Football

Pat Cadden to get unexpected summer bow for Fermanagh

1/4/2018 Fermanaghs goalkeeper patrick cadden    Pic seamus loughran
1/4/2018 Fermanaghs goalkeeper patrick cadden Pic seamus loughran 1/4/2018 Fermanaghs goalkeeper patrick cadden Pic seamus loughran

AS a 21-year-old whippet with a developing left foot, Pat Cadden bound on to the Croke Park pitch for his inter-county debut in a round three qualifier against Kildare.

He’d been in the background all year in 2008, sitting pitchside for an Ulster campaign that would take them the closest the county’s ever been to a provincial title.

The young Donagh forward didn’t see any game time until, with their attack malfunctioning and having hit just 0-5 all day, he was called in for the last nine minutes plus stoppage time, replacing Tom Brewster.

It would be eight years before he would set foot on a championship pitch again, and that would only be for the four added minutes at the end of their 2016 preliminary round win over Antrim.

Despite dipping in and out of the squad constantly over the last decade, and playing a decent bit of McKenna Cup and National League football, those 15 or 16 minutes represent his entire championship career.

Times he was in, times he was out. Pete McGrath kept hold of him until the early portion of the league last year, when he decided enough was enough.

“I just lost interest at the start of the league. Just a lack of game time and the body was telling me it wasn’t up for it any more.

“I probably thought my inter-county days were over, that there’d be a year or two of club football and that would have been it.”

With his wife Catherine expecting their third child – a son, Paddy, born in April to compliment their two daughters - he had reconciled himself with his days in green being done.

And they are. White is his hue now.

Rory Gallagher rang him shortly after taking over but instead of inviting him in as a forward, the new boss said he wanted him to come along and try out in goal.

“Pat had scored 0-10 in a Division Two league final, five or six of them from frees, but I knew he’d done goals in the soccer as well,” says the Erne boss.

“It was a shot-to-nothing for Pat and ourselves. The football comes naturally to him and he’s adjusted to it very well. He’s learning all the time, it’s not something he’s done a huge amount of – I don’t think he’s ever done goals for his club, even to this point – but we felt it was worth trying.

“Tom [Treacy] was away at the time for six or seven weeks pre-Christmas on an extended trip, Pat came in and took his chance we felt.

“One thing you’re guaranteed is that he’s going to kick somewhere between 17 and, if you have a really bad day, 30 times a game. The ball’s going to drop short another couple of times. He’s going to be involved in a hell of a lot of play.

“There are a lot of inside forwards would love to get that amount of touches over three games. That comfort on the ball is very important.

“We knew Pat was a good footballer and natural to it.”

It was out of the blue in the sense that Cadden has never done goals for club or county but, as Gallagher referenced, he’s been no stranger to it on the soccer pitch.

He’s long been a feature on the Enniskillen Town United side, who tend to touch the upper half of the top tier of Fermanagh’s healthily-populated footballing pyramid.

“Because you’re a Gaelic footballer and you’re good with your hands, I sort of got enticed to do nets from a young age,” says Cadden.

“Chris Snow was hanging up the gloves and Rory rang me to see if I was interested to go out. I was speaking to him over the phone, speaking to the wife and I realised I’m not getting any younger – it was either going to be do it or regret it. I bit the bullet and decided to give it a go.

“I wasn’t expecting any phone call at all. I suppose I had a good enough year with the club last year but if he’d been ringing me to play outfield, I don’t think I’d have been able to do it.

“The goalkeeping training might not be as strenuous as the outfield training the boys be doing. I definitely wasn’t expecting the phone call.

“I’m that bit older but I’ve learned more this year than in any of the amount of years I’ve been playing football.”

He had to give the soccer up before Christmas in order to give Fermanagh a proper run, and after a bit of early-season rotation, Cadden seems to have grasped the number one jersey ahead of Saturday’s Ulster SFC opener against Armagh.

Standing at 5’10”, he’s well aware of the aerial and physical prowess of the Orchard forward line.

Their probable starting front six all stand at six foot or bigger. Ethan Rafferty (6’5”), Andy Murnin (6’2”), Niall Grimley (6’2”), Rory Grugan (6’1”), Aidan Forker and Gavin McParland (both 6’) present challenges from every angle.

Their goal in the Division Three final came when Cadden had to contest a high ball with Paddy Burns that he actually won, but when it dropped his defence was sleeping and Murnin was able to tap home unchallenged.

“Even going back as far as ’08, Armagh have always liked playing that long ball in. They’ve always been a kicking team and always played that way.

“As for the high ball, if you’ve two or three men over 6 foot, of course you’re going to try and kick the ball into them. I’d be very shocked if that’s not what Armagh will do.”

Ten years after his Fermanagh debut, at the age of 31, this will be a first ever championship start for Pat Cadden, and not where he ever envisaged it happening.

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence, as they say.