New-look Cavan seek opening round win away against Cork

GAA news

The pre-season shadow boxing is over; when the bell rings on Sunday (1.30pm, Páirc Uí Chaoímh), Cavan will put their gloves up for the first time under manager Dermot McCabe with something tangible on the line. The opening round of the National League is never a title fight, nor even an eliminator but, under new management and with some tricky tests to follow, it’s an important bout.

McCabe’s men fell to Monaghan and Fermanagh in their McKenna Cup matches while Cork won the McGrath Cup in Munster, defeating Kerry in Killarney, but as gamblers know, betting on pre-season form is a sure route to the poorhouse. McCabe felt Cavan got what they wanted from the competition.

“I suppose we got minutes into bodies and minutes into some of the sort of regulars and minutes into new players,” McCabe told the Anglo-Celt on Friday last.

“Those aspects that we did well, well we won lots of possession against Monaghan and we probably didn't learn from that because Fermanagh probably won a hell of a lot of breaks against us in that game.

“I probably would have said then that our transition, our execution and efficiency in front of goal left a lot to be desired and that we probably became the hated thing being a little bit lateral, going sideways a little bit too much and I don't like that approach.

“But I suppose what the games have allowed us to do is probably address those matters, improving those, I hope, over these couple of weeks and to be better prepared for the Cork game and the National League.”

The McKenna Cup was somewhat derided over the years but all involved seemed to miss it when it was gone. McCabe was glad to see it back and felt it was a preferable environment to test new players.

“Where the advantage of (the McKenna Cup) is that rather than maybe us trying to get (challenge) games and searching for games, we're getting new players that maybe aren't overly familiar with playing with Cavan seniors and they're getting to play in front of a few thousand, which is different than playing a challenge match.

“You can learn more about how a player can react to that sort of atmosphere. I suppose the sort of downside of it is that it probably happens very quickly. You just have to manage your squad. You're doing a certain type of training as well to prep you for the National League. Lads aren't able to play for 70 minutes etc and then you probably have the clash with college players not being able to play, which is a bit of a complication too.”

Cavan have a number of injury worries. McCabe highlighted Cian Reilly and Niall Carolan while the Anglo-Celt understands Brían O’Connell may also have a knock, although on the plus side, Dara McVeety did feature in a recent challenge match against Down.

“A lot of them have come back and got minutes in the legs. Now, look, we have some long -term ones that have ended up needing surgery in the close season, the likes of Cian Reilly, it's going to take a little bit longer than anticipated, which is disappointing and frustrating for Cian.

“Niall Carolan, who had a tremendous year last year, has had a little bit of a difficulty with an injury so he's sort of only returning. Whether he'd be ready for the Cork game is probably to be decided over the next few days with how we can maybe manage him.”

Another long-term absentee is Arva youngster Barry Donnelly, who McCabe confirmed is part of the panel and is being looked after by the medical team. He is “straight-line running” as he recovers from a cruciate ligament injury but it will be towards the end of the league before he can feature.

That said, a number of new players have put their hands up for selection and picking the team will be a tricky task, agreed McCabe.

“Well, I would like to think it is. We have to go on who's playing with form. We've had new lads that were doing well and now we've reintroduced lads returning from injury, that will really up the ante. So it's definitely going to be a difficult team to pick, but while it’s harsh on the players that don't make it, it is probably what every management team wants.

“The lads have been great, they have really followed every command. We started at a reasonable pace to see where lads were at and we've been able then to sort of increase those kilometres that are covered in sessions. Now, we try to do a vast majority of that with ball in hand.

“The lads have put in a huge effort and they've been great the way they have bought in, they’re passionate about Cavan and I just want to make sure that every day we play, they show that to the audience that’s there.”

Cork are strong favourites with the bookmakers to get the win on Sunday. McCabe admits they are a formidable outfit.

“Cork are a big strong team. I would expect that with it being a double-header, they're going to have a huge support there, so I'm hoping that Cavan people can make their way to support us. They have two-point shooters and then inside with Chris Óg Jones, they have huge pace. So they're a huge threat as regards their size and I suppose they have a good reserve of numbers and players that can make impacts when they come on.”

McCabe has a particular interest in the intricacies of tactics and strategy and he believes that in the era of the new rules, the game will continue to evolve.

“I would imagine that as the years go by, the game will continue to change again in the same way as it has always changed. So probably there's been elements over the last few weeks where we've seen the ball held quite a bit in the middle third. It'll be interesting, we'll probably see if it goes that way in the National League.

“Probably teams are pushing out a little bit more. So it'll just be interesting to see, I think there's going to be a variety of ways teams are going to approach it and I suppose it'll take three or four league games before we see what maybe the trends are for 2026.”