'Positives to take from Hastings Cup' - Lynch

A naturally disappointed Niall Lynch was gracious in defeat as he reflected upon Cavan’s exit from the Hastings Cup last weekend.

The Cavan U21 manager accepted his charges went under to a superior Meath team but had absolutely no axe to grind in the immediate aftermath of what was a tremendous tussle:

“Naturally I’m very disappointed to lose a semi-final. We came to win the game and get to the final but overall I’m happy with the fact that we got four matches in the competition,' the Cuchullains clubman declared.

“We have seen a lot of footballers over the course of the competition which is good. The game was a good tactical affair and was actually the most Ulster like game we’ve played in the competition. The two teams were well matched and the referee let them play football.”

On a day in which Meath’s rearguard proved to be the altar upon which a lot of Cavan’s approach work was slaughtered, it was the Royal County’s tidy business in the latter part of the first half which did most of all to work the oracle for the would-be winners.

“The two goals they got were sucker blows and came inside a couple of minutes which was disappointing,” the Cavan boss admitted.

“I’d like to see the second goal again. The first one came from a peach of a shot but the second one came far too quickly afterwards. I’d like to have a wee look at it and see where we let them have possession of the ball. We should have worked the ball up the field and clear the danger so to concede two goals in such a short space of time was disappointing.”

And his take on the opposition?

“They were the better team. They were the best conditioned team we met in the compeititon. It was a cracking game, as good a game as you’d see in January.”

And Cavan’s poor return up front?

“I don’t know. I felt there was a 15 minute period in the second half when we didn’t score at all but during which time we should have worked the ball closer in and looked to get in for a goal.

“A couple of our kicked passes were intercepted when we should really have kept possession and worked it in and took our scores.

“There’s no doubt we have plenty to work on after today. We said in the second half we should be aiming to win our own kick out and to tighten up the defence and I think we did win every kick out in the second half and sorted out the defence. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get things working the whole way up the field.”

The ‘erstwhile Cavan SFC-winning manager (Kingscourt) insisted the blues gained more than they lost from competing in the Hastings Cup this year and he was pleased that Cavan “were still fighting ‘till the very end of the game.”

“Meath had some very good players and there were a couple of great individual battles. Some of our players stood up particularly well to the battle. I’m glad to have been in the competition and I enjoyed every minute that we were in it but I’m pleased too to return to the business end of things now.

“All eyes will turn to the 15th of March and the first round of the championship. Everything from now on will be geared towards that date. Our plans won’t alter because of our exit from the Hastings Cup.”