Trip to Tempo tonight for Cavan
The Cavan senior footballers will take on Fermanagh this evening (Wednesday) at 7.30pm in Tempo as new manager Dermot McCabe continues to run the rule over his squad.
McCabe handed out seven starting debuts against Monaghan on Saturday and introduced one more newcomer off the bench. Monaghan, for their part, had 14 debutants across the hour in what was an experimental outing for both sides.
Among those to impress for Cavan on the day were Tristan Noack Hofmann (who had previously made six substitute appearances under Mickey Graham and Ray Galligan), Cuchulainns man Ryan Tobin and, perhaps most interestingly, Corofin, Co Galway clubman Ciaran Brady.
Brady has family ties in the Kill area - his first cousins Killian and Ronan Brady play senior football for Kill Shamrocks - and the midfielder, who was on the extended Galway panel in the past, competed strongly in the air against Monaghan.
Emmanual Shehu of Cavan Gaels, who had previously made one substitute appearance in the 2024 McKenna Cup, also played well on the evening. McCabe will be expected to get more game time into his new players this evening as the team prepare for the opening round of the National League away to Cork on Sunday, January 25.
Cavan are operating off a smaller panel this year, with U20s available to augment numbers for training sessions. A number of players are currently injured, including Killygarry's Cian Reilly, while regular squad members including Padraig Faulkner, Luke Fortune, Sean McEvoy, Ryan O'Neill, Killian Clarke, Killian Brady, James Smith and Oisin Kiernan - all of whom featured in the championship in recent years - are not part of the squad due variously to retirements, travel commitments and being omitted.
The county's longest-serving player at present, Gearoid McKiernan, made his seasonal bow against Monaghan, which is a boost to the new management, with Arva's Ciaran Brady also taking part in the warm-up although not featuring in the match. Unused subs on the evening were Ben McGahan of Cootehill and Mullahoran defender Colm O'Reilly, along with goalkeeper Gary O'Rourke and Cavan Gaels youngster Ben Tully.