A lot done, a lot more to do would appear to be the mantra emanating from the ranks of the hurling enthusiasts in county Cavan as we review another season of the small ball game in Breffni-land. 2007 was yet another year when a lot of work - most of it removed from the public eye - was carried out to put in place new hope for hurling in the Breffni County. Raising the stock of hurling in Cavan is a very slow process and one which will only succeed by dint of years of diligent work at grass roots level, i.e. among the clubs. A tremendous effort is being put in by a small coterie of passionate officials at club and county level in an effort to lift the profile of the ancient game in Cavan. And while results on the intercounty front in '07 may not have reflected such labour, it is quite clear that confidence and self-belief among the troops at the coalface has improved. For the first time in a number of years, Cavan's seniors nabbed a national league point with a draw at home to Fermanagh at Kingspan/Breffni Park breaking a barren run. Under the management of Michael Wall, Frankie Quinn and Eamon Dalton, Cavan had earlier put in a very hard shift against an ever-improving Tyrone side. However Cavan went down by 1-9 to 2-23 to the O'Neill County with a 1-6 unanswered tally by Tyrone at the start of the second half helping to send Cavan to their second successive NHL Div. 3B defeat. Wind-aided Cavan led by two points after three minutes but once Tyrone goaled in the 25th minute, the game slowly drifed away from Cavan. Tyrone dominated the second half and a goal by Justin Kelly catapulted them into a 2-12 to 0-6 lead after 43 minutes. Cavan replied two minutes later with a fine goal by Ronan O'Hagan but added just three further points thereafter from Paul Sheridan. Despite having a player red carded, the O'Neill County had little difficulty in retaining their handsome lead to the death. Cavan NHL (v Tyrone); D Sheridan; D Neary, J Fitzsimons, A Nelligan; F Coyle, J Lafferty, A Sheridan (0-2); Paul Sheridan (0-4), S Lee (0-1); R O'Hagan (1-1), J Donohoe, Paraic Sheridan; M Hill (0-1), W Farrell, E Dalton. Subs; P Brady for Pauric Sheridan; M Nolan for S Lee; PJ Kelly for R O'Hagan; Pauric Sheridan for A Sheridan (inj). The aforementioned game against the Ernesiders was played in mid-March and it proved to be an archetypal bitter-sweet affair for the unfancied homesters. Considering it was nearly three seasons since Cavan's senior hurlers collected a NHL win but against former Cavan manager Tom Walsh's team, they came within 18 seconds of ending their frustratingly barren period. A goal by midfielder Paul Sheridan two minutes from time and a point on the dot of full-time by Mullahoran's Edward Dalton seemed set to propel the blues into the winner's enclosure at long last. However there was a sting in the tail for Michael Wall's charges as veteran Fermanagh attacker Jason McManus played the role of party-pooper to a tee two minutes into injury time to leave the final scoreline reading, Cavan 4-4 Fermanagh 2-10. McManus replicated Sheridan's dead-ball accuracy by firing a 25 metre free to the roof of the net and so salvage a draw for the Ernesiders that they looked like being denied. In what was an entertaining NHL Division 3B clash at Kingspan/Breffni Park though played in Siberian-like conditions, Cavan were the better team over the 70 minutes-plus. Cavan started on the frontfoot and were a goal to the good after seven minutes thanks to a Mark McEntee (Gowna) goal which came after Paul Sheridan's free wasn't clearly properly by the visitors' defence. Unfortunately Cavan failed to consolidate their quick-fire start and Fermanagh fired over four unanswered points between the 11th and 17th minutes to nip into a one point lead. Two converted frees by the impressive Paul Sheridan in the 20th and 23rd minutes served to regain the lead for Cavan and then in the 26th minute, the aforementioned Dalton hit the jackpot. The young corner-forward made the most of his pace to latch onto a Paul Sheridan delivery and after bypassing one challenge, strode forward before rifling the ball to the back of the Fermanagh net. Although Fermanagh hit back with two frees, Cavan were still good for their 2-2 to 0-6 half-time lead but within 10 minutes of the commencement of the second half the visitors had gained parity, 0-8 to 2-2. However the green and whites received a major setback when they had a player dismissed for a second yellow card offence just 13 minutes into the second half. Cavan looked odds-on winners after Edward Dalton goaled to put them 3-3 to 0-8 ahead five minutes after Smyth's sending-off. But Fermanagh battened down the hatches though and Brendan McGarry's 53rd minute goal left just a single point between the sides. A brace of Jason