Sfc final preview gaels the safer bet but there wont be much in it
It’s the sign of a great team that they can reach a final while still, by their own admission, in transition. Cavan Gaels may not be the force of old but their overall balance, the question marks over where Kingscourt will get their scores, tilts things their way. But there won’t be much in it, writes Anglo-Celt Sports Editor PAUL FITZPATRICK.
Football success may be cyclical, but nobody told Cavan Gaels. No other team in the history of the senior grade has been as dominant for as long. There have been great teams – Cornafean, Mullahoran, Crosserlough, Kingscourt, Gowna – but none have ever reached 14 finals in 15 years.
What the Gaels have done may, in fact, never be replicated. They have created their own tradition – since the club’s inception, they had enjoyed sporadic success, winning three championships in four years in the mid to late ’70s but, otherwise, never holding the position of number one for a sustained period.
What has happened over the last decade, though, makes it all the harder to call what will occur in the next week. How good is this Cavan Gaels team? As good as the one which won the county final by 16 points in 2011? Better than the one which lost the final by a point in 2013?
The truth is they are probably somewhere in between. At one stage a few years ago – on the eve of the 2010 final loss to Kingscourt which almost spun the clautrophobic Breffni football world off its axis – it looked as if the reign would go on for a thousand years.
And then they walked into a haymaker, and the ones you don’t see coming hurt most. Kingscourt were primed and detonated on the big day, the 5/1 outsiders winning the second half by seven points.
The empire struck back the following season, emphatically, but, by their own high standards, they have misfired two years in a row. Killygarry knocked the Gaels out in the quarter-final in 2012, unfancied Ballinagh delivered the killer blow in the final last year.
Here we are again, then. Unlike 2010, this time there are questions hovering around this Gaels crew. The last time Oliver Plunkett wintered in the county town, Eoghan Elliott, Darren Rabbitt, Cathal Collins, Darragh Sexton, Enda King, Niall Smith, Martin Dunne and Kevin Meehan all started. None have started a championship match this year, for reasons of retirement and injury.
Karol Crotty was the first sub used that day, with 20 minutes to go – he won’t either, and neither will Paul O’Donnell, Sean Reilly or Cormac Nelligan, who all came off the bench against Castlerahan.
That’s a dozen good men gone, the sort of blow only a truly exceptional team could hope to catch and still keep moving forward. So, has Cavan Gaels’ form shown them to be that?
Yes and no. Against Gowna in the opening round, they won within themselves and yet without really convincing. Cuchulainns were next, and they blew them away.
Against Lacken, Robert Maloney-Derham pulled a ball down from over the crossbar which would have sent them hurtling from the championship, but they rectified it seocnd time round and then repeated their earlier win over the over-matched young Cuchulainns in the semi.
It’s not the greatest CV to be bringing with them into an examination. Yes, they hit five goals against a beleaguered Lacken in the replay but just nine points – the nagging feeling is that the Gaels of old would have kicked 20 when they had a team on the ropes like that.
They come into the final with wins over Gowna, Cuchulainns and Lacken, whereas Kingscourt have beaten Castlerahan, Ramor United and resurgent champions Ballinagh – yet the Gaels are the 2/5 favourites. Their pedigree is certainly influencing those odds, which look off-kilter when one considers the number of new faces in their line-up, and tried and trusted names who will not feature.
Then again, that line of analysis could be made look very foolish if Peter Canavan’s side click, which they have the potential to do. What makes this such a tricky match to call is the fact that this particular Gaels team are not yet proven.
As always, the match-ups will be crucial. One is certain - the Stars will put Thomas Wakely on Seanie Johnston. Wakely is now heading towards the end of his career but he still has the pace which made him one of the best defenders in the county. He will need it, though, if Johnston repeats his semi-final form.
The sojourn in Kildare was a disaster for Johnston, who turned 30 in August; the imponderable was whether he would return to the scintilating club form he showed earlier in his career, and that question was magnified when he featured little earlier in the championship.
He silenced his critics, though, with a sublime performance against Cuchulainns and if he carries that renewed confidence into battle on Sunday, he could be the difference between the sides.
The Gaels have been tight at the back and have been carrying the ball well out of defence - with exemplary support play and runners coming from all angles - all year but, at times, despite decent form from Andy Graham, the ball has not been sticking inside, especially after Paul O’Connor picked up an injury and with Martin Dunne on the absentee list.
Johnston’s renaissance has solved that riddle, and it is no coincidence that when he was purring in the final 40 minutes of the semi-final, the Gaels turned in their most complete championship performance of the campaign.
The Stars will also need to watch Declan Meehan closely should he be fit to start. Meehan has proven himself as a player of real talent, with searing pace and ball skills, and he must be marked closely if Kingscourt are to compete well. That could be a job for Barry Tully or, more likely, Keith McCabe, with Rory Sheridan and Shane Grey picking up either Graham or McClarey.
Mickey Lyng, too, is in good form. The Stars could pit the combative Padraig Faulkner on him.
Cavan Gaels, of course, will need to counteract some threats, too. Barry Reilly is the main one - if Reilly doesn’t fire, with him will go Kingscourt’s hopes. Regardless of Niall Lynch’s statement, we feel that Kingscourt are a little short on firepower - gone from their 2010 forward line are Ryan McCormack, Joe MacMahon and Mark McKeon.
Just three men scored against Ballinagh in the semi-final - Reilly, Philly Tinnelly and Anthony Corcoran - and it is hard to see many others getting their name on the scoresheet, Philip Smith aside. Barry Tully and Colm Smith (who could be tied up with Robert Maloney-Derham) may get a score or two - after that, where will the goals and points come from?
The Gaels, if they have learned the lessons of previous lost finals, will not allow Eamonn Reilly to be dragged to the wing - he will continue to mop up and protect the full-back line. Niall Gurhy could be seen as having the power to handle Philip Smith, with one of the Fortune brothers minding Corcoran or Reilly; then again, Peter Canavan may entrust newcomer Stephen Murray, who has a great engine, with the role of shadowing Reilly or Tinnelly.
Kingscourt may not carry a massive threat in attack, even if Mossy Malone starts, but the Gaels don’t have many specialist man-markers, either, especially with ‘Chesty’ likely to be free of those duties.
In the final analysis, though, the feeling is that more will have to go right for Kingscourt to win than for Cavan Gaels to do likewise. The Stars, to upset the odds, must win the midfield battle - which is possible, as Alan Clarke is a powerful presence there - and take a higher proportion of their chances than they have been doing.
They also will need huge games from key men - that goes without saying. Their opponents have the look of a side who can win this match without hitting top gear - if Johnston doesn’t play well, for example, Lyng or Meehan or either of the Grahams or defender Niall Murray, even, could kick the crucial scores.
That’s a good position to be in and is a much wider spread of potential scorers than Kingscourt’s. And as we know, a full house beats a pair of aces...
It’s advantage Gaels on the bench, too, where Martin Dunne (if he doesn’t make his first start) and Kevin Meehan are excellent reserves. A Kingscourt win would not be a surprise but so much depends on the form of Tinnelly and Reilly in front of the posts; Cavan Gaels are the safer bet and the form of Johnston tilts things their way.
But it will be close.
Verdict: Cavan Gaels by two