Cavan Hurling County Board has been making great strides in propagating the native game across the county. New chairman Peadar Neary insists matters are moving in the right direction. Whatever else Peadar Neary might bring to the table, passion is certainly guaranteed to be dished out by him. There just ain't any other trait that one can associate more with the Sligo-native than passion. And come the end of 2006, Cavan GAA will be very much the better for that. For the coming year, Peadar will be cutting his teeth in the twin roles of Irish Officer and Chairman of the hurling board. He's already made an impact in both jobs despite the fact he's only been ensconced in the roles for a couple of months. It's a mute point though as to which area requires a more hands-on, sleeves-rolled-up approach from the incumbent. Either way, Peadar says he's looking forward to the year ahead and hopes to make a decided impact while manning the hot seats. Those who know him well say if he fails in that respect it won't be for want of effort. Of course there are a lot of things which are outside his control and which will threaten to undermine and devalue his honest efforts. Cavan's result in their opening NHL match, for instance, on February 19th last in Peadar's backyard of Ballyconnell against Longford might have portrayed a poor picture of those like Neary who are beavering away at the coalface on behalf of the small ball game in Cavan. "I suppose if you were looking at the result on RTE that evening from Derry or Galway or Limerick or whatever else, you'd probably be thinking that 'there goes Cavan again, same old story.' "Getting that badly beaten was very disappointing but the scoreline would have portrayed an unreal reflection of the work that is going into the game in the county. "But there's no getting away from the fact that we had hoped for a better start to the year," the popular businessman concedes. Losing heavily to your neighbours (for the second year running) is a tough pill to swallow. However those with the interests of hurling at heart in Cavan know that there's likely to be a lot more bitter medicine to take before Cavan Hurling Inc. can stand shoulder to shoulder with at least those who populate the so-called third tier of hurling in Ireland. Under new team-manager Jim Styles (Ramor Utd), the Cavan senior hurlers have, so far, given the new season a right oul lash and their commitment, determination and fitness in the 0-6 to 3-14 defeat to Longford couldn't be questioned. The squad began preparations for 2006 the Thursday following Christmas Day, training three times per week with an average of twenty players turning up at those sessions which, considering the vagaries of players being based long distances from Cavan and the duality question, is pretty laudable. While question marks may have been placed over the willingness of players from previous Cavan panels to walk the walk, Peadar says the current crew are made from the right stuff and will give it a real go. "I think these fellas know what it'll take to achieve success and I think there's enough of them going to give the necessary commitment. "They county board has shown everyone involved with hurling in Cavan that they're prepared to support us to the last and the players are treated on a par with the footballers. "The players get sandwiches after training each night and meals after the matches and all the gear, boots, togs etc that they're entitled to. "There's tremendous goodwill in the county towards hurling and the county board is leading the way on that front." You can bet that Peadar, the public face of Woodford Gaels hurling club, will be leading from the front in 2006. He laughs at the suggestion that he could do with a magic wand to help him work the oracle this year or even a heap of money. Anything more realistic in mind though? "Well if we could get another few players with a bit of strength and power, we might just do that bit better at senior level. "We've missing fellas with those attributes, fellas like Paul Martin and Michael Power 'cause for me anyway, I thought we were pushed too easily off the ball against Longford although it still has to be said that we had a bad day at the office in Ballyconnell." Not that there ain't any light at the end of the tunnel or that Cavan's senior team is without promise. Fact is, most of the players on duty against Longford were under 21 and Peadar insists that if the current squad can be kept together, the blues could have a senior team to be reckoned with at junior championship and division three levels inside the next three years. While conceding that Cavan have been the basement bottom side in hurling's pecking order for quite a few years now, Peadar is unequivocally more optimistic than pessimistic. "There is really only one way Cavan hurling can go and that is upwards but we have to work harder than most counties because we don't have players from outside the county working in Cavan who are available or interested in playing with us. "We have to work with the local players that we manage to bring up through the underage ranks. "But to my mind that's the right we to go because maybe in years gone by we had fellas who were from other counties but who only stayed in Cavan a year or two and when they went there were no young fellas from the county to step in and replace them." It's clear Peadar has high hopes for the county's ability to harness every bit of hurling talent that springs up at underage level and sew together a decent senior team in the coming years. He recalls how - only three or four years ago - when the Cavan senior team was composed solely of players from Mullahoran and Cavan Gaels whereas these days other units such as Ballymachugh, Ramor Utd and Woodford Gaels are represented on the blues' premier line-up. "I don't think there's any question about it but that hurling is more healthy in Cavan now than it ever has been. "You just have to look at the number of clubs there is at the present time. "Not so long ago you'd no club in west Cavan - now there's Woodford Gaels and Swanlinbar. "Elsewhere you've got Cootehill Celtic, Kingscourt and three or four others who have got up and running so the game is spreading around the county which is fantastic to see. "There are a lot of grounds to be optimistic. "Last year we had under 12, under 14 and under 16 competitions and this year we're hopeful of having a county minor competition. "But the important thing is getting those young fellas to stick with it right up to senior level." In facing up to the reality of Cavan's basement bottom position, the hurling board chairman believes that there are a few home truths that all blues' hurling enthusiasts have to acknowledge and which were evident for even the most blinkered Cavan supporter to see in the tie against Longford. "I think it's fair to say that Cavan have a bit of ground to make up in trying to match the stickwork and the crisper striking of most of the teams we meet at senior level," Peadar says. "We had two chances for goals against Longford, one from a 21 metre free and one from a penalty and maybe had we scored them the scoreline wouldn't have looked as bad as it did against Longford but there's no question we were clearly outgunned by Longford, especially in the physical stakes. "But when you consider how young the senior team is I think it augurs well for the future and we'd be hopeful the development squads we're going to put in place at under 14 and under 16 levels will produce good enough players down the line. "We are considering maybe organising a tournament along with Monaghan and Louth for our underage squads rather than entering the provincial championship at underage level but that is something that has yet to be confirmed." And some of the results this year do suggest that Cavan might not be as far off the pace as we think. In challenge games (two) against Leitrim before the start of the current NHL campaign, Jim Styles' men beat the westerners in one of them. Considering that the Shannonsiders managed to draw with 2005 Rackard Cup surprise packets Louth in their opening round tie in this year's NHL, Cavan's achievement obviously suggests more than a degree of promise regarding what can be achieved. With respect to the objectives or goals he covets this year, Peadar's wish list is pretty conservative. He believes that Cavan's results in the current NHL aren't of vital importance but "it would be very nice to pick up a couple of points and given the result Leitrim got against Louth, who knows." Tweet

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