2019 Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Section A: Cavan 0-13 Down 1-9
“KICK it!” was the regular cry throughout this match and Conor Madden was certainly listening as his last-gasp, long range score earned Cavan the victory they deserved.
The reward wasn’t anywhere near as important as the score he kicked in similar circumstances in late March to defeat Tipperary and secure a return to Division One football for next year.
However, new Breffni boss Mickey Graham was still understandably pleased to start his senior inter-county career with a win, admitting:
“I was delighted. There were a lot of cobwebs, we have only had one or two games between ourselves, in-house games and trial games leading up to it. I was happy that we got the result.
“We were looking for a performance and a work ethic and we tried a lot of new lads out today, gave them a bit of game-time and you could see that they were a wee bit nervous and there was a few fundamental errors at times.
“It wasn't a classic, but it was the first game in the McKenna Cup and you come to expect that.”
Down had shown spirit to somehow draw level twice in the closing stages, having gone without scoring for half an hour of play either side of half-time, but Paddy Tally’s side fell short in the end.
The visitors had started well, racing into a four points to one lead inside nine minutes, but then only scored twice more until the 57th minute, by which time Cavan had opened up a five-point gap.
Down had an extra man for 10 minutes of the first half after Cavan corner-forward Pierce Smith was sent to the sin-bin for a drag-down, but the home side still went in level, at 0-6 apiece.
Along with goalkeeper Ray Galligan’s placed ball kicking, Cavan’s centre half-back
Ciaran Brady contributed well to their advantage on the scoreboard after the break, scoring two points from play to turn the game in the hosts’ favour.
Down obviously didn’t help themselves with their inaccuracy, although Tally agreed that nerves had probably played a part in some poor shooting from his young side, saying:
“There’s no doubt about that, especially on your first day, you try so, so hard. You do things you wouldn’t even do in a club match because you want to impress, this is a different environment. But they’ll learn from that, the players will take on those lessons.
“Perhaps also, because they were working so hard, maybe they were tired when they were shooting, because this is a level up, the intensity and the pace of the game would have been new to a lot of those lads.”
So were some of the rules to everyone, but although Cavan wing-back Mark Stuart forgot about the hand-pass rule as early as the second minute, otherwise most players seemed clued in to kick early and kick often – at least before the break.
Instincts took over for Down more in the second half, though, with the hand-pass proving to be a double-edged sword for them.
They were penalised four times for playing a fourth hand-pass, but they also began to cut through Cavan’s defences via that tactic in the final quarter, with Pat Havern and substitute Cory Quinn combining to send Conor Poland in on goal, only for Stuart to pull him back.
Havern converted the resultant spot-kick and more hand-passing created openings for substitutes Shane Annett and Quinn – both of Mayobridge - in quick succession, but Galligan saved both efforts, and later also kept out a low shot from brief blood sub Eoin McCabe.
Another sub, Conor McGrady, did equalise, at 0-11 to 1-8, and then again in added time after a Cavan replacement, Jack Brady, had put them ahead, but Madden had the final say to leave the home support happy.
Down could take some positives too, particularly from their full-back and full-forward, as Tally concurred:
“Aye, they did well. Pat [Havern] scored a couple of very good points in the first half and he can win ball. It’s good for him because he’s been knocking about in Down football for a while now and he’s getting a chance to prove himself.
“Ruairi Wells is a very solid full-back. He was in the squad last year and all being well he’ll get more game-time. Happy with his performance too.”
Graham was most pleased “with the way the lads applied themselves. There was a great work ethic and they never stopped working there today. They worked, they tracked, they harried and there was a time it wasn't pretty out there today.
“There was a lot of ball given away under no pressure but I said that was going to be the case, it was winter football, but the thing I wanted to see with these lads was if they had a heart for the battle and were they ready to roll up the sleeves and I think we learnt that today.
“It's very hard to judge lads in challenge matches and you only learn what boys are like when they play in a competitive game like this. I was delighted for the likes of Sean O'Connor and Mark Stuart”.
Cavan: R Galligan (0-3, 0-2 45s, 0-1 free); S O’Connor, P Faulkner, C Moynagh; S Murray, C Brady (0-2), M Stuart; M Argue, T Galligan; M Reilly, N Murray (0-1), S Cadden (0-1); P Smith (0-1 free), S Smith (0-2, 0-1 free), C Madden (0-2).
Substitutes: J Galligan for T Galligan (31); P Moore for P Smith (45); C Mackey for Reilly (51); J Smith for Argue (51); J Brady (0-1) for Madden (67).
Black card: P Smith (18-28).
Yellow cards: T Galligan (11); S Murray (54); Stuart (56); J Galligan (73).
Down: R Burns (0-1 free); S Murnin, R Wells, R McAleenan; R Brady, B McArdle, R Johnston; A McClements (0-1), D McCarthy; D McKibbin, C Poland, C Francis; J Johnston, P Havern (1-3, 1-0 penalty, 0-1 free), R Mason (0-1).
Substitutes: C McGrady (0-2) for McKibbin (41); D McClements for A McClements (44); S Annett for McClorey (47); C Quinn for R Johnston (55); C Harney (0-1) for Brady (58).
Blood sub: E McCabe for McAleenan (65-66).
Yellow cards: McKibbin (32); A McClements (36, first half);
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).
