Ss advice applicable to cavan

Paul Fitzpatrick

We're not sure if Cavan manager Terry Hyland has read Darragh Ó Sé's column from today's Irish Times but there is one passage which might be of interest to the Lacken clubman.

After his side struggled to win primary possession in the full-forward line during this year's National League, Hyland went for the tried and trusted 'big man on the edge of the square' approach.

Shorn of options, the Cavan management converted towering midfielder Michael Argue into a full-forward. The move met with some success early on against Monaghan but the big Bailieborough man suffered from a lack of quality ball coming into him from out the field.

Mayo, who are through to the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin, have done something similar this year, converting midfield collosus Aidan O'Shea into a target man and, says Ó Sé, the key to the success - or failure - of that move will be the quality of passes coming the Breaffy man's way.

'What people don’t get sometimes is that catching the ball as a midfielder and catching it as a full forward are two completely different skills,' writes the Kingdom legend about O'Shea.

'Think about the catching O’Shea had to do around midfield for the past few years. The trajectory of the ball from the kick-out is nothing like it is in on the edge of the square.

'Whereas the ball kicked in from the wings or midfield to a full forward comes in all shapes and sizes. Even a perfect ball comes in at a different velocity and trajectory. It comes in flat and driven, the sort of ball that if nobody touches it will keep running on for another 30 yards. But how often will he get that? Once a game? Twice?

'It’s far more likely that the ball coming in will be kicked under pressure. It won’t always be kicked off the laces so it will be spinning and swerving. There will be no consistency and the full forward will have to adapt and make the best of each one.

'And he’ll be up against a full back that doesn’t give a damn where the ball goes, only that it goes away from his patch. Mayo’s job between now and the semi-final will be coming up with scenarios to buy time to play better ball into him.'

Food for thought for Cavan if they play the talented Shamrocks man at 14 again next season...