Football

Colm Cavanagh expects Ulster physicality in Division Two

Tyrone midfielder Colm Cavanagh leaves the pitch after the win over Cavan at Healy Park, Omagh. Picture by Colm O'Reilly
Tyrone midfielder Colm Cavanagh leaves the pitch after the win over Cavan at Healy Park, Omagh. Picture by Colm O'Reilly Tyrone midfielder Colm Cavanagh leaves the pitch after the win over Cavan at Healy Park, Omagh. Picture by Colm O'Reilly

COLM Cavanagh is 6'4" tall and 14 stone but the big Tyrone midfielder was still struck – quite literally – by the physicality of Cavan.

The Moy man knows there's more to come in Division Two, especially against the three other Ulster teams in this section, namely Derry, Armagh, and Fermanagh.

The Red Hands had to battle all the way for a two-point home win against the Breffnimen in the League opener on Sunday.

Cavanagh himself did well to finish the game, having shipped a heavy knock early in the second half in a challenge that earned his Cavan counterpart David Givney a yellow card.

"Cavan are big lads, they are strong in the tackle and they managed to turn us over quite a few times out there and no doubt we will see that in the statistics at training next week," commented the 28-year-old. "Fair play to our boys, we dug in there and got the crucial scores when they were needed."

Tyrone continued their senior hold over the Breffnimen, having not lost to them in League or Championship since 1997, but Cavanagh insists the Red Hands will have to work extremely hard for every point in Division Two:

"Past records mean nothing, especially when it comes to the first round of the League when both sides are up for it.

"We know that playing Ulster teams is going to be very difficult in this division in that they are going to bring a lot of physicality to the game. We expected that from Cavan and they did bring that and we can expect more to come in the next few weeks."

There's respite of sorts for Tyrone, with a trip to Galway next Sunday, although playing in Salthill is rarely easy.

"Galway showed how good a team they were last year and they have been there or thereabouts in the All-Ireland series as well," noted Cavanagh.

"They had a good win [away to Laois] so they have started off on a bright note. We are away and that always makes things a wee bit more difficult, but we are going to go out and try and win every game and put in a performance and that's all that we can do at this stage."

Having said that, he freely admitted that Tyrone will have to play much better in the future than they did against Cavan, although the awful weather was an adverse factor:

"[The Cavan game] was all about the two points but we are under no illusions as we have a serious amount of work to do. We made lots and lots of mistakes there which were very evident but we are a work in progress and we can only build on this performance.

"It was very difficult conditions to have to play in with the rain and the heavy pitch. It made it difficult for both teams to play any sort of football. It was the same for both sides and probably wasn't pretty to watch but at the end of the day we got a win and that is all that matters.

"Conditions probably aided their game plan with so many men behind the ball. A lot of guys were slipping and sliding.

"You have to give credit to Cavan as they had a good defensive system in place and they obviously had worked a lot at that. It gave us real problems the whole way through the game but that is something that we just have to learn to deal with and keep plugging away."

Overall, Cavanagh was simply happy to start with a win, after losing last year's League opener, with dire consequences: "Last year didn't go according to plan in that we came off the back of a McKenna Cup win in a good place but then didn't back it up in the first League game against Monaghan and ultimately that relegated us."

Tyrone went on to pick up just two points – two draws – from three more home League matches, but Cavanagh insisted that wasn't a concern before the Cavan game:

"I think this is a new year and while in the past we have had a few defeats at Healy Park that counts for nothing.

"History doesn't really come into play when you are coming into your first game of the year but it was important to get a win at home to set us off on the right road this year and we are looking forward to a few more games at home".