McManus frees thereafter edged Fermanagh into a 3-3 to 1-10 lead on the hour mark but back came Cavan with Sheridan's goal and Dalton's point seemingly wrapping things up in their favour. However up stepped top scorer McManus to kill any possibility of celebrations in the Cavan camp. Cavan NHL (v Fermanagh); Darren Sheridan; Daithi Neray, John Fitzsimons, Andrew Nelligan; Finan Coyle, Joe Lafferty, Anthony Sheridan; Paul Sheridan (1-3, three frees), Pauric Sheridan; Ronan O'Hagan, Joseph Donohoe, Philip Brady; Michael Hill, Mark McEntee (1-0), Edward Dalton (2-1). Subs; Michael Murphy for McEntee (blood); McEntee for Murphy; Gerard Clerkin for Ronan O'Hagan; Michael Murphy for Dalton; Dalton for Murphy. Next time out though, it wasn't so rosy unfortunately with the blues going down by 2-4 to 4-20 to hosts Roscommon in their NHL Division 3B clash at Knockcroghery. Two goals inside the opening 10 minutes by the hosts proved pivotal in propelingl the westerners to their comfortable win. Although Gerry Clerkin goaled in the 24th minute for Cavan, wind-aided Roscommon still cruised to a 2-10 to 1-1 interval lead. The Connacht men netted for a third time in the 43rd minute and while Philip Brady goaled for Cavan seven minutes later, it remained largely one-way traffic. Cavan NHL (v Roscommon). Darren Sheridan; Sean Og Brady, John Fitzsimons, Andrew Nelligan; Fionan Coyle, Wesley Farrell, Mark Nolan; Paul Sheridan (0-4, all frees), Pauric Sheridan; Thomas Craig, Joe Donohoe, Philip Brady (1-0); Michael Hill, Gerard Clerkin (1-0), Edward Dalton. Subs; PJ Kelly for J Donohoe; P Devine for S Og Brady; B Harten for E Dalton; Michael Murphy for Pauric Sheridan; Anthony Sheridan for W Farrell. Cavan's game against Leitrim was a much more closely fought affair and, according to team-manager Michael Wall, his charges' 2-4 to 4-11 losing margin didn't properly reflect the balance of power in the game overall. "We were in touch with them all through the game and at one stage there were only five points between us. They got a good start which put us on the backfoot from early on and we just couldn't reel them in." Thereafter defeats to Louth and Warwickshire in the Nicky Rackard Cup did put a bit of a dampner on the season but team-manager Wall insists that hurling in the county is on the "up and up." The Cavan Gaels clubman says he has been heartened by the commitment and spirit shown by the Breffni blues over the course of their NHL Division 3B campaign. "The lads put in a lot of energy and time into their hurling in 2007. Commitment from the players was good all year and there's seldom been less than 25 at training in any given week which helped get a really good team spirit going." Since taking over the reins of the Cavan senior hurling team from erstwhile boss Jim Styles, Wall has worked hard alongside Ulster Council coach Frankie Quinn and county selector Eamon Dalton (Mullahoran) to forge a vibrant spirit, greater self-belief, improved skills and a vaulting ambition within the camp. A weekend away in Lougherey Agricultural College near Cookstown, county Tyrone did much to help bolster the squad's increased sense of camaraderie. "You can see the way the lads are looking out for each other," Wall comments. The Cavan boss maintains that progress has been made over the past season but that the county squad needs to build on what has been achieved in 2007. "We earned a point in the national league which was one more point than the county achieved over the past three years. "In 2007 managers from the other counties have commented on how much we have improved since they last came up against us and that's encouraging." The county supremo does concede that Cavan hurling remains at the bottom of the pile nationally and the team's NHL campaign didn't meet with pre-season expectations. "We had hoped to beat Fermanagh at home and we'd have gotten the win instead of a draw only for their last minute goal. "We're trying to get rid of the 'whipping boys' tag and I think we're heading in the right direction on that score." Fulsome in his praise of the support being rendered to him and his think-tank by Chairman Philip Smith and Secretary Liam McCabe of Cavan County Board plus the aforementioned provincial council's appointee, Frankie Quinn, the new hurling board secretary says the fact his county selector Eamon Dalton has been co-opted onto the county board's hurling liason officer has meant that there is no longer a clash of fixtures between Gaelic football and hurling in Cavan any longer. He is convinced the county management team's 'no train, no play' policy engendered a degree of spirit and mutual respect within the senior county set-up in 2007. "We're on the right road," Wall concludes. Tweet

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