Saturday, February 27, 2010

Sigerson Cup: And then there was four!


It was a week of mixed emotions for Cavan’s college contingent as the quarter-finals of the Sigerson Cup took place.

Much has been made of the timing of the competition recently but Breffni bosses will be glad to learn that the prestigious tournament draws to a close this weekend.

DCU made the final four thanks to a comfortable six-point victory over 2009 champions Cork IT last Wednesday. The Dublin college, who were without talented forward Sean Johnston, delivered a commanding performance and now enter the final weekend as heavy favourites to take the crown which they last held in 2006, when they won their first and only Sigerson title.

Their Cavan contingent of Ronan Flanagan and Dermot Sheridan at centre-forward and midfield respectively, Michael Lyng and Ray Cullivan all featured, with the latter and Sheridan nabbing a point apiece.



Interestingly Lyng and Cullivan were only substitutes, with DCU’s potent forward-line containing the likes of Dublin’s Paul Flynn and Paddy Andrews as well as Sligo’s David Kelly.

However, after both gave impressive performances, they will no doubt be hoping to making the starting 15 for the game against hosts Maynooth this Friday.

The Kildare-based college, who have Ballyhaise’s Kevin Tierney among their ranks, caused the shock of the tournament when they beat UUJ by two points in Belfast.

Elsewhere Ray Galligan was the star of the show, firing seven points for Athlone IT, as they advanced to the semi-finals by beating Sligo by the narrowest of margins on a score-line of 1-09 to 1-08.

Cavan u21 players Eugene Keating and David Givney formed a formidable midfield partnership for the westerners and the latter particularly impressed scoring 1-01.

However, they were left disappointed as Galligan and co. advanced to meet UCC in the other semi-final.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Cavan footballers lack fight




One Saturday night. Two Cavan performances. What a contrast.

While boxer Andrew Murray successfully defended his Irish lightweight belt with a powerful and commanding performance, the Cavan footballers once again left the Breffni faithful bitterly disappointed.

Morale was pretty low as the home supporters trundled out of HQ (many before the final whistle), bewildered once again. The limp performance was painful to watch as Tommy Carr’s troops allowed Antrim to march through them in the second half with little or no resistance.

Fast-forward an hour though and what was seen live on RTE from Cavan’s leading boxer was the complete opposite. Absolute chalk and cheese.

Murray showed everything we all wanted to see in Breffni Park. He was brave, clever, commanding, skilful and passionate as he saw off the threat of Oisin Fagan in the fifth round of his bout.

Despite being up against a fighter that went about his business in a completely different style, Murray had his homework done, devised his own game-plan and stuck too it. He identified his own strengths and worked them to his advantage.

Cavan on the other hand, looked lost and never got going as a unit. After a comfortable and morale-boosting victory over Roscommon in the opening NFL fixture, supporters wondered if Cavan had finally turned a corner. It appeared Carr’s troops had finally found some badly needed self-belief but after two league games it seems like a classic case of ‘one step forward and two steps back’.

On Saturday night Cavan gave the impression that they had learned very little since the last time they met the Saffron army in Clones last summer. Maybe it was just the pressure of being at home and the expectancy to win under the bright lights got to them, who knows? But all the swagger they showed in Dr. Hyde Park the week previous seemed to have evaporated into thin-air.

Now, both Murray and Cavan find themselves at a crossroads.

Behind Murray is the Irish road, one which he has already conquered and navigated successfully. Ahead though, is a much more glamorous route that will provide sterner challenges. Bright lights run along it, which look set to guide the popular local fighter to a European title shot sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, Tommy Carr’s charges lie at a different junction, on a road that seems to be bringing them nowhere anytime soon. And until they manage to find some consistency - they look like they will be stuck there. Belief and hard-work are the only things now that can get the Breffni boys heading back towards their target - which should simply be gradual improvement.

Are the current crop of Cavan footballers nine points worse off than Antrim? Despite our flaws and limitations in areas, I think not.

As a proud footballing county we need to stop letting what we can’t do affect what we can do and make the most of what is in our possession. Because at the end of the day, like it or not, it’s all we have…