SEAN CAVANAGH was named winner of the Quinn Building Products UGAAWA merit award for July, a little consolation after last weekend’s disappointing defeat to Mayo and his sending off in that All-Ireland quarter-final.
“This was the first year that I had played on an unbeaten Tyrone senior team and I was naturally hoping to keep the record going,” said the Moy man.
“I don’t know if my presence on the field during the closing part of the game with Mayo would have made any difference. I just couldn’t watch the closing minutes.”
That was all this month. And it was for his performances in July, during which Tyrone defeated both Cavan and Donegal in the Ulster Championship, that Cavanagh was voted the winner of the monthly merit award.
“I appreciate being the winner of this award and I thank the Ulster GAA writers for giving me the honour,” he added.
“Personal awards like this are always great to receive. We will probably appreciate them even more so in later years, when our children are asking what they were for. Explaining to them will bring back memories.”
Questions have been asked by many people about whether or not the 33-year-old intends to continue in county football, but he insists he won’t be rushed into an immediate answer on that one: “I will wait and consider the situation before making any decision,” he added.
“There are plenty of young lads in the panel just now ready to take over, but I will wait before making any announcement.”
Red Hands manager Mickey Harte doesn’t want his captain to step out just now: “We will have a meeting of all the players in the near future,” he said.
“We just can’t leave it like that.”
Cavanagh’s leadership of the Red Hands during the crunch provincial final was an education in captaincy. Tyrone were put to the test against an eager and determined Donegal squad, who looked as if they might regain the title when they led heading for home.
It was then that captain Cavanagh showed his true form. Operating around midfield, he won crucial ball, broke down Donegal possession and put pressure on the losers’ defence. One action turned the game in Tyrone’s favour. It was a levelling point from far out as Cavanagh, with a couple of players tackling, turned and drove the ball over the bar.
How did he manage that point: “I don’t really know,” he confessed.
“My father-in-law passed away a fortnight earlier, so he must have been up there blowing that ball over the bar.”
It seems strange that we must go back to September 2008 to find the last time Cavanagh received the UGAAWA monthly merit award, but that can be as a result of the all-round strength of the Tyrone panel. To win this award, Cavanagh had to fight off the claims of team-mate Peter Harte and Monaghan ladies’ football manager Paula Cunningham, with Patrick McBrearty (Donegal), Ryan McHugh (Donegal) and Niamh O’Neill (Tyrone) also considered.
The July winner receives an engraved Belleek Living vase, specially designed silver cuff links from Carlingford Design House, training gear from O’Neill’s International Sports and a medical kit bag from 3FiveTwo on behalf of Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast.
