Tomsmith here


If we play like this against Dublin we will have nothing to fear against Dublin.
Let big Mc Kiernan have another star day and we will be close

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 3982 - 22/11/2020 17:58:37    2313023

This Dublin team don't do complacency so we can expect to face nothing less than Meath faced last night. Just show's how important the first quarter is this year. We're going to need another similar early start to steady the nerves. But the good thing this year is that there is no 4 week delay. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. What a year and it's not over yet.

ondforty (Cavan) - Posts: 461 - 22/11/2020 18:23:45    2313087

We're in the last 4.

We're Ulster Champions! (How sweet does that sound!??)

Dublin are whole different animal, particularly if it's in croker, but look. .we're in bonus territory, we have nothing to lose, and with Kerry and Donegal gone, the pressure on Dublin is ramped up.

It's been a crazy year. .

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5193 - 22/11/2020 18:46:20    2313141

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3743 - 22/11/2020 19:13:46    2313202

I'm saying nothing. What do I know about football.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5520 - 22/11/2020 23:41:47    2313588

Cant believe we are making this thread :-)
Still buzzing, i dont know how the players are going to come down for the dublin game.

McConville 100% right yday,Take it out of croker, our players arent giddy children who want a daytrip to croker, neutral venue not dublins home pitch.
Wont be a crowd there so they cant use the excuse of capacity.

HuddHastings (Longford) - Posts: 144 - 23/11/2020 09:05:36    2313635

Congrats to Cavan on a monumental victory. Only for poor refereeing decisions you would have been far more comfortable victors. What a pity your fans could not be there to witness the game in person. I always felt that the Roscommon, Mayo and Cavan fans were the most passionate of all. Hopefully ye bring the same intensity and determination against Dublin in 2 weeks time and you'll not be too far off. The whole country will be shouting for ye. Hopefully that is the turning point for Cavan football and they can be back playing Div. 1 football soon and winning more Ulster titles down the line. Best of luck in two weeks.

ComainRos (Roscommon) - Posts: 131 - 23/11/2020 10:16:30    2313694

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 3982 - 23/11/2020 10:21:12    2313700

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5193 - 23/11/2020 10:22:47    2313702

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 3982 - 23/11/2020 10:34:21    2313715

While Dublin were very good, Meath created their own problems with awful kickouts. He hadn't the ability to get it past the 45, and short kickouts weren't great either. Cavan better in midfield then Meath too. Cavan should be more competive, but will have to have an even bigger performance to match Dublin intensity.

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2824 - 23/11/2020 11:04:13    2313766

Start a Navan or nowhere campaign.

bunnoe1 (Cavan) - Posts: 60 - 23/11/2020 12:03:45    2313842

I would be happy if we compete with Dublin.

Make them work hard. Let them know they're in a battle where nothing they get will be given easy.

MG has experience of beating Kilmacud with an underdog, so we literally have the best man for the job on the sideline.

Dublin are a different animal, and are unequivocally the greatest football of team of all time. They kill you with intensity and a constant onslaught. One blink and they can have the ball in the back of the net, and before you have time to regroup they have it in the back of the net again. That's how lethal they are. They depend on the other team losing concentration and catching them off guard from kickouts, line balls, frees etc.

Cavan have enough talent to play route one football. We get rewards from kicking long into Galligan and Madden, just like the goal yesterday. Test Dubin's full back line time and time again and they might be vulnerable. Too many team try and run the ball against Dubin, you may as well be idle, they're too athletic and they'll gobble you up.

We have the best centre forward in Ireland in 2020 in Thomas Galligan. And another top forward in Madden. Let the ball in on top of the lads and see what happens.

Cavan_Shambles (Cavan) - Posts: 575 - 23/11/2020 12:11:37    2313849

Congrats to Mickey & the whole setup. Team selection & gameplan spot on and perfectly executed. K. Clarke, Faulkner, Gunner held back deep where they were needed, and the wing backs were the men left to get up and help out our 3 forwards. Thought we might get off to a good start and have 60 good minutes in us this time. But I also thought Donegal were a better team than they actually proved to be. They probably underperformed a bit, but if they were that much better than us, we wouldn't have been the better team for all but 5 minutes of the game and they would have kicked on after their small purple patch.

