McCabe top of the pile in Indo selection

Gowna man chosen as best Cavan player of last 50 years

Dermot McCabe has been selected as the best Cavan footballer of the last 50 years by the Irish Independent.

The newspaper last week, over a few days, chose its best 20 players in football and hurling (tier one only) for each county in a series which was spearheaded by veteran journalist Martin Breheny and which prompted much debate among GAA fans nationwide.

Gowna clubman McCabe played at senior level for Cavan from 1994 to 2010, usually at midfield although sometimes at full-forward. He made 132 appearances, including 43 in the championship and 30 in the Ulster Championship and finished with a tally of 16-228 to his name, of which 5-70 came in championship football.

McCabe is followed closely by Jim Reilly, one of the classiest footballers to play with Cavan and Ulster and a stalwart throughout the 1980s, with Killeshandra’s totemic midfielder Stephen King taking the number three spot.

The timeframe was tricky for Cavan in that it began in 1970, which ruled out the successful decade of the 1960s, although obviously there was overlap and many of that team were still playing into the 1970s.

Of that cohort, Ulster medallists from the 1960s Steve Duggan, Enda McGowan and Gene Cusack are included while such was the status of Ray Carolan, who won his first Ulster medal in 1962, that he comes in at number 12 despite retiring in 1974.

Depressingly for Cavan supporters, just one Ulster title has been mined in the five decades covered. That memorable success came in 1997 and the captain of that team, Stephen King, is named at number three on the Independent’s list.

Other members of the 1997 squad who were recognised are Damien O’Reilly, Peter Reilly, Ronan Carolan, Larry Reilly, Jason O’Reilly, Anthony Forde and Fintan Cahill.

The Cavan side which made it to Ulster finals in 1976, ’78 and ’83 are represented by a number of outstanding players. Kingscourt Stars legend Jim Reilly, captain in 1983, is number two on the list while Ollie Brady, who won Cavan’s first All-Star in 1978, is at number six.

Cusack, McGowan and Duggan also played on those teams, as did Paddy McNamee of Ramor who is named at number 13, while his clubmate Derek McDonnell, who was top scorer in the 1983 Ulster Championship, gets in at number 18.

Gearoid McKiernan, selected in 16th position, is the only current Cavan footballer to be named. The noughties are represented by the 19th and 20th positions on the list, the long-serving Cian Mackey and James Reilly, whose two All-Star nominations marked him out as one of the top goalkeepers in his prime.

The citation alongside the list read:

“When Cavan reached the 1996 All-Ireland U-21 final and followed up a year later by taking the Ulster senior title for the first time since 1969, hopes soared in the county that a new and successful era was on its way.

“Dermot McCabe, who featured on both that U21 (1996) and senior teams (1997), was one of the new breed of young talent who had merged with experienced hands to produce a well-balanced outfit. And with Martin McHugh in charge, expectations were growing rapidly.

“It wasn’t to be. McHugh departed after the 1997 campaign, managerial strife followed, momentum was lost and apart from 2001, when Cavan reached the Ulster final, there wasn’t much for Breffni supporters to enthuse about.

“McCabe did his best to lift the gloom with many excellent performances for Cavan, Ulster and Ireland (International Rules), but there were no rich pickings on the championship front. Despite that, his career will be remembered as one of the best in Cavan for a long time.

“The same applies to Jim Reilly, who was such an influential figure – mostly at wing-back, but sometimes in attack too – throughout the 1980s.

“There were times when Cavan looked as if they would make a breakthrough, but it never quite happened despite the best efforts of men like Reilly. The esteem in which he was held became apparent in 1993 when Eamonn Coleman, Brian McEniff, Peter McGinnity and Jimmy Smyth all chose him on an Ulster team drawn from the best players they had seen.

“Stephen King was equally admired and respected in a 16-year career which reached its high point in his final season in 1997 when, at the age of 35, he captained Cavan to the Ulster title.

“Time was running out for the midfielder whose career had often been disrupted by injury. Despite that, he never lost his enthusiasm for the Cavan cause and played a huge part in the 1997 Ulster success. He retired in February 1998.”

Looking at the breakdown of playing positions, it is interesting to note how many of the list were versatile and represented Cavan in both defence and attack, including the likes of Jim Reilly, Damien O’Reilly, Ollie Brady, Peter Reilly and Anthony Forde.

James Reilly is the only goalkeeper who made the Independent’s top 20.

As is always the case with lists of this nature, it is something of an impossible task and the debate has been raging as to players who were unlucky to miss out. Among the names mentioned repeatedly by Cavan supporters and former players who were unfortunate not to be included were the likes of Andy McCabe (Crosserlough), Pat Tinnelly (Kingscourt), Frankie Dolan (Templeport), Ollie Leddy (Drumalee), Ray Cullivan (Laragh), Donal Donoghue (Laragh), Bernard Morris (Gowna), Dara McVeety (Crosserlough), Martin Reilly (Killygarry) and Raymond Galligan (Lacken).

Cavan have reached seven Ulster finals in the last 50 years (1976, ’78, ’83, ’95, ’97, ’01 and ’19) and the captains from five of those – Enda McGowan, Jim Reilly, Damien O’Reilly, Stephen King and Peter Reilly – were included, with Tinnelly and Galligan the unlucky duo to lose out.

The Irish Independent's top 20 Cavan footballers of the last 50 years was as follows:

1. Dermot McCabe, 2. Jim Reilly, 3. Stephen King, 4. Damien O’Reilly, 5. Steve Duggan, 6. Ollie Brady, 7. Gene Cusack, 8. Enda McGowan, 9. Peter Reilly, 10. Ronan Carolan, 11. Larry Reilly, 12. Ray Carolan, 13. Paddy McNamee, 14. Jason Reilly, 15. Anthony Forde, 16. Gearóid McKiernan, 17. Fintan Cahill, 18. Derek McDonnell, 19. Cian Mackey, 20. James Reilly