Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final: Tyrone v Cavan (Sunday, Clones, 2pm)
SO the Ulster Championship starts later than billed in Clones tomorrow afternoon. Tyrone and Cavan have been tasked with saving Ulster.
To say this summer’s Ulster series has been a slow-burner would be the under-statement of the year.
Lauded for being the most competitive of the four provincial Championships, the heart has yet to skip a beat up north.
Those worried looking Ulster Council officials we’ve all seen dotted around the various county grounds since the middle of last month could do with a bit of colour in the cheeks.
Tyrone and Cavan are expected to provide the nourishment.
A recurring theme in this year's Ulster Championship has been the inability of teams to attack with any great cohesion.
Antrim struggled for long periods to run at Fermanagh.
Armagh's attack was too pedestrian, too skeletal to really ruffle Cavan.
Apart from some raking long-range scores in the opening 20 minutes at Celtic Park, Derry's attacking template crumbled in spectacular fashion.
And Down's strategy against defending champions Monaghan looked more muddled than Derry's.
Fermanagh were a missed penalty kick away from testing Donegal's Championship mettle - but they too struggled to get runners off the shoulder in Ballybofey.
The upshot? A untidy clump of mismatches.
Although they mightn't have been up against much, Tyrone and Cavan have been the most impressive attacking forces in Ulster this year.
Tyrone are a team that have always come by their scores easier than most. Cavan, though, aren’t far behind them.
And given their enthralling duel in the Division Two decider at Croke Park two months ago, it's inconceivable that these two teams won't produce another fine spectacle in Clones tomorrow - even if the stakes are much higher.
Both teams fancy themselves to be playing in this summer’s Ulster final on July 17.
Yet, rewind three months and Cavan were staring Division Three in the face after losing their two opening games to Tyrone and Derry and trailed by seven points to Meath in their third game in Navan.
However, Cavan threw off the shackles and produced a blistering second-half performance to win by seven.
That’s when everything changed in the Breffni camp.
Terry Hyland’s approach became less prescriptive; players began to express themselves a great deal more, and it rained scores – from all angles and sources.
Their spread of scores hasn’t dipped below seven players per game since that night in Navan.
Cavan were heavily favoured to overcome Armagh in their Ulster opener but, as former assistant manager Anthony Forde alluded to in this paper, they probably didn’t get the credit they deserved for that win because the whole country was intent on shining a light on every pockmark in Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh team.
Cavan showed good game-management against Armagh and will have grown in confidence ahead of tomorrow’s showdown with Tyrone.
And despite losing to the Red Hands in April’s National League final, the Cavan players left Croke Park with a sackful of positives.
A consequence of Cavan now attacking in urgent waves is the lack of protection around their defensive ‘D’.
Armagh weren’t able to exploit the new-found space along Cavan’s own ’45 - but Tyrone certainly did at Croke Park.
Too often, Tyrone’s counter-attack penetrated Cavan territory with surprising ease.
In early stages, Rory Brennan scored from a central area. So too did Sean Cavanagh a few minutes later.
Next up, Ronan O’Neill found himself slap bang in front of Cavan’s posts and unopposed to point.
Mattie Donnelly, Peter Harte and Connor McAlliskey also sliced through the Breffni back-line to score from central positions.
This kind of space was unheard of during Hyland’s watch up until this year.
But what you gain in one hand you lose in the other.
The Cavan defenders paid a high price for bombing forward all at the one time.
As a consequence, Hyland might feel inclined to put the shackles on one or two of his defenders tomorrow without taking the edge off their impressive counter-attack.
Rory Dunne and Fergal Flanagan, two of the more natural defenders in the Cavan line-up, would appear best suited to stay at home to try and close the gaps Tyrone ruthlessly exploited in the League final.
And while Cavan racked up 15 points (11 from play) against them, they had to work exceptionally hard for the vast majority of them.
Not only is Tyrone's double sweeper system the best around, individually, their defenders work like dogs.
Tyrone tied up Cavan's inside men Seanie Johnston and David Givney with superb diligence and although Gearoid McKiernan hit two points from play his influence was eagerly curtailed by Tyrone.
So Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin will feel they have the personnel and defensive system to deal with Cavan's go-to men again.
Unquestionably, Cavan have a great chance of reaching their first Ulster final since 2001.
