McCabe delighted Cavan ‘really went for it’

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Kevin Óg Carney

On a day best suited to ducks, Cavan broke their duck last Sunday at Kingspan Breffni but, like the weather, the performance wasn’t pretty. A bit like the bearded lady in fact; ugly but you still couldn’t turn your eyes away.

Few sporting cliches get more air time and column inches than the ‘it’s all about the result’ one and Cavan’s curate's egg of a display was, in truth, secondary.

League tables have never been found guilty of perjury but only two points on the board after four games bordered on injustice in the eyes of some Cavan fans, especially the team-manager.

“This was a massive game for us today and we battled all through and grinded out the result which is terrific and nothing less than the lads deserved,” beamed Cavan boss Dermot McCabe after the tension-filled finale.

For years, one of McCabe’s predecessors (Terry Hyland) in the job pronounced that “pressure is for tyres” but the Gowna man soaked it all in last weekend and reminded us all that, like death and taxes, pressure on the field of play is one of life’s certainties:

“It was a nervy finish but there was big pressure coming there from Kildare towards the end and that’s natural and is to be expected when you’ve no points on the board,” McCabe commented.

“It wasn’t easy to hold onto the ball in those conditions. Lads get tired when you’re playing for 80 minutes but they concentrated on what had to be done and stuck it out to the bitter end.

“These are all massive games and when it’s your home game, you have to try and get the points on the board. For every team in every division they’re all big games and today was no different.”

The Cavan boss was his usual self at HQ against Kildare; directing his team along the sideline like an over-zealous conductor but, after a frustrating and disappointing showing in the first half by his charges, one wonders how did he magic his side’s way to a much better display on the restart?

“I talked about a few things that maybe we weren’t doing and we tweaked a few things tactically in the second half. But basically we asked the lads to do better under the breaking ball, kill the ball every time they took a shot and just to come out on the right side of every battle that they went into to get onto the ball.

“We had eight dropped shots in the first half and the lads could have felt sorry for themselves going in at five points apiece at half-time but they turned things around, did certain things better, converted better and really went for the win.

“There might have been the possibility of us deciding to down tools at half-time and feeling sorry for ourselves so I’m delighted the lads took a grip of the game after half-time and we started to get the ball up the other end quicker and press the kick outs much better. We went for it. There were flaws in our play, of course, and there were occasional passes that went astray but they were very difficult conditions.”

Meanwhile in the all-white corner, the seconds crowded the ring, surrounding their beaten but unbowed boxer in their corner.

Predictably, Brian Flanagan’s demeanour contrasted sharply with that of McCabe. The former star county footballer had all the demeanour of a tourist who’d just landed in Rio only to be told that the carnival had been cancelled.

“We are very disappointed with our performance,” the Lilywhites boss lamented.

“We were flat from start to finish. We never got a foothold. (Made a) lot of mistakes, a lot of unforced errors, a lot of balls handpassed and kicked away; lost possession in contact and left a lot of chances left behind us as well in both halves.

“All round, 13 points under the new rules is not good enough, not going to win you any games.”

And what of Cavan? The hungrier team?

“I don’t think hunger came into it. Hunger isn’t an issue with us. They were at home and were highly motivated and deserved to win. They defended very well for the whole game. They were fighting for their lives in terms of their Division 2 lives.”

To the non-Lilywhite though, it seemed like Kildare’s challenge folded like a deck chair on a windy day at the beach. If not a lack of hunger, was character an issue then?

“No, I wouldn’t accept Cavan had more character,” Flanagan countered.

“We have shown good character to date. We’re on three points for a reason. We were involved in a battle. Cavan won by three points. There’s not a huge gulf separating the two teams.

“Our defeat had nothing to do with character but a lot down to our error count. We were flat in terms of our energy and we didn’t get the kick off the bench we were hoping for. We also left a lot of scores behind.”

Like his manager, Cavan dynamo Gerry Smith was like the cat who’d gotten the cream as the Cavan fans thronged the sodden pitch after the dust had gotten even wetter.

Smith had earlier shown the bite, the aggression and power which was so lacking in the opposition’s ranks. He wasn’t surprised that the win had finally come along this season after three failed attempts:

“Our performances in the first two (against Cork and Meath) games were really good but some things just didn’t go our way.

“We knew we were moving in the right direction but we just needed to get over the line today and I’m delighted we have a couple of points under our belts now.”

And the P-word?

“I suppose ‘cause we hadn’t any points there was a bit of internal pressure there and questions were asked of us after we went three points down (0-5 to 0-8) after half-time but we stuck at it and got a couple of points and happy to get over the line after first couple of games didn’t go our way.

“We wanted to win and we needed to win.

“You want to win your home games and you have the expectations of the fans there so we needed to have more energy going forward in the second half and we did.

“We were a bit lateral with our movement of the ball in the first half and we’d seven or eight shots that dropped short but we got closer to goal in the second half and were more clinical,” the loose-limbed Lavey lad added.

Showing heart to grind things out is precious and winning breeds confidence and happiness. Can we look forward to a repeat showing against Louth this weekend?

“The panel has never lacked for confidence and morale was still good in the camp after the first two defeats but now we should have a bit of momentum to carry with us into the Louth game and hopefully get more points on the board.”