Allianz National Football League One: Cavan 0-13 Kerry 0-16
FRESH from a nine point thumping of Tyrone, Mayo is not exactly the place you want to be headed when going in search of a first Division One win at the third time of asking.
But that is exactly the situation Cavan find themselves in as yesterday’s defeat to Kerry sends them to Castlebar this weekend in desperate need of returning home with something to cling to other than hope for the next day.
The Breffnimen started the campaign as favourites to drop straight back down to Division Two and while two defeats on the trot tells one story in the League standings, the performance levels provide cause for some optimism.
Indeed, at Kingspan Breffni Park yesterday they were by far the better side in the first half, despite slippery conditions that whipped the feet from under both sets of players all afternoon.
Aided by a deceptively strong wind, Raymond Galligan’s kick-outs sailed deep into enemy territory time and again, while his opposite number, Shane Ryan, struggled with his.
It was often blue bodies who emerged from the ruck to take the fight to their esteemed visitors, Cavan just that bit sharper around the middle and using the full width of the pitch to pick holes in an at times wide-open Kerry rearguard.
Don’t forget that last week Mickey Harte’s All-Ireland finalists managed just two points from play from a dismal opening day showing down in Killarney. Cavan had matched that tally within 10 minutes, with seven of their first half total of 11 coming from open play.
With so little ball going into a swamped Kerry forward line, Killian Clarke and Padraig Faulkner were able to step out to good effect, while the triumvirate of Dara McVeety, Martin Reilly and Ciaran Brady foraged brilliantly.
Brady popped up with classy back-to-back scores in the 10th and 12 minutes, slaloming between the men in green jerseys before splitting the posts.
Unfortunately for Cavan boss Mickey Graham, injuries forced both Brady and McVeety out of the game during the second half, McVeety leaving Breffni Park with his right arm in a sling. He must surely be a major doubt for this weekend’s trip west.
Only the superb free-taking ability of Sean O’Shea kept a slack, ponderous Kerry in the hunt during the first period, his six scores from placed balls accounting for all but one of their half-time tally.
The second half, however, was a different story altogether.
With the wind at their backs, Kerry pushed up hard on Galligan’s kick-outs, completely dominating the middle sector and barely allowing Cavan an attack, never mind a score.
The Breffnimen managed to raise the white flag just two times after the break, while the introduction of Dara Moynihan and the towering Tommy Walsh freshened up an attack that had struggled to make any impact in the first half.
“In the first half I thought our work-rate was very poor and we managed to rectify that at half time,” said Kerry boss Peter Keane, whose men welcome the Dubs to Tralee on Saturday night.
“Now that wind was a factor and Cavan in the first half and us in the second had an advantage with that wind. I don't think we necessarily set up to be defensive, I think that’s just the way it happened; we were under a bit of pressure and we had to tidy it up and get it sorted at half-time.”
It was no surprise that Cavan tired as the second half wore on, having held their finger in the dyke for so long as Kerry threatened to shoot themselves out of it at times. Eventually, though, class prevailed.
And their best period of the day, oddly enough, coincided with being reduced to 14 men after Tom O’Sullivan was sin-binned for a cynical foul on Cian Mackey.
Sean O’Shea, so good from frees, showed he can play a bit two with a couple of thundering efforts off his left side, before sub Mark Griffin nipped around the outside of the Cavan defence to nudge the Kingdom ahead.
It was a lead they would only extend as, despite eight minutes of added time, the Breffni threat was well and truly gone.
“We’d have been very happy going in at half-time in the position we were, I thought we played some great football in the first. Second half, against the wind, we struggled maybe to get the ball into the scoring areas,” said Cavan boss Mickey Graham.
“They managed the game and the saw it out well, but overall we’d be happy with the performance and the work ethic of the lads. There’s lots to improve on and lots to get better at.”
James Horan’s Mayo are up next and while Conor Moynagh is expected to return to the fold after being away for yesterdays’ game, Graham insists they can do no more than keep a watching brief on McVeety and Brady.
“The two boys are very sore there now,” he said.
“They always play with their hearts on their sleeves, their bodies on the line and they’re sore. [It was] just two big hits, they seemed to be drawing a lot of attention to them in the second half.
“Look, Division One is tough. The main thing is we were competitive – you’d be annoyed the last two weeks, we could’ve got something out of those two games, but it’d be worse if you weren’t putting yourself in those positions to get anything out of the games. We are, and we’re all new to this.
“The management’s new to this, some of the players are new to this, so while we’d be happy with the performance we’d be looking to get over the line and get a win.”
Cavan: R Galligan (0-1, 45); J McLoughlin, P Faulkner, K Clarke; N Murray (0-1), C Brady (0-2), C Rehill (0-1); P Graham, T Galligan; D McVeety (0-1), M Reilly (0-2, free89 54), P Smith, C Mackey; J Brady (0-1, mark), C Madden (0-4, 0-1 mark). Subs: L Fortune for McVeety (40), S Smith for J Brady (50), S Murray for C Brady (61), M Argue for Graham (67), K Tierney for Mackey (71)
Yellow cards: C Brady (50), M Reilly (66), P Faulkner (70)
Kerry: S Ryan; P Crowley, J Sherwood, B O Beaglaioch; T Morley, P Murphy, T O’Sullivan; J Barry, A Spillane; D O’Connor, S O’Shea (0-12, 0-9 frees, 0-1 45), J Lyne; K Spillane, P Geaney (0-2), S O’Brien (0-1). Subs: D Moynihan for K Spillane (35+1), T Walsh for Lyne (HT), G O’Brien for A Spillane (46), M Griffin (0-1) for O’Connor (64), M Geaney for Crowley (blood sub 66, reversed 68), D Moran for O’Brien (71)
Black card: O’Sullivan (58)
Yellow card: B O Beaglaioch (74)
Referee: F Kelly (Longford)
Att: 5,816
