Cavan hand out debuts to 67 players in 11 seasons

Cavan have handed out 67 championship debuts at senior level since 2001, meaning that almost half of the team has been recycled every single year during the past decade. And the past two seasons have witnessed the highest turnover of all, with seven players making their championship bows in 2010 and six debuting last Sunday against Donegal. Of the 22 players who appeared in the senior championship for the first time in the past five seasons, only four - Ray Cullivan, Dermot Sheridan, Eugene Keating and Dane O'Dowd - started last Sunday against Donegal, a percentage rate of 18.5%. The trend began in 2001 when current joint manager Val Andrews introduced a wave of new faces for the opening round against Down. Of the six debutants that started in the championship opener that year (along with one other, Paul Galligan, who was making his starting debut having featured as a sub previously) only one - Michael Brides of Redhills and later Oliver Plunketts - established himself in the team. Brides went on to play for Cavan right up until 2010, under a succession of managers, but he was the exception rather than the rule. The majority of the new faces introduced over the past 11 seasons have disappeared without trace from the inter-county scene; it is a remarkable statistic that, having introduced 61 new players in ten years, resources are so stretched that Cavan managers Andrews and Terry Hyland were forced to throw seven new "caps" in at the deep end last Sunday. Three more players made debuts in the semi-final back in 2001 but, of the nine that started matches for the first time in that championship, not one started in Ulster five seasons later. The same trend continued right through the decade as far as this year. Tommy Carr introduced eight players to championship football in 2010 and just one, Drumlane's Dane O'Dowd, has held his place 12 months later, with three relegated to the bench and four gone from the panel entirely. As far back as 2004 - when Cavan pushed would-be Ulster finalists Armagh all the way in a very encouraging performance under Eamon Coleman - seven players were introduced but all bar Micheál Lyng either quit or were discarded in the ensuing season or two. The following season saw Cavan enjoy their best run since 1997 (and since) and the retention rate is higher. Michael Hannon, Keith Fannin, Martin Cahill, Padraic O'Reilly, Ciaran Galligan, Padraig Cahill and Cian Mackey all made their senior championship debuts in that year. Hannon was an ever-present until the end of last season and hasn't featured this year, while Fannin missed a couple of seasons but returned this year and was a sub last Sunday, as was Martin Cahill. O'Reilly would've played against Donegal but for injury, Padraig Cahill left the panel having started the first league match and Ciaran Galligan also opted out early this year. Ten of the 22 players handed their debuts between 2006 and 2010 are still members of the Cavan senior panel, but only three made the starting team against Donegal. James McEnroe would've made his debut too having made the team, but missed out due to injury. For details of each season and the names of all the debutantes, see this week's Anglo-Celt.