Cavan make a winning start against old rivals Monaghan
CAVAN 0-15
MONAGHAN 1-09
By Eamonn Gaffney
CAVAN'S first game of 2008 was marked by a victory over old rivals Monaghan in the Dr McKenna Cup by 0-15 to 1-9 at Kingspan Breffni Park on Sunday last. The Breffni county whose last competitive game was in the All-Ireland qualifiers on 7th July last when they lost to Mayo in Castlebar, fielded a new-look side from that game, something which was forced on the team management due to injuries and players involved with their colleges in the O'Byrne Cup.
It also provided Donal Keogan and his selectors with the opportunity of trying out a number of new players with a view towards selecting a strong side for the forthcoming national league campaign and in particular their opening match away to Armagh on Sunday 3rd February, a little over three weeks away.
Monaghan with two defeats to date must win their remaining two home games against Queen's University and Antrim if they hope to retain interest in the competition.
Over 2,000 fans watched this local derby as the respective managers Seamus McEnaney and Donal Keogan chose to experiment in preparation for the more important national league campaign next month, Monaghan fielding just two of their regular side at the start while Cavan included just five of their first XV.
12 changes
When the Cavan team was announced it showed 12 changes in personnel from the team which lost to Mayo, with goalkeeper James Carolan (Lavey); Colm Hannon, John Clarke (Castlerahan), John McCutcheon (Cootehill), Padraig O'Reilly (Ballinagh) and David Rooney (Bailieboro) coming into the defence; Declan Gaffney (Crosserlough) partnered Mark McKeever at centre-field and into attack came James Clarke (Killinkere), Rory Donohoe (Belturbet), Ryan McCormack (Kingscourt), Eddie Reilly (Mullahoran) and Jason Reilly who was a sub in that particular game.
Cavan always looked the likely winners but a tally of twelve wides, seven in the first-half, kept the winning margin down to a respectable total. After the scores were level twice in the opening twelve minutes, Monaghan opening the scoring through Conor McManus, Cavan gradually got on top and points from Rory Donohoe, Jason Reilly, Martin Reilly and Ryan McCormack put the Breffnimen 0-6 to 0-2 ahead by the 26th minute, although Eddie Reilly had been out of sorts from frees.
Monaghan had problems at midfield in those early stages but successfully rectified the situation when switching Liam McAdam from the 40 to join John Kingham with Mark Daly moving into the attack before replacing Kingham with John Paul Mone.
Up until then Monaghan had offered little in the way of a real threat to the Cavan defence. That all changed five minutes before half-time, when a shot from Daniel McNally from the wing was deflected to the net by the hand of Owen Duffy.
Cavan's lead had now been reduced to two points. However by half-time, the home side had recovered and after a series of wides from frees, Ryan McCormack took over the free-taking role with success converting two frees, and helping Cavan to a four point lead at half-time, 0-9 to 1-2.
Monaghan switches
Monaghan made a couple of changes during the interval with Gary McQuaid coming into join John Paul Mone at midfield. The Farneymen produced a big effort in the early minutes of the second-half and two points from Daniel McNally in the 38th and 43rd minutes cut Cavan's lead to two points.
Cavan tried to bolster the defence and strengthen the attack with a double substitution, Micheal Lyng and Alan Clarke coming in with a number of switches also made. There was a big response to the Monaghan threat with points from Eddie Reilly, Jason Reilly and two from Martin Reilly to leave Cavan leading by six points with fifteen minutes left.
Big effort
Monaghan made a big effort in the closing stages following the introduction of Thomas Freeman ten minutes into the second-half. He converted two frees and Owen Duffy added another point. Suddenly, all was not calm in the Cavan camp as their lead was now down to three points with seven minutes of normal time remaining.
Cavan lifted themselves in the remaining minutes and points from Jason Reilly and Rory Donohoe made things a lot more comfortable. Although Monaghan battled hard right to the final whistle and left a three point margin once again between the sides with a point each from Gary McQuaid and Thomas Freeman, time ran out for the visitors and Cavan could relax through the final minutes.
