SIDELINE VIEW: Hats off to Cavan - now it's time to step up again

What a difference a win makes. Suddenly, Cavan have their tails up and have two points on the board and there's a far more positive outlook. There was a more cohesive look to the whole thing last Saturday. Even on the line for example, there were changes - I wouldn't have liked to have been a substitute on that team for the last number of weeks because you wouldn't have seen any of the game such was the army of bodies patrolling in front you. The last day, there was only Val and Ger [Lyons] on the sideline and the rest of the backroom team were in the stand observing and I think that worked well. That was a starting point and in fairness, it set the tone. I think they have done away a little bit with the zonal system and have players pushing up, especially the half-back line, which was good to see. I know Kevin Meehan and Mark McKeever dropped back somewhat - and they're both intelligent enough footballers to be able to do that - and they picked up a lot of ball but otherwise, players pushed up. In other games, our half-back line drifted back in front of our full-back line - on this occasion, they pushed up on their men and that particular sector, along with the midfield and half-forwards, were dominant for 50-55 minutes of the game. All over the field, I don't think there was anybody that didn't win their individual battle with their opponent. Even a substitute, Brendan Fitzpatrick, came on early in the game and was outstanding, kicking two superb points and showing well throughout. McKeever also made a big difference. He's a cool head and he was spraying ball around and winning dirty ball in the middle of the field and that's a massive addition. He's a big player and he showed the talent that he has and while I don't necessarily think that centre half-forward is his best position, he played very, very well there on Saturday night. He needs to be kept in that position maybe because I don't want to see him shifted around - you can see the difference it's made in Ronan Flanagan having been given a position and left there. He was brilliant at corner-back and it's fantastic to see it. Damien Barkey had a very good game in the corner as well but again, a lot of it comes down to the fact that that the players are working hard out the field and nobody is loose so the opposition don't have time to deliver quality ball to their inside men. So while the full-back line did very well, they weren't under a huge amount of pressure, and that's the way you want it to be. And Cavan gave it everything. Some will be critical of the way we let them back into the game but Sligo were always going to have a period of dominance, they are too good a side not to. What was important was how we reacted. People will point out that we were hanging on at the end, but look at where we're coming from. We've had two bad defeats, we're a young side, we're learning all the time and we needed to win at all costs. There were negatives, as there always are from a close match, and they'll need to be addressed. Whereas James Reilly might have saved us in the past many a day, he was quite poor by his own high standards against Sligo. The first goal was a goalkeeper's ball all day long and James was slow to come off his line and then at the very end, I don't know whether it was a mix-up or what happened, but we nearly let in another. The key point is that James is one of the leaders of this team and as the likes of Padraic O'Reilly, Ronan Flanagan and Mark McKeever showed on the field, leaders are very important to a young team. James didn't do the warm-down - he could well have been injured, I'm not sure - after the game and left the dressing room fairly quickly and he needs to front up now. Maybe he's missing a little bit of sharpness from not playing club football but he is an excellent player and Cavan need him to be a leader, which he can be. The three others did that and we need James to do the same and show the right attributes on an off the field. Overall, though, I thought it was very encouraging. You can nit-pick but it was a win - that's the key. We needed to get a win at all costs, otherwise we're staring down the barrel of Division 4 and you don't want to be going there. We got off to a great start, Gearoid McKiernan kicked a point after a few seconds and he was outstanding throughout. We were dominant in the middle third and that was the foundation of the result. We have to remember too that these boys put 4-14 up against Wexford three weeks before. OK, we should've won by more and we had enough chances to win two games, but we kept them from putting up another big score and, crucially, as I say, we got the two points. Supporters must remember that a lot of these players are new to inter-county football and they need some time. People might say someone like Martin Dunne missed a lot of chances but I would give him credit for having a pop. He never stopped trying and it came off towards the end with a very important point. You need players to stand up when the chips are down and he did it, as Gearoid did at the very end. The next game can't come quick enough for us. The key now, to get some level of consistency, is to go down there on Saturday evening, get tuned in and go out on Sunday and beat Tipperary. They have lost three matches and will be low on confidence and this is a match Cavan can win. If Cavan are going to be competing at a higher level in the future, these sort of games are the notches we need on our belt. We're expected to win, confidence is high and we have to stand up and follow up with another victory. We need to win our home games, Breffni Park needs to be a fortress and credit to the supporters, there was a good crowd there on Saturday night. The players and management deserve a huge amount of credit too. The management have clearly changed their approach in certain ways and they deserve the plaudits for that. Now, we have to push on from here, starting on Sunday. SEMPLE WILL SUIT CAVAN I'm surprised that Tipperary are playing this match in Thurles. Cavan are a young, fast team and will revel in the wide open spaces of Semple Stadium. I would like to see Cavan going down the night before and really having a chance to get focused because, with the early throw-in, you don't want a situation where players have to leave home at 7am. • Anthony works for BBi Ireland, specialists in Business Insurance. Call them today at 049 4331038 or drop into their office at 7 Townhall Place, Cavan.