If a war broke out, Kill's Pierce McKenna is the kind of fella you'd want on your side. Just recently the countyman chatted with Kevin Carney about his career to date. It is said that Cavan team-manager Mattie Kerrigan is a real player's manager. And judging by his tenure in the hot seat to date, he certainly appears to have generated the type of camaraderie and bonhomie that is redolent of teams heading in the right direction. Kill Shamrocks player Pierce McKenna backs up such notions and others just as positive in relation to life under the Westmeath resident. McKenna, it seems, is very happy to play for the approachable former Meath star but the warm feeling he has for the Cavan supremo is mutual. "Considering that Pierce is only now working his way back to full-fitness, his performances in the new year have been brilliant and I'm sure that they'll get even better as the year goes on," Kerrigan commented in the hours after Cavan's opening round league victory over Kildare in Newbridge in early February. It's ironic that the self-same Kill star should start off 2003 trying to completely shake off the effects of a nagging knee injury for it was an injury suffered by the towering Shamrock at the start of 2002 which scared the living daylights out of the Cavan management team. The story of how the strapping McKenna's injury ruled him out of competitive action for nearly two months can be traced back to a wintry Portarlington last January when Cavan seniors met their Laois counterparts in a pre-season challenge match. Cavan had a sprightly start to the game. Our man McKenna was particularly prominent in the opening 20 minutes by which time the visitors had edged into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead, despite playing against a strong breeze. During that period, the Kill clubman was the proverbial thorn in the side of Laois, winning 'oceans' of good possession in the vital diamond area of the field. And not alone was he garnering a lot of ball, he was striding forward with intent too and invariably feeding a better placed colleague in front of goal. But just when he thought it was safe to presume that 2002 was going to be plain sailing, disaster struck. Within minutes of McKenna's retirement, Laois hit the front and proceeded to win with four points to spare at the close of play, 1-13 to 0-12. A year on and Pierce remembers it was quite a painful experience, in every sense. "I hurt my ribs and although they weren't' broken, they were very sore for a while. "I missed the challenge game against Dublin the following week which was disappointing and the injury meant that I couldn't run or train in any way for three weeks and it was nearly seven weeks altogether before I was back, fit enough to be in contention for a place in the team," the 26-year old recalls. Some observers at that match in Portarlington maintain that that game against Laois marked the coming of age of Pierce McKenna as a county midfielder. For he was a veritable collussus in the 23 minutes he was on the pitch. Apart from scoring a fine point, he was the perfect outlet for defenders in possession but under pressure, was the outstanding midfielder on show and also supported his frontmen in textbook fashion. Pierce's rib injury wasn't a good omen for the rest of 2002. Later torn ligaments in his knee would stain his season again. However in between the double whammy of injuries suffered by him last year, the galloping 6'3" and 14 and a half stone club and county star put in a more than decent shift for Cavan and Kill Shamrocks. And while there's maybe little if any pressure on him to perform to his best at club level in order for him to shine over the average hour's football, he understands better than anyone just how tough it is to nail down a permanent place in the county team's engine room. "Competition for places on the team is tough, no matter what position you're talking about, and midfield is no different. "I was happy with my form last year and I was able to hold my place on the team when I was fully fit. "That's not to say that I think that'll always be the case. I've still a lot of improving to do as a player and with the sort of potential coming through from under 21 level in the county, I don't think any of the older players in the squad can take their places for granted. "I know myself that I'll have to play consistently well to hold my place." A graduate of the St. Aidan's Comprehensive School Cootehill and University College Dublin places of academic and sporting excellence, Pierce has been a big player on the Cavan football scene for at least the last six years now. An inspirational figure for his beloved Shamrocks, Pierce help guide the green and whites to the Junior championship title in 1997. Earlier he had signalled his intention to be a big player on the biggest stages around when acting out a central role in St. Finbarrs' (Kill/Drung) minor championship title triumph in 1994. But, like every other player who signs up for the long haul, Pierce has also suffered the slings and arrows that the big ball game throws up. In 1997 he and his St. Finbarrs colleagues lost out in the Under 21 county championship decider. That setback remains his declared biggest disappointment in his career to date. But beating the high that Kill's aforementioned JFC title win afforded him is, not surprisingly, a priority. "The game I remember most as a spectator was Cavan's win over Derry in the '97 Ulster championship final. It would be a dream come through to feature in a repeat of that game," he says. Pierce is an ambitious player and has set his sights higher than just a Ulster SFC medal. He wants an All-Ireland medal. Two of them, like those scooped by his boyhood idol Mickey Linden would be even nicer, he suggests. The sort of athlete who'd likely be just as much a success in the rugby or athletics arenas, the St. Mary's National School, Rathowen (Co. Westmeath) teacher admits though that the present Cavan squad has to show quite a remarkable improvement on their record in 2002 if his own personal dreams are to be realised sooner rather than later. "We were certainly very poor against Donegal in last year's championship. Their goal early on shouldn't have been allowed because Thomas Prior was pushed but that incident wasn't the reason why we lost though. "They got the perfect start but we had plenty of time to recover but we didn't deserve to win. We were second to the ball every time and never got going as a team. " We just didn't perform on the day - it's as simple as that." And the notion that the Donegal game came too soon after the demoralising league final defeat to Tyrone? "In hindsight, it's fair to say that our preparation for the championship game against Donegal came unstuck a bit because of the game's proximity to the league final but, in fairness, morale was still good in the camp after the Tyrone defeat. "On the day of the championship game in Breffni, Donegal looked a lot fresher. "The fact that we lost by such an amount to Tyrone was hard to get over but actually getting to the league final was of great experience for the players although I would agree that the league run did hamper our preparations for the Donegal game. " The league run helped us take our focus off the championship." So months on, which would have been the more preferable scenario for Pierce personally? "From my point of view, I would have preferred to have gotten to a league semi-final and lost it if it mean that we could win the championship game against Donegal." As regards Cavan's league campaign this time around, Pierce says that the manager has impressed on the players the need to win as many matches as possible in the league. The training schedule has been modified this year compared to that of 2002, he adds. Now a much more confident player and a player imbued of late with a great deal more self-belief, the affable countyman says he is confident that Cavan can show a lot better form in 2003 and will be a much more consistent outfit this year. "We didn't perform in the league final and we didn't do ourselves justice against Donegal and especially against Limerick in the two matches that followed. "The lads are determined to get things right this year on both fronts. "The championship is obviously our priority and considering the kind of strength in depth that we have now, even if we do pick up a few injuries we have quality on the bench ready and able to come in as replacements." And what of the club scene? "We hadn't that big of a panel in the last few years but there are some very good young fellas with good potential about to break through to the senior team and if all the players stick together, we can make up for losing out in the league final at the end of last year." Antrim, Drumalee et al, you have been warned! Tweet

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