Following an improvement in 2007, Cavan hurlers grinded out some encouraging results in the season gone past which has made County Board PRO Willie Gaughan confident that the Breffni County is ready to make the next step in the small ball game. Cavan senior hurlers continued to improve this past season with their first win in competitive action for some time over Leitrim in Division Four of the National Hurling League, but Willie Gaughan believes that 2009 should see the county's hurlers challenging to a greater extent. Under the guidance of Michael 'Bricker' Wall since '07, the Breffni hurlers have been steadily progressing, but since Ulster Council coach Frankie Quinn has come on board with the squad it has developed a more competitive edge, according to Gaughan. "Michael Wall was team manager this year, but Frankie Quinn of the Ulster Council was really running things in regards to training," said Gaughan. "He (Quinn) is a very good coach and was the one who installed a real belief in the players and made them more competitive and ready to take the next step." With a squad of 24 players, Quinn began co-ordinating his training sessions in December with just under two months of prep work for an opening test away to Leitrim. Six weeks of gym training co-coached by Games Development Manager Nicholas Walsh had the players tuned up for what was sure to be a challenging year given the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship's new format, which Cavan would be competing in the summer ahead. A winning start in the league - a first in four long seasons - saw many around the county begin to take notice that Cavan could be a genuine competitor to those in their division, but most importantly the players were also beginning to believe. "The aims for the year were to make an improvement," said Gaughan. "2006 was a poor year from our perspective. We were losing games on an average by around 20 points, but by 2007 we had reduced that to at least half that margin in the games we played. "This year we became that bit more competitive and that was proven after we'd beaten Leitrim in our first match of the league in Carrick-on-Shannon." Two goals in the opening 11 minutes from Mark McEntee and Edward Dalton proved the difference as Wall's side went on to record a 2-8 to 0-8 victory at Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada and up pick up their first two points of the league in early February. A narrow loss to Fermanagh late on in First Ulsters Park, Ballyconnell spelled the team's first defeat of the year before receiving a heavy thumping at the hands of a strong South Down outfit. Losing out to neighbours, and opening Ulster SHC opponents, Monaghan meant that Cavan would finish fourth in Division 3B of the NHL, an overall improvement on the previous year where they finished rock bottom with just a single point after only drawing with Fermanagh. With the NHL over for another year, Cavan were now looking to draw any inspiration they could for competing in a new look Ulster Championship, in which Antrim would still be the clear favourites. The new lay-out saw all of the nine Ulster counties, along with London, competing in the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship for the first time, and it was Cavan's Farney County rivals who were sure present stiff opposition at the first hurdle after having their strong bid for promotion in the league narrowly foiled by South Down. Interestingly, Monaghan had been taken over by an Athenry native who spent several of his year's managing Cavan club football clubs. Former Drumlane and Drung boss Frank Brady had taken the reins as the Farney hurlers head coach and impressed in the opening months with a satisfactory league campaign. However, his side would endure somewhat of a shock when they visited Breffni Park on the 11th of May. The hosts came out of the traps that day with Mick O'Gorman, Edward Dalton and Kevin Downes all sending over points that saw them level with their opponents at the break on 0-8 each, with Stephen Lambe striking six of the visitors' scores from frees. A Eugene Hill goal within minutes of the restart was eventually cancelled out by Arthur Hughes netting the game level on 53 minutes. However, Downes and Dalton continued to edge Michael Wall's side further in front as the game came towards its closing stages and but for having a penalty saved by the brave Michael McHugh in the Monaghan goal they'd of been playing Donegal in the next round. Cavan still led heading for injury-time but the reintroduction of Michael Greaney, after the attacker had picked up a hamstring injury in the first-half, proved a killer blow as he struck 1-1 in the dying stages to deny Cavan of what would have been a much coveted championship victory. Monaghan 2-15, Cavan 1-16. Cavan (Ulster SHC v Monaghan) - Darren Sheridan, Mark Nolan, Daithi Neary, Sean Óg Brady (0-1), Anthony Sheridan, Paul Sheridan, Andrew Nelligan, Mick O'Gorman (0-3), Joe Lafferty, Eugene Hill (1-2), Kevin Downes (0-4), Edward Dalton (0-4), Ronan O'Hagan (0-2), G Clerkin, Mark McEntee. Sub - M O'Connell for Nelligan. "We played Monaghan off the field that day in Breffni," said Gaughan in recalling the match. "They came back in injury time and went on to beat Donegal, and I'm not saying we would have beaten them (Donegal), but we would have certainly fancied our chances since Monaghan went on to beat them." "It was the key game of the year for us," explained the PRO. "Monaghan really didn't know what hit them that day and but for those two late scores we'd have been in the next round of the Ulster Championship." Following their early championship exit, Cavan's focus would turn to the Nicky Rackard Cup competition to try and salvage at least one more win before the season was out. Wall's charges had little over a month to prepare for what was sure to be a tough opening test against Sligo in the third-tier competition. On their visit to the Yeats County at the end of the June, Cavan headed back down the Enniskillen road on the receiving end of a 3-15 to 1-12 defeat - a nine-point trouncing, but nonetheless an improvement against a side who went on to win the competition quite comfortably. Cavan would now need to see off Warwickshire at home if they were to emerge out of the group and into the last eight. The Exiles, who had embarrassed the Blues on their past trip across the Channel, were not to be taken lightly by Wall's men. In a close affair, Cavan saw off their opponents with an extra four points to spare at Breffni Park, with Cavan Gaels dual player Kevin Downes very much to the fore-front, landing 11 points of his side's 0-16 against the visitors in a starring performance. The game, incidentally, was played before a large audience in Cavan GAA's home patch as the All-Ireland Féile Festival was taking precedence that same weekend, with such GAA figures as the Association's president Nickey Brennan in attendance to watch Cavan seal their place in the quarter-finals of the Rackard Cup. While the county's senior footballers were on route to Newbridge to take on Kildare in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers, the hurlers were facing-off against Monaghan for a third time in different competition in one season. It was another close encounter between the two sides, but Monaghan made home advantage count once more in the derby and ran-out winners by a 1-11 to 0-9 margin. With that, Cavan's season was over but Gaughan certainly doesn't view the year as a write-off by any means and has already cited the team's goals and objectives for the coming term. "We were very close to making the breakthrough in this year's Ulster Championship, but, unfortunately, we lost to Monaghan late on and to make that breakthrough last year we needed to beat them. "The team certainly improved and we are fairly clear on what we will be looking to do next year," admitted Gaughan. "Our aims are to finish in the top two of our division in the league, which would mean dislodging either Monaghan or Sligo, hopefully get two games in the Ulster Championship, depending on who were drawn against in the first round and compete strong in the Nicky Rackard Cup." Tweet

Most Read Stories