No complaints for O'Hanlon after Ulster MFC final defeat

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Damien Donohoe

Cavan minor manager Ed O’Hanlon cut an honest and reflective figure after his side’s Ulster final defeat to Tyrone, a game where Cavan struggled to impose themselves in the second half after leading at the break.

“Yeah, that was exactly it,” the Cavan Gaels club man admitted when asked about Tyrone’s control after the interval.

“As I said to another reporter there, they put a big squeeze on our kick-outs. It came down to winning breaking ball, not so much catching clean, but we just struggled to compete physically in phases of that second half. I thought the first ten minutes after half-time we were fine, but from then on, Tyrone really pinned us in.”

Despite the result, O’Hanlon acknowledged the resilience shown by his players in the opening half.

“We started very slowly, no doubt,” he said. “But the lads showed huge character to turn it around and go in at half-time ahead. We probably could’ve stretched that lead, had a couple of chances that, on another day, might have gone over.”

He made no excuses, conceding that the better team won on the night.

“No complaints about the result, Tyrone were deserving winners. We knew we had to get a lot of things right. We came up with a plan to go for it in the last 10 or 15 minutes, made changes, including in goal, hoping for a spark. In hindsight, we probably didn’t get the impact we needed off the bench. But we weren’t going to die wondering, that’s football. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

When asked about whether nerves played a role in the sluggish start, O’Hanlon was candid.

“Honestly, they were very relaxed before the game. We felt we were in a good place. But as you know, it’s hard to gauge that. There were definitely uncharacteristic errors early on, handling, passing, just throwing the ball away. It was like where we were at the start of the year, and we had worked hard to cut those out. Some of them crept back in today. That’s part of playing good opposition too.”

One of the game’s pivotal moments came from Tyrone forward Joel Kerr, who engineered a stunning goal.

“He’s a special player. We knew that coming here,” O’Hanlon said. “He carried the ball a long way, and from our side, there were a few missed tackles that let him in, but the finish was top-class. The second goal came right after we made a change. Again, it’s a greasy surface, ball’s skidding along, not easy to deal with. But both goals came right through the heart of our defence, and that’s something we usually pride ourselves on stopping.”

Reflecting on Cavan’s defensive efforts overall, O’Hanlon noted the contrast with earlier performances.

“We spoke after the game in Omagh, we didn’t concede a single goal chance there. Tonight, Tyrone worked the two they needed. It wasn’t like they had five or six, they had two, and they took them well. Sometimes, that’s the difference.”

He also acknowledged Tyrone’s physical edge and how the narrower Brewster Park pitch played a role.

“Definitely, it’s harder to get short kick-outs away here. And when the tide starts to turn, that adds pressure.

“We might have been slightly out-muscled at times, but it’s fine margins, a lot of those breaking balls bounced one way and not the other. That’s football. There’s a bit of luck in that too.”

While naturally disappointed, O’Hanlon quickly shifted focus to what lies ahead, a showdown with Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

“Yeah, it’s a huge disappointment now, but we’ve got to dust ourselves off. We’ve played what I think is a very, very good Tyrone team, and now we’re going to face another in Kerry. Thankfully, we’ve two weeks to prepare, there are a few sore bodies out there.

“But I’ve every faith these lads can go down and put in another big performance.”