Crosserlough return to senior throne at last
Review of the year
If 2020 will be recalled as the year that the Cavan senior team came of age, the same sentiments will ring true for Crosserlough.
Back in May, we placed them fourth in the county in our annual rankings. For the record, this was The Anglo-Celt’s summation of their prospects:
“Back at the tail end of 2018, all looked very promising for Crosserlough. With an extremely young team, they had stormed through the field and reached a first county final since 1997. With 15 minutes to go, they were six points up and had one hand on the cup but fate intervened and Castlerahan summoned a memorable comeback to claim the title.
“Still, it was felt that Crosserlough had superseded Ramor United as the coming team in senior ranks. They went on to win the U20 Division 1 championship six weeks later and looked to be the anointed ones. That trend continued right through to the county SFC quarter-final last year when they blitzed an admittedly understrength Lavey but the wheels came off in the semi-final against Ramor.
“Fancied to return to the final, Crosserlough just didn’t show up on the evening.
“On paper, they have few weaknesses. Their side is full of powerful runners and players who can score, with brothers Stephen and Pierce Smith typical of the type of footballer the club has been producing – they have great engines, can pass and can finish.
“James Smith is Cavan’s starting midfielder at senior level at 21 and full-forward Patrick Lynch’s potential is limitless. That’s not to mention the classy Conor Rehill, such a find for Mickey Graham in his rookie season at inter-county level last year, and sticky defenders Patrick O’Reilly and John Cooke.
“The ace in the pack of course is Dara McVeety, arguably the best footballer in the county at present. He is currently away travelling and is thought not to be planning a return for the club championships but who knows?
“A major plus for the Kilnaleck side is their youthful profile and the fact that they do have a stream quality young players ready up to step up from minor ranks including the likes of Cian and Emmett Boylan. If talent alone were the only metric, it would be a matter of when and not ‘if’ this young squad makes its breakthrough but of course, sport doesn’t work like that.
“There is no doubting their ability but the first one will be the hardest to win.”
As it turned out, it was a very hard championship to win – any maiden success is and when it comes in a replay against a seasoned side with such pedigree as Kingscourt, it’s even harder earned.
While Kingscourt were handed a relatively straightforward passage to the semi-finals – the five teams they met were ranked 12th, 11th, 10th, 9th and 8th in the table after the group stages – the Stars seemed to have drawn the short straw when they were pitted against championship favourites Cavan Gaels at the semi-final stage.
However, they delivered a brilliant performance to comprehensively win that match by eight points – and they did so without Joe Dillon and after seeing Padraig Faulkner get injured after just 10 minutes.
They put up a bold bid in the final and will feel they should have taken the cup home with them that evening in a match which was played out before the RTE cameras and proved an excellent advertisement for Cavan club football.
Speaking of rankings, the Stars made a mockery of ours (“They have the tradition and enough quality still to be a handful for anyone but a 12th Senior Championship title seems beyond them in the short term at least”) as a few of their members were quick to remind us!
Crosserlough opened with a 1-14 to 0-7 win over Lavey before edging past a misfiring Laragh side by 1-13 to 1-10 in what turned out to be their worst performance of the campaign.
A 3-15 to 0-14 victory over Lacken was next in Ballymachugh before they had two points to spare over a potent Ramor outfit in Crosskeys. The eventual champions won that match against the head, the likes of James Smith and Patrick Lynch inspiring them to come from seven points down in the final quarter to win by 3-11 to 3-9.
In the final analysis of the season, that 15 minutes or so was the key part of Crosserlough’s breakthrough. The win meant they drew Gowna in the quarter-final rather than Cavan Gaels and while Jimmy Higgins’s side have proven to be ahead of the Gaels, it was still preferable to side-step that punch than take it on the chin if possible.
As it happened, there was a Jekyll and Hyde quality to Crosserlough’s performance in that game as well. They went 10 up, leaked a couple of goals and then won pulling away but wastefully, too, to set up a last-four meeting with three-in-a-row seeking Castlerahan.
In terms of sheer intensity, that derby was up there with anything we have seen in club football in Cavan in recent seasons. The defending champions battled to the death but Crosserlough eventually prised their fingers off the Oliver Plunkett Cup, with two goals in extra time sealing a return to the county final for the first time since 2018.
Lying in wait were the Stars, who had lost Dillon in the quarter-final to injury but were buoyant after their victory over the Gaels and looked to have a solid blend of youth and experience, the iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove which has made them so hard to beat since their famine-ending success in 2010.
The drawn game was a classic. Crosserlough looked like they could run away with it early on but Kingscourt, inspired by a masterful display from Faulkner who thumped home a goal David Clifford would be proud of, came right back into it and in the end, stalemate was a fair result.
In the replay, Crosserlough took charge for long spells and deserved their victory. That they have done it with such a young side augurs well for the coming seasons; then again, there is no guarantee, as Ramor have found. The Virginia men remain among the very best sides at the elite end of club football in Cavan but have yet to get back into the winner’s enclosure after their victory, with a side as young as or younger than Crosserlough’s, in 2016.
Still, there is clearly plenty more improvement in the new holders. They have a strong squad and lots of young talent while if Dara McVeety were to return, it would be a massive boost, especially if they were to position him close to goal where he and Lynch would be the sort of strikeforce that could wreck defences.
James Smith has now established himself in the best dozen or so footballers in the county, no mean feat at 21, and looks to be a county star for years to come. Mark Stuart was magnificent at the business end of the championship while David Shalvey was terrific throughout and Stephen Smith likewise.
With one title secured, Crosserlough now become the hunted rather than the hunters and it will be fascinating to observe who this change in dynamic affects them.
Ramor and Castlerahan will certainly be back, as will Kingscourt, and that trio will likely be the main rivals for 2021. Cavan Gaels are on the older side and will need to find a lot of improvement from somewhere if they are to wear the crown again in the short term.
Of the rest, Gowna and Killygarry have the personnel and the scope for progression to make a big impact while Lavey are perennially hard to beat and with a good minor side this year, could potentially kick on.
The pity is that there was no Ulster Club competition for Crosserlough to test themselves in. It’s a competition they should get a crack at again but, in football, you just never know…