This is the best group of players they’ve assembled since the Ulster-winning team of 1997 – and they’ve encountered many of these Tyrone players at U21 level and conquered them.
They won’t have an inferiority complex about this fixture one bit.
They have an impressive collection of line-breakers among their middle eight. They have better free-takers than Tyrone too and in Raymond Galligan they have one of the best kick-out merchants in the game.
They are facing a Tyrone team that is still proving itself on the Championship stage, particularly up front.
Given the exceptional pace in both teams, this could well be the best game of this year’s Ulster Championship and one of the best in the entire summer.
But it’s impossible to escape the conclusion that this energetic Tyrone team has the edge in crucial areas.
For all of Cavan’s improved counter-attack, Tyrone’s is that bit smoother. Tyrone also defend better.
This could still be Cavan’s graduation year. They are capable of reaching the latter stages of the All-Ireland series – but Tyrone are an obdurate, intelligent crew.
The Red Hands should emerge as winners to seal their first provincial final appearance since 2010.
And the colour will be restored to the cheeks of those pale-looking Ulster Council officials that have been pacing up and down the gangways since mid-May.
STATS
Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final: Tyrone v Cavan (tomorrow, Clones, 2pm)
Man of the moment…
Ronan O’Neill (Tyrone)
THEY’VE been waiting in the O’Neill County for a while now on the gifted St Enda’s Omagh clubman to come to the fore – and this could be his graduation year.
A precocious underage star, it took the 23-year-old a while to settle at senior level. And judging by some of his displays this season, he’s been worth the wait. We can only assume something momentous occurred in O’Neill’s head during the close season because he’s been outstanding in the Tyrone forward line in 2016 and, more importantly, he’s producing the goods in big games.
O’Neill’s coolness in front of goal cuts him above the rest in the current Tyrone squad, evidenced by his ruthless finish – not to mention his ‘Dab’ celebration – against Cavan in the Division Two final at Croke Park and his first of two majors against Derry in the Ulster Championship.
The spotlight on O’Neill is intensifying as he was awarded the GAA/GPA Player of the Month gong for May, but so far he seems to be thriving in it. He’s registered 4-27 this year.
Team talk…
Tyrone
In his weekly Irish News column Philip Jordan wrote: “Mickey has always tended to stick with a winning team and considering the [Derry] performance it will be difficult for anyone to break into the first 15.”
Jordan knows a bit more about how Harte works than the rest of us, so it was no surprise to learn of no changes to the side that beat Derry last month.
Rory Brennan must have been close to a recall but the U21 All- Ireland winner is held in reserve again, likewise Darren McCurry who impressed as a first-half substitute for the injured Mark Bradley.
Tyrone: M O'Neill, A McCrory, R McNamee, C McCarron, T McCann, N Sludden, P Harte, C Cavanagh, M Donnelly, C McShane, M Bradley, R Donnelly, C McAliskey, S Cavanagh, R O'Neill.
Team talk…
Cavan
SAME again for Cavan. No surprise Cian Mackey is retained in the Cavan starting line-up after being drafted into the starting line-up a few days prior to their provincial opener against Armagh and having a storming game.
Midfielder Liam Buchanan missed out the last day through injury and doesn’t get back into the side for tomorrow’s semi-final after a very impressive NFL campaign, while key defender Jason McLoughlin is still not fully recovered from injury to get back into the Breffni defence. The Cavan bench will be strong again and is likely to include Eugene Keating, Jack Brady, Killian Brady and Gerry Smith.
Cavan: R Galligan, P Faulkner, K Clarke, R Dunne, F Flanagan, C Moynagh, N Murray , T Corr, M Argue, D McVeety, G McKiernan, M Reilly, D Givney, C Mackey, Sean Johnston
Tactical take…
Tyrone
TYRONE’S match-ups worked a treat in the Division Two final, so why fix it if it’s not broken? Ronan McNamee stuck to David Givney like glue the last day and Cathal McCarron didn’t give Seanie Johnston a kick. The Tyrone defence gets better with each passing game. Cavan had to work savagely hard for their scores in that League final.
Mickey Harte will feel if they don’t concede goals tomorrow – which Tyrone haven’t done for seven Championship games - they will have one foot in an Ulster final. Tyrone’s vertical counter-attack was able to penetrate the Cavan defence quite easily with eight different players getting on the scoresheet at Croke Park.
