'Days like this are really good for this team'

GAA news

Cavan goalkeeper Ray Galligan celebrates his birthday today and he provided an early present for supporters with an extraordinary display against Down two days ago.

The Lacken Celtic clubman was flawless from dead balls, landing 0-7 (three 45s, four frees) from seven attempts. His kick-outs were rock solid and, to top it off, the Breffni captain saved a penalty – twice – from his counterpart, Down captain Barry O’Hagan.

Galligan’s outstanding display was the launchpad for the home side, who were superior in most departments. Having matched Donegal for an hour, Cavan came unstuck late on in the Ulster Championship semi-final and after a few days licking their wounds, the players have responded well to the opportunity offered by the new Tailteann Cup.

“Obviously after the Donegal defeat, it was very hurtful and it took us a couple of days to get over it but once we regrouped and got back into training, we said that we were going to put all our effort into Down because they are a formidable team, coming from Division 2,” Galligan stated after the match.

“At the end of the day, we couldn’t look beyond Down. We put all our effort in the last couple of weeks into putting in another good performance. We kicked 24 points today so we backed it up I think from the last day.

“Management managed it well, they gave us a couple of days’; rest and let us go back to our clubs. They gave us that couple of days’ break and reset but when we came back into training then on the following Friday, we put our heads down and made sure we put all our effort into beating Down and putting on that performance.

“Look, everybody has applied themselves, everybody has stuck around, everybody is taking it seriously and at the end of the day, everybody wants to play for Cavan that’s here. It’s great to see and days like today are really good for this team.”

Galligan had an excellent recent place-kicking display on club duty for Lacken and his eye was very much in again on Saturday.

“No different from the rest of the lads, after the Donegal game I was very hurt, very disappointed with my own performance. There is a lot to be said for going back to your friends within your club and expressing yourself and I think it really helped most of the players. “We came back then to Cavan recharged, a line drawn under the championship game against Donegal and as I said, we put our full focus on to Down. They are a good team, they caused us lots of problems and we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy one today.”

Prior to one exceptional kick from 45 metres on the touchline in front of the stand, Galligan exchanged words with Down manager James McCartan. Asked about the incident, he clarified: “Ah no, it was more a bit of banter, he was telling me I couldn’t miss it, type of thing. At the end of the day, I have a lot of respect for James, he was a fantastic player and is a fantastic manager and did an unvelievable things for Down over the years. When I was fortunate to kick it over he was the first to acknowledge it.

“It was all a bit of friendly banter but it was one of those that you want to be scoring when you’re under the watchful eye of a man like that.”

Regarding the re-taken penalty – both of which Galligan saved spectacularly – Galligan confirmed that ref David Gough had penalised a defender for encroaching too soon.

“He said that our number five, I think it was Jason, broke the line before he took the shot so that was the reason it was re-taken,” he said.

Overall, the Cavan captain, who made his debut in the Tommy Murphy Cup 16 years ago as a forward before reinventing himself between the sticks in 2015, was very pleased with Cavan’s defensive performance.

“I think our tackling was immense today, I know they popped a couple of easy enough chances near the end over the bar and it probably took the gloss of our score but I think as a defensive unit, we were really tigerish.

“The way we reacted after that penalty save epitomised our defence today, it was man for man, everybody doing their job and I think they did it really well today.

“That’s what we wanted, we couldn’t look any further than this game today. It’s a quick enough turnaround, hopefully we got away with no injuries today. We’ll take it as it comes, build on today’s performance and hopefully tidy up on lots of areas that we can improve on.”

The Cavan squad has been getting stronger with each passing week of late. Oisin Kiernan, Martin Reilly – who, like Raymond, also turned 35 in May – and Ciaran Brady have all returned from injury and the elevation of a number of the U20 side who recently reached the Ulster final, losing by a point to eventual All-Ireland champions Tyrone, has provided a further boost.

Niall Carolan, who captained that side, came off the bench to score a point on his senior debut, having reportedly impressed in a recent challenge match against Mayo.

“Niall is a fantastic player, we have been very fortunate to have the addition of a number of U20s into the panel, they’ve brought great energy into the team, into training. It’s really pushed lads for places, Niall got his opportunity there today. He’s going to be a fantastic player for the future for Cavan and it’s great to see him getting on there today.”