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…