We are probably now on a par with Donegal & Tyrone as one of the top teams in Ulster. No doubt about it, Mickey is the man, a knockout match specialist. Significant care now needs to be taken with him that he is not poached by a professional outfit now like Jim McGuinness was. Celtic are going very poor at the moment on their quest for 10 in a row and they have form at poaching the best GAA managers, which is a worry. I would suggest some sort of surveillance operation is put in place until we win our first all All Ireland. I wouldn't imagine it will be required anymore than 4 to 56 weeks, and therefore I think it would prove worth the money to bring us our first All Ireland since 1952.

I think it would be the same gameplan as the Donegal game again Vs Dublin now. For the first time in recent memory we stopped the runners coming through the middle against a decent big strong team, and still got plenty of possesion into our own forward line. Runners through the middle is Dublin's main attacking weapon so there isn't really much else you want to be changing at this point. Mickey will surely soon be running out of rabbits to pull from his wooly hat having even shrewdly lied to our own media to say that the game had come too soon for James & Conor Smith. Stephen Murray the only potential rabbit left I can think of at this moment in time that might be fit to come from nowhere and have the legs to make an impact against the Dubs for a section of the game.

There should now be a big push to get the Dubs out of Croke Park for the semi final as there is no good reason for it to be there when supporter capacity is not in the argument. I see some other posters have suggested Navan. I would not start the bargaining there. Croker is a home venue for the Dubs, and so we should be proposing a home venue ourselves. Not sure what sort of condition it is in at the moment or how it is setup to facilitate the TV camera & media requirements of an AI semi but Bunnoe would spring to mind as our best option for me. We should start from there and accept Navan as a worst case scenario compromise.

PatTheDandy (Cavan) - Posts: 356 - 23/11/2020 13:52:46    2313964

Hi folks, comhghairdeas arís and just a few points from an outsider's POV on the Dublin match.

1. The quality high ball into the full forwards is a great weapon and one you should definitely use again against the Dubs. People for years have been wondering if the Dubs are weak back there but nobody has ever really tested them properly, the odd high ball in but the tactic soon abandoned. Cavan have the talent under a high ball but also importantly they have the players who are able to play in good quality ball as shown a good few times yesterday.

2. Someone mentioned the Dublin runners - remember as poor as Donegal were we still created two clear cut goal chances and one other half chance when Mogan hit it soccer style. The two clear ones were created by Eoghan Bán running through. Dublin are better than us and will finish those chances. It's something to keep in mind as good as you were yesterday defensively (and you were excellent), those chances were still there.

3. Can you keep the Dubs to 20 points in total, and if so, can you score enough to beat that? I think 20 points is the marker to try and keep the Dubs around there.

4. Fenton, Kilkenny and Con O'Callaghan are the absolute key men for Dublin. Obviously they have weapons everywhere but I think to give yourself any chance at all, they are the three that you need to deal with.

The final quarter will be huge if yous can keep within touching distance to that point. Dublin are phenomenal in terms of skill and athleticism so I hope the week off will do your boys the world of good in terms of conditioning and patching up any wee knocks etc (and also an opportunity to celebrate and then come back down to focus!).

Ádh mór daoibh and sure when the ball is thrown up all bets are off

JoeSoap (Donegal) - Posts: 1432 - 23/11/2020 14:23:29    2314011

i don't know why i'm doing this to myself but i actually think we have a chance........

theweanling (Cavan) - Posts: 414 - 23/11/2020 15:02:56    2314038

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5193 - 23/11/2020 15:15:14    2314050

Cavan_Shambles (Cavan) - Posts: 575 - 23/11/2020 15:22:52    2314058

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5193 - 23/11/2020 16:00:35    2314088

After that wonderful performance on Sunday it is now onto a dream semi final v. Dublin... Let's not start kidding ourselves here.. Dublin are a massive step up from Donegal who I believe are over hyped in recent years and generally flatter to deceive when most is expected of them.. Dublin won't be like that ... their speed and quick hands are frightening and their ability to almost always take the right option puts them in a league of their own... Cavan must push up on every Dublin kick out and put some sort of pressure on Cluxton .. if they concede the kick out to them they would be better off staying at home... make him go long and make them battle for possession instead of handing it to them... Cavan can now play with no fear or pressure as nothing is going to be expected from them so just go for the game ... not the sort of defensive no hope crap Hyland put them out to play v Kerry a few years ago leading to the game been over in 20 minutes ...

ForeverBlue2 (Cavan) - Posts: 3027 - 23/11/2020 21:53:04    2314343