Beard proud as Cavan dig deep to claim All-Ireland minor C Camogie title

Cavan minor camogie manager Declan Beard admitted even he wasn’t surprised by how hard his side had to fight to secure All-Ireland glory, as they edged a thrilling final that came right down to the wire.

“As I said the other day, we knew it was going to be a tough contest,” he said. “Did I think it was going to be that tough or that tight? I was hoping it wouldn’t be, but that’s the way these games go. If you’re going to win an All-Ireland, whether it’s by a point or 20 points, who cares? I certainly don’t.”

Cavan found themselves under serious pressure in the opening half, with Louth’s early goal setting the tone and leaving Beard’s side chasing the game.

“They really put it up to us in the first half,” he admitted. “We were always a point or two behind, even though we had a lot of possession. But we couldn’t match their work rate. Louth’s work rate in the first half was phenomenal. At times it felt like there were two Louth players for every one of ours going for the ball.”

Reset button

Despite showing glimpses of their quality, Cavan struggled to impose themselves before the break, and Beard acknowledged that his side needed a major shift at half-time.

“The first thing I said was: hit the reset button,” he explained. “That half hour is gone, we can do nothing about it. All we can do is learn from it and try to do things differently in the second half. We were giving the ball away far too easily and we were watching play instead of reacting to it. Those were the main things we needed to fix, and in fairness, the girls got to grips with them.”

Key tactical adjustments proved decisive, with Beard highlighting the impact of moving Kate McSeain into a more central role. “We made a couple of personnel and positional changes and they worked,” he told The Anglo-Celt. “One of the big ones was moving Kate McSeain out towards the middle.

We felt we needed more primary possession in that middle third — from half-back, midfield and half-forward line — and we just weren’t getting enough of it.

“Kate is a fantastic forward with an eye for goal, but we needed her out the field to help us win ball and break through their half-back line, and she did that brilliantly.”

The switch paid dividends during a dominant spell early in the second half. “For that 20-minute spell, she was plucking the ball out of the sky,” Beard said. “That brings huge momentum. Instead of it being a 50-50 breaking ball, you’re suddenly on the front foot. It was a really good move.”

Mentality

However, Louth refused to go away and a late goal reduced the deficit to a single point, setting up a tense finale. “In fairness to them, they should be very proud of that first-half performance,” Beard added. “Even in the second half, we had a purple patch early on, but they came back into it towards the end and made it a bit too nail-biting for my liking. But look, we got over the line in the end, thank God.”

Crucially, Cavan responded immediately to that setback, showing the composure and resilience that has defined this group. “I have full belief in these girls and their mentality,” Beard said proudly. “A lot of them have won an All-Ireland at Under-16 level as well, so they’ve been in that melting pot before. After that goal went in (for Louth), we won the next puck-out, worked the ball up the field and got the free around the 45.”

Captain Clodagh Gaffney, who had endured a difficult first half from placed balls, stepped up when it mattered most. “Clodagh maybe wasn’t at her best from frees in the first half, but by God she made up for it in the second half,” Beard said. “She was phenomenal.”

In the end, it was a victory built on character as much as quality — and one that underlined the belief within this Cavan panel that they could deliver when it mattered most.