Hurlers seek to build on 2021 campaign

GAA news

Kevin Óg Carney

Cavan’s senior hurlers begin their 2022 campaign this coming Saturday (2.30pm) with a tricky away tie in Division 3B of the NHL in Ederney (some 25 km north of Enniskillen).

Under a new management team this year headed by Meath native Neil Cole (pictured), Cavan’s flagship hurling team will seek to consolidate their success last year in holding their own in the league while subsequently reaching the Lory Meagher Cup decider at Croke Park.

Sadly, the Cavan camp will make their 2022 bow under the bleakest of shadows following on from the loss of one of their number, i.e eighteen-year old Cootehill Celtic starlet Cillian Boyle who died tragically less than two weeks ago.

The flashbulb iridescence the Kill native brought to bear on proceedings at underage level down the years and also in his debut senior club season last year with Cootehill Celtic will not, tragically, be seen on the biggest stage of all going forward.

Cavan seniors will have to plough on without, inarguably, one of the most promising hurling starlets this county has ever produced.

“Even though I had only known Cillian for a short time, it was obvious straight away after he joined the panel at the start of the year that he had a serious interest in playing for the senior county hurlers,” Cavan team-manager Cole reflected.

“He had ongoing injury problems but if he was unable to train, he would still show up at the training sessions.

“Knowing hurlers as I do and the qualities needed to play at a high level, I could see that Cillian had a natural ability and he’d all the attributes to make a very fine player.

“He was very approachable and I was really looking forward to working with him this year. I had only mentioned him in a conversation with my brother the night before I heard the devastating news of his death.

“He is a huge loss to Cavan hurling in every way and will be sadly missed by all of us involved with the county seniors. It goes without saying that our hearts go out to the Boyle family and his relations and friends.”

Cavan is not a county full of teeming talent in the hurling sphere and young Boyle’s passing allied to the decision by the county’s ‘erstwhile ‘guest players i.e the Sheanon brothers, Cillian, John and Colum (Dublin) and Brian Fitzgerald (Dublin) to opt out this year makes it a mountainous challenge for new manager Cole to better last year’s innings.

A native of Rathmolyon but living in nearby Trim for the last 22 years, Cole joins Cavan with a well-embroidered curriculum vitae though which suggests that he is fit for the task of maintaining the momentum built up over the last few years.

With home club Rathmolyon, Cole won four Meath SHC medals as a teak-tough defender, the first of which came in 1993 and the last - which he captained - in 2012. He also lined out with the Royals at every grade over the years.

On the managerial front, Cole made his name at Trim. Last August he steered them to a first Meath SHC title since 2001. Ger Flanagan, a Tipp native, worked alongside Cole in Trim’s backroom team and Flanagan has also agreed to link up with Cavan as coach. Michael ‘Bricker’ Wall (Pearse Óg) and Derek Argue (East Cavan Gaels) complete the line-up as selectors in this year’s Cavan think-think.

“Ger (Flanagan) and myself have worked well together as a team over the years and when the Cavan County Board approached me at the end of last year I had a chat with him and, together, we felt that we could improve the Cavan players from last year and bring on the younger lads who have joined the squad this year,” Cole explained.

“We’ve only been working with the lads a few weeks at this stage but I’m excited about what we can achieve together.

“We’ve a good road map constructed so by the end of the current six week block, we’ll have had a challenge game every week so as to get us primed for the national league and the Lory Meagher Cup afterwards when, hopefully, we’ll be in a position to put our best foot forward.”

In the short five/six month inter-county hurling season, having players primed to the extent that they can fire on all cylinders when exactly needed is a job Cole has exceeded at on the club front for the past fourteen years. But now the challenge for him is to have Cavan’s finest at their best.

“Taking on Cavan is definitely a different challenge than I’ve been used to over the years but I’m personally relishing the challenge,” the 45 year old Navan-based company (service) manager says.

“Irrespective of what level you’re operating on, we’re still talking about managing a group of players and trying to get the best out of them and, as a management team, we’re confident we can build on what has been done in the county in recent years.

“Cavan hurling is engaged in a building programme and if we can heighten the interest in that programme then we could be onto something, long-term.”

Cole is determined to make the most of the material he currently has at his disposal. His search to add further quality to his squad will see him continue talks with two former county players from a strong midland county and another player who boasts experience of lining out with a traditional power-broker of hurling.

“For as long as the ‘guest’ player system is in place, we will use it to our best advantage as will other counties. Kerry recently beat Tipp in a game and they had three Limerick-born lads playing with them. Having ‘guest’ players can certainly make a difference.”

Cole says he’s happy with the progress his charges have made to date this year in honing their skills and ratcheting up their fitness levels.

So far, Cole’s Class of 2022 has stretched its legs in challenge games against the Meath under 20s, Armagh’s premier senior team and, last Sunday, regular opponents Leitrim.

“We’re fine tuning the players, week by week, but we’ll know better the quality of players we have but beating Fermanagh in the first round is our immediate target and we’re hopeful that we have the players to get the win,” enthuses the father of three hurlers and husband of Trim-born Anne who boasts an All-Ireland camogie medal.

“Working on improving Cavan’s ranking in the hurling world isn’t an overnight task. This year, winning the Lory Meagher Cup is the priority but there are so many other ways we can measure our progress.

“Getting points on the board will be great but heightening interest in hurling in Cavan generally and bringing on the young lads is another gauge.

“Going one step further than Cavan went last year would be huge though.”