Cavan football's movers and shakers have conspired to fast-track David Givney's gravitation to senior county ranks. Kevin Carney reports. David Givney admits he is living the dream. His is a real rags to riches story in football parlance and he confesses the need to nip himself ahead of the start of the NFL is very real. Less than three years ago, the rising star was introduced as a substitute to the Cavan minor team which lost out in the 2006 Ulster championship to Down at Kingspan/Breffni Park. These days his name is rightly cemented into Tommy Carr's plans and his solid senior debut against Queen's in the Dr. McKenna Cup augurs well for his future prospects. One week prior to the Queen's game, David notched four points from a full-forward berth in a challenge game against Meath. He is determined to make the number 14 berth his own. "It's a dream to represent your county at senior level and while I don't mind where I play on the team, lining out at full-forward would be my preference," David explains. "At club level, I like to play further out the field, at centre-forward or even around midfield. It was only last year that I was tried out by the club at full-forward but it went well." In truth, David underplays the significance of his positioning on the edge of the box for Mountnugent in 2008. It was a relocation which positively turned the club's season around. Wearing the number 14 jersey, David responded to the challenge set down by Mountnugent club manager John Lynch by banging home four goals against Butlersbridge in the JFC. "I like being close to the goal; you get more chances of scoring," David testifies. "Goals win matches, they say, and basically things took off for me after the Butlersbridge game." Time will tell as to the true significance for Cavan football of David's born-again existence on the edge of the small square but things are decidedly looking very promising. David is just 19 years old but at 6'3" and a fighting fit 13 stone, he is a fiercely strong and difficult opponent and in a one-on-one situation cuts a menacing and potent figure. Certainly clubs' antennae have picked up on young Givney's overall talent and scoring threat in particular. County fans will hope that the rest of Ulster will soon be running scared too. "I will do my very best to remain a part of the county panel and hopefully I will get a decent chance to stake a place on the starting fifteen," the Sligo IT college student explains. "It's a big, big step up from playing club football at junior level to lining out for Cavan at senior level. It's just so much different. It'll take a bit of getting used to. "At county level, the pace is so much quicker and you have to lay off the ball a lot faster. The football at junior club level is much tougher and slower than intercounty." The culture shock that is the transition from playing in division three of the All County Football League to mixing it with some of the best footballers in the country is David's lot now. However he believes the fact that he has been training and playing with quality players at Sligo IT has helped make the jump from the club to county stage not such a quantum leap. Way out west, David finds himself togging out alongside such would-be intercounty luminaries as fellow county seniors Eugene Keating and Conor Smith plus Tom Parsons (Mayo). "Playing and training with Sligo in preparation for the college competitions is a big plus when you're trying to make the transition from club level to county level," David opines. "College football is of a very high standard and it has helped me find my feet on the Cavan panel with regards the fitness levels that are needed to hit the ground running really." So his competitive debut for Cavan seniors against Queens wasn't quite the eye-opener he might have expected? "Not really because I was aware of how good Queen's were before the game in Breffni. They were flying fit against us but they've so many good players, it was no great surprise. "They're a top-class side and will be one of the favourites to win the Sigerson Cup this year. They showed against us just how well prepared they are and how good their teamwork is "We had injuries going into the game and had some withdrawals because of the college scene so it will take a few games in the national league before we can guage where we are. "I'd be confident we can put together a better year than Cavan had in 2008 because there are a lot of quality players in the squad and there's a good spirit in the camp." The second-year engineering student insists he is thoroughly enjoying training and playing alongside his senior county colleagues and is hopeful of having a fruitful 2009. He was disappoined with the way 2008 panned out on the intercounty front; glandular fever ravaging his year and reducing his contribution to the Cavan U21 cause. But what's his impression so far of new Cavan senior team-manager Carr? "Very good. It's a huge learning process for me but I'm really enjoying the training. It's far from a chore and he (Carr) is a great man-manager, having a word with every player. "He has us up for every game and likes to talk to us individually as well as collectively. I'm really looking forward to working with him and the rest of the management team this year." Meanwhile on the club front, David is no less enthusiastic and optimistic. He feels there's no reason why Mountnugent can't go one step further than in 2008 and win the JFC title. "At the beginning of 2008, there wasn't any great expectation within the club but then we went ahead and had a great year and went all the way to the championship final. "We recovered well after losing to Shercock in the first game by beating Cornafean which brought us on even though it was a fairly scrappy game. "The team played very well against Butlersbridge after that which added to our momentum and then we got the better of Shannon Gaels by a couple of points after a very good start. "Then we beat Templeport in the semi-final. They basically didn't turn up on the day. We out-muscled them in the game. It was great to make the final, a brillant boost to the club." One wonders why the wheels came off the wagon in such stark fashion in the county final? "Drung were just far fitter than us. Overall they were much better than us on the day and we never got near them. They were favourites from the start of the year and showed just why." In 2003 when Mountnugent also reached the JFC final, they lost out to Lavey. "I was in the stand watching the team that day," David recalls. "There's still a fair few lads from the 2003 final still playing for us. We've still a young team. Hopefully the players that lined out in last year's final will be around for a long time yet. "Three of the team that started in the final against Drung were still minor age and there were another three just over minor age. The average age of the team would be only about 21." And with the likes of erstwhile county under 21 player Thomas Brady and former county minor Graham Patterson on hand, Mountnugent must be fancied to do well in 2009. Amazingly, the Meath-border side were reputedly touted as 33/1 outsiders to lift the JFC title last year. It's unimaginable that such generous odds will be on the table this season. David is one of a host of players on the club's current junior team that netted a raft of underage medals in times past - such as MFL ('05) and MFC and U16 ('06). In 2009 Mountnugent will be managed by Castlerahan's Sean Fitzpatrick and the club's only current senior countyman is optimistic that Fitzpatrick and co. can realise their goals. "Our first aim is to win the first few league games and get the season off to a good start. We're aiming to get out of division three this year and give the championship our best shot." Given David's proven accuracy in front of goal, Mountnugent's 'best shot' could very well be good enough to sweep the boards for them in 2009. Tweet

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