to the setup, which is entirely counter-productive in my view given the obvious talent he has at his disposal. Now, he did bring Liam McHale on board this year for the purpose of evolving the game plan to make us more attacking, and it does seem to be working albeit is it painfully slow. I simply cannot fault the players for sheer effort. Our problems I feel are on the line. Today we saw two evenly matched teams going at it hammer and tongs (despite Monaghan saying they are a better side talent wise, they're really not, they just have a much better manager) and the prevailing team dug out a result when they were in danger of letting the game slip away from them. Four points down mid-way through the second half, and they clawed it back. Cavan crumbled. Monaghan have a mental resolve about them that Cavan lack. That's a management issue and it's up to the man on the sideline to address it.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 24/05/2015 20:53:55    1727865

Cavan's defense was impressive in the first half but Monaghan are just that slight level ahead of them, having said that if I was from Cavan I wouldn't be happy losing after being 13 9 up in the second half. I think they tried too many balls into Argue aswell, he is a big powerful player but the ball in was quite poor and he seemed not to be making much of the good ball in either so that game plan didn't reap much reward.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 24/05/2015 20:59:00    1727866

Jaaz, that was tight.
A banana skin avoided against a spirited Cavan.
A result that improve with age.

Knoxboyo (Monaghan) - Posts: 170 - 24/05/2015 21:12:00    1727877

Htaem
County: Meath
Posts: 6368

1727866
Cavan's defense was impressive in the first half but Monaghan are just that slight level ahead of them, having said that if I was from Cavan I wouldn't be happy losing after being 13 9 up in the second half. I think they tried too many balls into Argue aswell, he is a big powerful player but the ball in was quite poor and he seemed not to be making much of the good ball in either so that game plan didn't reap much reward.

Exactly Htaem, it's not as if we were chasing the game all along and won a great moral victory only losing by one, we threw the thing away, ironically like we did against Meath in the last league game, the resolve is questionable, the ability is not in doubt.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 24/05/2015 21:12:40    1727879

Not a great performance today, but thankfully the lads stepped up when needed and got us over the line. The first half was especially poor, we didn't create much at all and Cavan could and should have been further ahead. The 10-15 minute period after we went 0-13 to 0-9 down was encouraging though. At that point it could have been curtains if Cavan had added another point or two, but we tightened up in defence and crucially got some good scores at the other end. Players like McManus, Dessie Mone And Darren Hughes really stepped up and showed leadership, knocking over some great points. We had a strong bench to call upon aswell with Walshe and Dick also adding important points.

In the end it could've went either way, so I'm glad we've come out on the right end of it. Any win in Breffni is a good one, it's a tough place to go, so we'll move on from here and look to improve. We'll obviously need to improve a good bit if we're to make an impact on the championship, but it's early days yet.

patk (Monaghan) - Posts: 936 - 24/05/2015 21:19:03    1727883

i think this is actually a terrible result for cavan, this could set that young team back a lot. they led by 4 points in the second half, they had an easy run to the ulster final. if cavan had got to an ulster final it would have brought them on leaps and bounds and who knows tthey could have ended up in an ireland quater or semi final. i think they could be disapointed and lose a few players to USA now. they have a bad record in qualifiers and if they draw the likes of kildare, laois, derry, down, tyrone, rossies i could see them not winning. how many other years will they avoid donegal,tyrone,down,armagh,derry in an ulster draw? they really need to get more offensive there backs are good they should now throw offf the shackles and try a new more offensive system for the qualifers cause thats Ulster gone, and i firmly belive that cavan people want to be going to croke park as Ulster chamions not as qualifers in an all ireland qualifier or quater final. i seen this with meath over the years, if u cant win your province or at least go damn close theres prob no point in reaching all ireland semis just to be beat out the gate by cork, kerry, dublin etc

dickie10 (UK) - Posts: 693 - 24/05/2015 21:42:23    1727899

What can you do ned, Cavan are still a very difficult team to break down so you's could go on a good run in the qualifiers. Credit to Monaghan though, they have been good all year and never threw in the towel but I just feel that Cavan had the measure of them today but just couldn't push themselves over the line, sure that's sport though.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 24/05/2015 21:43:35    1727901

Oisin McConville summed it up best. 4 Ulster U21 championships but no marquee forward. That was the difference. Monaghan had McManus.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1109 - 25/05/2015 08:28:34    1727917

Has to be said that yesterdays game between Cavan and Monaghan was a credit to all concerned. Tough, tight and tense with plenty good scores and good hard physical play. No nastiness or verbals. It seems Ulster football can be entertaining after all. While the packed defences are not for me, I didn't mind it yesterday as it didn't come with the diving and mouthing that some like to bring. Also thought the ref did well overall as he gave out cards early and correctly and wasn't afraid of the black card.

I think Cavan will do well in the qualifiers especially if they get teams from the other provinces outside of Div 1.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1109 - 25/05/2015 08:42:12    1727922