Mackey's Player of the Month consolation

Cóilín Duffy

Cian Mackey was back in Croke Park yesterday, less than 48 hours after suffering defeat in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Kerry, to pick up the OPEL GAA-GPA Footballer of the Month award for July.
The Castlerahan clubman scooped the accolade after Cavan’s march to a first-ever last-eight encounter on Sunday.
Mackey was a driving force behind this run, which saw qualifier wins over Derry and London, with the 26-year old bagging a vital goal in the extra-time win over the Oak Leafers.
“It’s always good to get recognition for all of the hard work you put in,” he said.
“But it is very disappointing after what happened at the weekend. We will pick ourselves up and hopefully get back training at the end of the year. Now I’m going to take a well earned rest.”
Mackey says it was a great year for Cavan, despite no silverware being annexed: “You want to win, we still have empty pockets. Against the likes of Derry we were given no chance, but we kicked on and we wanted to win.
“Hopefully, next year we will show what we can do, at the business end of the Championship.”

Johnston
When Cavan football is talked about at the moment, invariably talk turns to Seanie Johnston’s return to Cavan Gaels, and possibly the Cavan Senior team next year. Mackey would be happy to have 'Jelly’ back, but ultimately the decision lies with Terry Hyland.
“I played with Jelly since our underage days and he is a good friend of mine,” Mackey said.
“The door is open for Seanie to come back from what Terry has been saying. It’s up to Seanie to get back playing with his club and he has to earn his place back in the squad.
“Seanie is a top-notch footballer and I’m sure if he is playing good football he will get the call-up.”