Brady backing Cavan camogie
December 30, 2010In an uber-busy year for camogie in the county, rollercoaster ride doesn't begin to describe the journey experienced by Cavan's premier side during the past year.
For instance, Cavan captured the Ulster Junior 'B' title in May at the expense of Monaghan but then in August lost out in the All-Ireland final to . . . .Monaghan!
And yet for all the ups and downs suffered by the county's flagship crew, long-serving county player Marie Brady unhesitatingly labels 2010 as a "successful year for the game in Cavan."
"A few years ago, things weren't so good in terms of the effort put in by the county (players) but this year the players gave a huge commitment for the whole year.
"There was a lot of work done at underage level too with the various teams and the development squads that were set up.
"I think in a lot of ways, camogie turned a corner in Cavan in 2010 and the future looks fairly bright because of that."
The 2010 Junior panel - a good mix of experienced players and new, young talent brought through from minor ranks - incoporated the best of talent from Ballinagh, Castletara, Crosserlough, Drumgoon, Portobello (Dublin), Laragh and Marie's club, Lacken.
Having scooped the All-Ireland Junior 'C' title in 2009, hopes were high at the start of the year that the success of the Eddie Brady-managed crew the previous year could inspire a continuation of the good times in 2010.
"The training went very well from the beginning," Marie explains. "We were able to train on the 3G pitch and it really sharpened up our skills and our ball control in particular.
"We found the pace of the ball on the 3G was like you'd find at championship time and we did a lot of ball work in training.
"All that early season trainingreally helped bring us on from the month of February onwards and you could sense the confidence growing."
A couple of months after kicking off training at the 3G, Cavan participated in the Ulster Junior 'B' Championship but controversy marred their 1-9 to 2-5 victory over Monaghan with the Oriel county claiming that they won the match by 2-6 to 1-8 but the referee stuck to her guns and the result stood.
The following month (May), the Cavan girls by romping to a convincing, and uncontentious, Ulster Junior 'B' title victory over Monaghan.
Managed by Colm McEvoy (Crosserlough) with the assistance of former county star Margaret Carroll, the Rosie Crowe (Lacken) - captained county juniors hit the ground running and ran out decisive 1-10 to 0-1 victors.
Cavan built up a 1-3 to 0-0 interval lead with Lorraine Day the goalscorer as Monaghan were pinned back against the ropes for large periods.
The second half saw Cavan consolidate their superiority with a brace of points from Marie near the end (bringing her personal tally to 0-6) helping to seal a comprehensive and impressive victory.
"We were all playing well at that stage and things just clicked for us against Monaghan; it was great to win a provincial medal," Marie enthuses.
Thereafter Cavan rebounded after an opening round defeat (4-4 to 1-14) to would-be winners Armagh to upset the odds by beating Tyrone by 2-10 to 1-10 in mid-May to reach the Ulster Intermediate Championship decider.
"It was a big achievement to get to the intermediate final," adds Marie who doubled up in 2010 as a selector with the county's under 18 squad.
"Unfortunately, things didn't go right for us in the final (losing out by 0-6 to 4-7 to Armagh) but it didn't help that we lost Majella Prior with a broken ankle after just ten minutes while a few girls were involved in football matches beforehand as well."
Things initially went swimmingly for Cavan in the All-Ireland Junior 'B' Championship where they put in some impressive displays.
A place was eventually booked in the final against the 'oul enemy (Monaghan) in a game played in Donaghmore/Ashbourne in August last.
Marie helped herself to four points as Cavan were held to a draw, 1-7 apiece, with a goal from Cavan substitute Aoishe O'Reilly in injury-time giving the Breffni belles a second bite of the cherry.
"We got lucky in the end with the goal but I think we deserved the draw," Marie says. "It could have went either way but I think justice was done with the draw because we could have won it and lost it in the end.
"I suppose they felt hard done by in seeing the goal going and we felt a bit lucky that we managed to get out of jail."
Cavan had the look of winners from early on in the tie as they went 0-5 to 0-0 in front after 18 minutes but other scoring chances went abegging.
The Breffni girls were made to pay too for their prolifgacy as Monaghan edged home in the replay by 0-12 to 1-8 and so scoop the Maire Ni Chinneide trophy.
"Losing to Monaghan was the lowlight of the year for me personally," maintains Marie, an All-Ireland 'C' medallist in 2009.
"I had a stinker and we lost out on an All-Ireland medal which made it a day best forgotten.
"We beat a lot of the teams, for instance Mayo, very easily on the way to the final and maybe a touch of complacency set in among the squad but I'm not sure.
"We couldn't have been too cocky against Monaghan 'cause all our matches against them over the years have been close.
"Roisin O'Keeffe was skinning her opponents all day but we just didn't manage to give her enough support on the day.
"In fairness, Monaghan were the more determined side on the day and we can't really have any complaints.
"We had some good days and not so good days during the year but the buzz in the camp, the spirit among the girls and the camaraderie was great."
Like many another diehard camogie enthusiast in Cavan, Marie is mindful of looking after the future of the game in the county.
In that regard, she was happy to act as a selector with the county under 18 squad in the past year under the tutelage of the aforementioned McEvoy/Carroll axis.
"The minors did very well this year. They reached the Ulster semi-final but lost out to Armagh and reached the all-Ireland semi-final as well but lost out by four points to Carlow who went onto win the title."
Fulsome in her praise for the county under 16s who did Cavan proud in the Ulster championship and All-Ireland 'C' championship, Marie says the fact that the county was able to enter two teams at under 14 in the Ulster blitz is a good omen for the future, especially given the fact that the 'B' team beat Tyrone in the final of the blitz.
Delighted by the honour brought to the county by Rosie Crowe (Lacken), Brid Boylan (Portobello) and Roisin O'Keeffe (Lacken) in being selected to represent Ireland at the international Shinty contest with Scotland at the tail end of October, Marie explains that, apart from representing her county, the club scene is very close to her heart.
The St. Clare's N.S, Cavan town-based primary teacher says Lacken's success in scooping the 2006, '07, 08 and 2010 senior championship titles has helped make her camogie career all the sweeter in recent years.
However she fingers Lacken's success in '95 - her first senior championship medal - as the highlight of her career to date.
And the secret down Lacken way?
"Hard work, commitment and a lot of talented girls,"she replies succinctly. "The fact that the club won the senior ladies football and camogie double in 2007 says a lot about the sort of talent that's in the club."
Brother of current Lacken Celtic senior footballer, Martin Brady, Marie says being beaten (3-11 to 5-11) in the 2010 Ulster club championship by Derry side Kilrea was a "big disappointment" but the team is young enough to rebound and make amends in the coming year.
"I think, going forward, there should be better communication between the camogie and ladies football boards," Marie proffers.
"On the day before our game with Kilrea, a lot of our players were playing football with the club and that was far from ideal.
"Camogie is in good health in the county now; the structures are there with the county board and development squads so if we can get the communication right, targets might be that bit easier to achieve in the coming years." Tweet
