Cavan senior hurling selector 'cum hurling board secretary Michael Wall is committed to effecting a change of fortunes for the small ball game in his native county. Michael 'Bricker' Wall is determined to do his damndest to help usher in a new era for Cavan hurling in the coming year, on and off the field of play. Already a first NHL win (over Leitrim) in four seasons has signified progress for the hurlers and the Cavan town native is hopeful that the undoubted progress can continue. "We know we're getting better and even team-managers that we meet on our travels remark on how much the team has improved since they played us last," Michael comments. In what is a revamped Division Four of the NHL, the Breffni blues always fancied their chances of breaking their long barren run in competitive matches. Morale in the Cavan camp has been good all season and on the back of a rare point (versus Fermanagh) in last year's league, the promise of better was duly fulfilled. The 24-man squad have been training hard since last December under Ulster Council coach Frankie Quinn (Tyrone), assisted by selector Wall and co-selector Eamonn Dalton. Quinn was on board last year as well when Cavan saw their average defeat drop by a massive 14 points when juxtaposed with the margin of their defeats in their 2006 outings. By the time the Breffni blues faced up to Leitrim in their opening round tie on February 10th, the squad had six weeks of gym work under their belts. "At the end of last year, we set ourselves some targets for 2008 and that was simply to get some national league points on the board and we did that against Leitrim. "It was obvious from just that match alone that the players had grown in confidence from the basic skills training that they did under Frankie (Quinn). "I knew before even going to the Leitrim game that we'd beat them because there was such a professsional attitude drilled into the players by Frankie. "Cavan hurlers have a different mindset now and they have great respect for Frankie and that shows with the effort they put in at training and on match days. "The days of county hurlers in Cavan just turning up on the day of the match are gone; there's no comparison with the level of discipline there is nowadays." And a greater degree of pride too? "Definitely. There was always pride there among the players even though the results were poor and Cavan were outclassed in nearly every game they played. "The players might have lacked confidence and self-belief over the years but they were always proud to represent their county and that hasn't changed. "On average, we would have around 24 players turning out for training during 2007 and no stone was left to ensure that they were well looked after. "The hurling board was lucky that Liam McCabe co-ordinated the arrangement of buses for away matches, meals and so on and that helped preparations greatly. "In the same way, the players knew what lay ahead of them every week with team selections made known on the Tuesday before the matches that weekend. "Every player, from one to 25, was made to feel important and the lads reacted in a positive way to what was being done for them. "We went for a weekend away in Loughrey up North last year and all the players were there, even though some had to take off work. "You could see the improvement in the players' performances during 2007. Louth thrashed us in 2006 but in the Nicky Rackard Cup last year we got to within ten points of them." Michael believes that everyone with the interest of hurling at heart in Cavan is now singing from the same hymn sheet and that bodes well for the chance of hurling blossoming. He maintains the fact that senior hurling selector Eamonn Dalton affords the small ball game a voice on the Competitions Control Committee is a huge boon to Cavan hurling. "Along with Eamonn's appointment, the establishment of a single Bord na nOg, looking after football and hurling fixtures, has been a great help and a huge step forward for hurling. "There has been a continuous level of improvement in our hurling fortunes. I remember our national league game against Longford last year when we led by two points at half-time. "I couldn't say enough about Frankie's (Quinn) contribution to the cause over the last couple of years and I would hope he'll be with us for a long time to come. "We have a few good hurlers coming through from under 21 level and we're looking to help bring them along via a regional competition, involving north, south, east and west teams from around the county. "We have twelve juvenile teams and four senior teams, Mullahoran, Woodford Gaels, Ballymachugh and Cavan Gaels and I'd have to give Tom Mortell and Brendan Sweeney credit for their help in the coaching arena and in putting in place the necessary structures for the competitions to be smoothly run off." Can we expect a more vibrant hurling force in the county town in the coming year? "I would hope so. There's no doubt in my mind that Cavan Gaels will be involved in competition in 2008 and there is the possibility of the game taking root in nearby Killygarry. "I think everyone is in agreement that we need a hurling presence in and around our county town and we also need to see something happen about reviving the game in Virginia." Buoyed by the interest generated in hurling to date among the pupils of St. Patrick's Collge by its Games Promotion Officer Brendan Sweeney, Michael says getting a team up and running at the college would be a major leg-up to the game at underage level in Cavan. "I believe there's been quite a lot of interest expressed by pupils in the college wishing to play the game so hopefully we'll have enough players interested in training and getting together a team," Michael opines. Father of up-and-coming young hurler Cormac (8), Michael is clearly very upbeat about the state of hurling in Cavan and he enthuses about the county's achievement in "getting rid of the tag of us being the worst hurling team in the country." He says he'd love, just love it if Cavan could nick a win or two in the Nicky Rackard Cup this year and he is confident that the county can make an impact in the Ulster championship. "The prospect of playing in the Ulster senior championship is one hell of a challenge but I know the lads will be looking forward to taking part. "We've got to be ambitious and to acquit ourselves well in the national league, the Nicky Rackard and the Ulster championship would be just great. "Cavan hurling has struggled for years but I think we've turned the corner and significant and obvious progress is being made and hopefully we can continue to see our fortunes improve in the months ahead." Tweet

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