Goalkeeper Mickey O’Neill will be under strict instructions to avoid kicking the ball down the Cavan midfield’s throats as Tomas Corr and Gearoid McKiernan won’t lose many aerial battles.
And while Tyrone like to run the ball and take their points, Mark Bradley is adept at getting into good goal-scoring positions.
Tactical take…
Cavan
NAMING Michael Argue at midfield, Cian Mackey at full-forward and Gearoid McKiernan at centre-forward is Cavan’s clunky way of trying to wrong-foot Tyrone. But nobody’s being fooled here. McKiernan, who has played most of his football at centre-forward this year, was moved back to midfield against Armagh and it didn’t dim his scoring threat (0-3 from play).
The fact Tyrone bottled him up at centre-forward in the Division Two final suggests he’s probably better suited at midfield tomorrow. The more grass he has in front of him, the better he is, particularly against one of the tightest defences in the country. Cavan’s attacking approach shouldn’t change greatly from that Division Two clash, although they’ll need to ‘mind the house’ better than they did at Croke Park. Fergal Flanagan and Rory Dunne – both of whom didn’t play in the League final – are more stay-at-home defenders. The Cavan defence will need them to give a bit more protection to their defensive ‘D’ tomorrow.
Key battle…
Ronan O’Neill (Tyrone) v Killian Clarke (Cavan)
FRONT foot defender Killian Clarke is undoubtedly a better half-back than he is a full-back, so it will be interesting if Terry Hyland keeps the Shercock clubman there after enduring a torrid time against Armagh ’s Stefan Campbell. If he is given the full-back reins, he could have spells on Sean Cavanagh and Ronan O’Neill, just like in the Division Two decider. O’Neill is destined to stay inside while Cavanagh likes to roam. The in-form O’Neill will provide another stern test of Clarke’s defensive nous.
Who’s the ref?
David Gough (Meath)
THE Meath man was refused permission by the GAA to wear a Gay Pride wristband last year to show his support for the Yes vote in the same-sex marriage referendum in the Republic and to highlight homophobia in sport. The GAA said that it did not allow political statements among its membership. Gough broke his silence on the issue at the time, saying that he felt “let down” by the association.
Gough has made only fleeting appearances on the inter-county circuit this season, taking charge of NFL games Kerry v Cork and Down v Donegal. The 33-year-old primary schoolteacher was also the man in the middle for the Munster SFC quarter-final between Waterford and Tipperary.
Gough is known to observe the rules quite strictly, evidenced by his performance at Newry between Down and Donegal at the tail end of January.
Weather forecast…
RAIN is expected in the old market town tomorrow with temperatures scaling 18 degrees with a light wind. Although defenders won’t be too enamoured with the greasy conditions, it might even add to the high pace of the game.
Betting box…
Tyrone 2/5
Cavan 11/4
Draw 15/2
Handicap betting
Tyrone –3 6/5
Cavan +3 5/6
Draw –3 9/1
First goalscorer
Ronan O’Neill (Tyrone) 7/1
Seanie Johnston 8/1 (Cavan)
No goalscorer 9/2
Previous Championship meetings
2005 Ulster SFC semi-final replay: Tyrone 3-19 Cavan 0-7
2005 Ulster SFC semi-final: Tyrone 0-10 Cavan 1-7
2001 Ulster SFC: Tyrone 1-13 Cavan 1-11
1995 Ulster SFC: Tyrone 2-13 Cavan 0-10
1986 Ulster SFC: Tyrone 2-16 Cavan 1-12
1983 Ulster SFC: Tyrone 0-10 Cavan 0-11
Last Championship meeting
2005 Ulster SFC semi-final replay: Tyrone 3-19 Cavan 0-7
A WEEK earlier Cavan, under the guidance of Tyrone native Marty McElkennon, did a brilliant containing job on Mickey Harte’s free-scoring unit. But a week is a long time in football. Tyrone, who would go on to lift their second All-Ireland in 2005, blew the Breffnimen out of the water in the replay. Peter Canavan was imperious in the sequel in Clones, scoring 1-7 and brea king Paddy Doherty’s long-standing scoring record in Ulster by six points. Sean Cavanagh, who was well marshalled by Nicholas Walsh the first day, also redeemed himself with a superb display.