Keogan pleased
Donal Keogan was relatively pleased with the result. “Any time you beat Monaghan it is a good day. We have been training hard over the winter months and have been doing early Sunday morning stints at 8oc - we have done six or seven to date. There are 42 players on the current panel but only 22 players were available today and we had to bring in three players from the U-21 squad.
“We are working from a tight panel at the moment but the attitude of the players has been excellent. We are missing seven of the panel due to the colleges' rule in but this competition enables us to look at players for the future. It is a chance to experiment. A number of the team stepped up to the mark today which is very encouraging.
“We could have had the game won at half-time but the players made a number of poor decisions but these are things we can work on at training.
Midfield edge
“I thought we dominated the middle of the field where Declan Gaffney and Mark McKeever impressed while the half-back line and half-forward line worked very well. But once we got the ball into the attack we made some poor decisions.
“We played Antrim in Casement Park last night (Wednesday) and Queens University next Saturday in Breffni Park night at 6 p.m. In these two games we are looking for two or three new players to add to our national league panel, especially at the back where we have got to tighten up our defence. Last year we were conceding too many scores. Although the forwards shot twelve wides today it is something we will have to work on”.
Monaghan manager Seamus McEnaney wasn't too despondent about the result saying that the league clash between the two teams on Saturday 16th February also at the Breffni venue would have a lot more relevance.
“ Cavan should have won this game easily and could have been out of sight by half-time from their point of view. They dominated the game completely until we brought in a few of our more regular players in the second-half. Then there was a ten minute period when Monaghan dominated but that is not good enough in a 70 minute game.
Happy with improvements
“I am quite happy with the improvement of some players from our defeat by Queens last weekend but there were others who are not just playing well enough, although I was impressed with 18 year old Daniel McNally in attack. With our final game against Antrim we will probably select more of the senior players, including those who will be playing against Roscommon in the national league tie.
“We have two more Sundays in which to finalise our panel and we are using the McKenna Cup in order to find the best 30 players and freshen up the panel for the more important games ahead.
“Monaghan have lost seven players for this competition through the colleges rule and the authorities should possibly take another look at it. It is very hard on the players who are on the fringes of the county panel who are pushing for a place on the team when they are playing with their colleges team. Ironically, those seven absentees played for the Monaghan senior team last year as well a number of others who are on holiday while three or four others are absent due to slight injuries.
“In fact we are missing a total of twenty from the panel but we are offering no excuses. We had fifteen on the field and at least seven or eight weren't up to the standard we were looking for. It is time now to sort out the panel and this will be done over the next couple of Sundays”.
Keen rivalry
As to the great rivalry between Cavan and Monaghan, McEnaney remarked; “There is always great rivalry between the teams but I'm sure, like myself, Donal Keogan will be more interested in what happens in our upcoming league clash. We have used the McKenna Cup in order to look out for a few new players and a number of those playing today who are 18 and 19 years of age. They have been added to the panel and made quite an impact today. Now our focus is on our opening league game against Roscommon in Clones”.
Cavan – James Carolan; Colm Hannon, John Clarke, Keith Fannin; John McCutcheon, Padraig O'Reilly, David Rooney; Declan Gaffney, Mark McKeever (0-1); James Clarke, Rory Donohoe (0-2)), Martin Reilly (0-3); Ryan McCormack (0-3), Eddie Reilly (0-2), Jason Reilly (0-4). Subs. Michael Lyng for David Rooney (43), Alan Clarke for Colm Hannon (44), Nicholas Walsh for Eddie Reilly (59), Conor Smith for Ryan McCormack (68), Austin Fitzpatrick for James Clarke (70).
Monaghan –Padraig McBennett; Colm Flanagan, Ciaran Hughes, Mark Duffy; Gary McEneaney, Shane Mulligan, Stephen Fitzpatrick; John Kingham, Mark Daly; Martin McElroy, Liam McAdam (0-1), Conor McManus (0-1); Owen Duffy (1-1), Dessie Mone, Daniel McNally (0-2). Subs. John Paul Mone for John Kingham (24), Gary McQuaid (0-1) for Stephen Fitzpatrick, Rory Woods for Mark Duffy (half-time), Thomas Freeman (0-2) for Martin McElroy (45), Dermot McArdle for Daniel McNally (49).
Referee, Fergal Cleary, Fermanagh.