Lorcan Mulvey is working overtime to nail down a permanent place on the Cavan senior football team. Odds are that his workrate will reap a suitable dividend Lorcan Mulvey is the last one who'd want to be landed with the tag of messiah but some Cavan fans reckon he's just the ticket to propel Cavan to greater heights. And height is the operative word in this case because for years Breffni blues fans have been bemoaning a perceived lack of big, forceful, ball-carrying men who can hack it up the middle. There's certainly no doubt but that the powerful 20 year old Butlersbridge clubman has all the makings of being just what the doctor (McElkennon) ordered, especially in the wake of the unexpected retirement of Pierce McKenna. And while he may be perceived among the Cavan supporters as being a direct replacement at midfield for the Kill Shamrocks' clubman, he doesn't necessarily see it that way. "Obviously the fact that Pierce hasn't been part of the panel this year has left the way open for me and a couple of the other lads to try and nail down a permanent place on the team. " It's very hard to get your foot in the door though and when you do get a look in, it's even harder to keep your place on the team," he adds. "There's a lot of competition for places in every sector of the current team. "If it wasn't Pierce who left a gap, it might be someone else but there'll be more than just me looking to get a place around the middle." Mid-spring and Mulvey and co. are well on their way to winding up their preparations for the blue riband championship competition. "All the hard work was done before Christmas and it's just a matter of working on improving our sharpness in squad work and a by doing a bit on our own as well." Lorcan explains what the man in the street is increasingly coming to learn about with regard to the life and times of a senior inter-county player. While the major part of a player's training is done in a collective sense, responsibilities on the individual's part is becoming more and more part of the deal. "Fine tuning your fitness and looking after yourself generally are big parts of preparation with Cavan. "It's all part of the discipline package that you basically have to sign up to. "Everyone on the panel knows that we're to win anything as a group, we have to be disciplined on and off the field and especially in our social lifes. "We all know the sacrifices that have to be made nowadays." Those who know Lorcan well will tell you that the hard-working midfielder 'cum attacker is the kind who won't need a whip to keep in tow. He's the kind of player who's all heart. He sports a splendid GAA pedigree which does help in instilling ambition and pride in a player's heart. A number of his maternal and paternal uncles starred with the Leitrim senior football team in times past. Lorcan himself appears unlikely to stray off the path leading to the dressing-room door and to the locker which says 'fixture'. "A manager's player who gives it his all," is how one club colleague describes him. This season is his third on the Cavan senior panel and the experience he has gained over recent seasons has, so far, been reflected in his more confident, more assertive play over the course of the last few national league matches. There is of course the fact that he is one of the current leading lights on Cavan's vaunted under 21 squad. With added responsibility comes added challenges but for players of ambition and courage like Lorcan, surges of confidence are natural by-products when peering at the top of a mountain. After he togs out for Paddy McNamee's squad against Armagh in the Ulster Under 21 championship - in tandem with fellow senior countymen Ronan Flanagan, Pauric Reilly and Cian Mackey, he is likely to be in action the following day in the NFL against Sligo. It's all go when you're in demand! Between now and then though, Lorcan hopes to hone his fitness and skills levels. He insists he's some way short of being fully fit but he's hoping that by championship time he'll be at his peak. He was far from at his peak this time last year, he recalls. A crocked knee which he suffered after the Ulster Under 21 championship final against Down (while training with the county seniors) played havoc with him for a while. But he worked hard at recovering his full fitness and his impressive form at club level made sure that he remained a part of the county's premier football squad. In his own mind, Lorcan has come on in leaps and bounds over the last 12 months or thereabouts. Two years ago, he wasn't at all sure about his ability to cut it at the highest level in Cavan. A lack of experience and a certain degree of lack of self-belief hampered his development as a member of Eamonn Coleman's county squad. "I wasn't too disappointed not to make it at that time because I was surprised to even be on the under 21 team then. "I'm happy that I've made a bit of progress over the last year or so but it's been a huge step-up from under 21 level to senior. "The pace at senior level is far faster, fellas have a lot more pace and power and the whole intensity of the games is much greater. "Once you get the ball at senior level, you immediately come under pressure and you have to be really alert and release the ball as quickly as possible to a team-mate. "You have to work a lot harder off the ball too when you're playing senior county football," the 6'2" and 14-stone fighting fit countyman explains. But, like a whole host of county supporters who have watched him in action this year in particular, Lorcan feels he is on schedule to play the best football of his career before the year comes to an end. Not being injury prone has been key to his progress to date with Cavan and he's keeping his fingers crossed that he doesn't add to team-manager Martin McElkennon's angst in that department. A niggling knee injury which has flared up at times over the last four years is Lorcan's sole concern. Employed by the Elliott building firm, Lorcan has been combining his duties with the mushrooming Cavan firm by attending the Dublin Institute of Technology one day per week as part of his bid to secure a qualification in construction management. Lorcan accepts though that his weekly routine is no less intense or complicated than your average, aspiring countyman. "I come home on a Tuesday and Friday night for county training and in between times I do my own training to complement the countywork." One of the stars of Butlersbridge's all-conquering JFC winning teams of 2002 and 2004, Lorcan is looking forward to securing an extended run with the county seniors. And the prospect of lining out for the blues against Down in this year's Ulster SFC is one which has really whetted his appetite for the training in the weeks and months ahead. But he knows too that he will need to keep shining on the club front to make sure that his star continues to rise. "It's your club form that first gets you noticed by the county selectors at whatever grade you're playing, from underage right up through the years but any player who has their club at heart should always try and give their best for the club. "Anyway if you weren't showing up that well in club matches, it wouldn't be long before you'd be told about it!" Lorcan is upbeat about the direction the 'bridge is heading and he's convinced that the bridge linking the club to more silverware at adult level is in view. "The team's going through a bit of a transition period at the moment and because some of the older players have retired over the last couple of years, it'll time a bit of time to rebuild a team capable of winning the championship." Lorcan isn't discounting the possibility though of the village side adding to its junior triumphs of recent years with victory in this year's intermediate championship. "Winning the intermediate this year is a realistic target for us. Why not? With a lot of good young players coming up from under 16 and minor levels, I'd say we'll have a very good team in the next couple of years if not this year. "The fact that the club won the minor league and got to the championship final shows the quality of the fellas that are coming through and, in fairness, there's not an awful lot of teams that could be considered out and out favourites to land the intermediate title this year. "The intermediate is a very even contest with no outstanding teams involved and definitely none that we'd be afraid of taking on. "Last year was our first real go at the intermediate championship and we weren't outclassed by any team. "Hopefully we can learn from the experience and do that bit better this Summer," adds Lorcan who first caught the eye of the county selectors when operating at minor level at his club alongside the likes of Noel McPhillips and Darragh Keogh. Following on from the contribution made to the county senior cause by fellow clubmen from the 'eighties, the late Sean Leddy and Paddy McGovern, Lorcan is aiming to be part and parcel of Cavan football's future for many years to come. "I feel if I can continue to improve different aspects of my game and keep my head down and work hard, I should be able to keep my place on the Cavan panel but that's up to other people to decide whether I'm good enough." Given the enthusiasm, workrate and ability he has shown to date, one suspects Lorcan has a very good chance of sufficiently impressing those people he has in mind. Tweet

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