Hoganstand Cavan Yearbook 2010

ONLY

â‚Ź4.95

22 Years Covering Cavan GAA

CAVAN GAA YEARBOOK is published by Lynn Group Kells Business Park Cavan Road Kells Co Meath

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CONTRIBUTORS Shane Breslin Kevin Carney Shane Corrigan Tony Dunne Stephen Reilly Gerald Robinson Randal Scally

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication can be published or reproduced in any way without the written permission of the author or The Lynn Group © Copyright Lynn Group 2010 The opinions expressed in Breffni Blue do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, publishers, their agents or Cavan GAA. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is correct, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors that may appear.

CONTENTS ARVA .......................... 164 BAILIEBOROUGH ............239 BALLINAGH .................. 170 BALLYCONNELL FIRST ULSTERS ..................... 110 BALLYHAISE ................ 150 BALLYMACHUGH ........... 192 BELTURBET .................... 79 BUTLERSBRIDGE ........... 119 CASTLERAHAN ............. 302 CAVAN GAELS ................400 COOTEHILL .................... 213 CORLOUGH .................. 256 CORNAFEAN ................ 314 CROSSERLOUGH ........... 380 CUCHULLAINS .............. 266 DENN .......................... 204 DRUMALEE ...................426 DRUMGOON ................. 340 DRUMLANE................... 330 DRUNG......................... 368 GOWNA ........................ 144 KILL ............................ 199 KILLESHANDRA ............ 295 KILLINKERE ...................250 KILLYGARRY ................. 346 KINGSCOURT ................. 86 KNOCKBRIDE ............... 222 LACKEN ....................... 322 LARAGH ...................... 374 LAVEY ........................ 359 MAGHERA ................... 158 MOUNTNUGENT ............420 MULLAHORAN .............. 274 MUNTERCONNACHT ..... 261 RAMOR UNITED ........... 284 REDHILLS .................... 232 SHANNON GAELS ........... 99 SHERCOCK .................. 392 SWANLINBAR .............. 186 TEMPLEPORT ............... 179 1

Editors welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 €7,500 club giveaway . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Senior Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Senior Hurling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ladies Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Michael Hannon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Minor Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Barry Reilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Aogan Farrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Junior Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Hughie McInerney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Paul Sheridan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Club team of the year . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Cumann na mBunscol . . . . . . . . . . 50 St. Pat’s Dalton Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Five to watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 U21 Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Val Andrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Garvan Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Hughie Newman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Friends we lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Mike Reilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Ann McKiernan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Camogie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Handball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 Gareth Cooney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Justin O’Halloran . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Alo Mohan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Padraig Brady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Peter Robinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356 Mike Crossan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 Mickey Brennan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Colm McEvoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

Editor’s Note

L

et me start by welcoming you to this very special 2011 edition of ‘Breffni Blue’. Our first edition hit the shops in 1989 and 22 years later we are still going strong, thanks to the support of the gaels of Cavan.

The season just gone past was once again another busy year on the Cavan GAA front at both club and county level, and we have put in a huge effort, as always, to cover all the action from across the county in both words and pictures.

As always, we have profiled all 40 clubs in the county in detail, along with year reviews of the Cavan senior, minor and Under 21 football teams’ seasons. Tommy Carr and Mickey Graham stood down from their posts with the seniors and minor respectively after suffering disappointing conclusions to their championship campaign, while Terry Hyland earned himself a promotion to the position of county senior co-manager after enjoying a progressive year with the Under 21s. We spoke to the Lacken man’s fellow comanager Val Andrews about where he hopes to guide Cavan in 2011. We’ll also look back at the county hurlers’ fortunes under Brendan Nelligan, as well as the camogie team’s brave run to the AllIreland Junior B final, where they were defeated by neighbours Monaghan.

With regards to silverware achieved in the Breffni County this past season, great credit must go to the Cavan Ladies for their impressive National Football League campaign which saw them unbeaten going into the final at Parnell Park, where they defeated Waterford to bring home the Cup. Had they been able to put in the same kind of performance against the Deise women in August then Cavan could be sitting with an All-Ireland intermediate title, but time is very much on the side of this young and talented bunch and they enjoyed a superb first season under Adrian McGovern nonetheless.

Elsewhere on the achievement list for Cavan in 2010, Mullahoran man Paul Brady enjoyed another splendid year in the handball court after he defeated Armagh’s Charly Shanks in Kingscourt in April to capture his seventh All-Ireland 40x20 Senior Singles title and sixth in-a-row, equalling the record of titles held by Kilkenny legend Ducksy Walsh and Patsy Kirby’s six-in-a-row. A few weeks later, Brady teamed-up with Kingscourt partner Michael Finnegan to win back their AllIreland Senior Doubles crown and in June ‘the Gunner’ would travel to Texas, after winning the Irish Nationals, to win his sixth consecutive US Nationals title.

On the club scene, the summer championships threw up some shocks, particularly in the senior grade as Kingscourt Stars derailed the mighty Cavan Gaels’ bid for a four-in-a-row.

Under the guidance of Nobber native Dudley Farrell, the Stars were ranked as outsiders going into this year’s SFC having come up from Division Two, but their league form suggested otherwise and after a slow start against Cuchullains wins against Blackwater Gaels and Redhills brought them into the knock-out stages. A scrap past Gowna in the quarter-finals and a hard-earned win over Ramor saw Kingscourt enter the county final as underdogs to the Gaels, who were left shocked after such a brilliant start when Ryan McCormack’s 50th minute penalty gave the Stars the lead which they would not relinquish and so claimed the Oliver Plunkett Cup for the first time since 1993.

In the intermediate championship, Drumalee’s campaign grew by the game and they would save the best until last to defeat Drumlane in the final to claim their second title in four years. Managed by devoted clubman Mickey Lee, the Cavan town side’s trail to the final never hit another bump after a surprise opening loss to Kill, as they put Laragh, Cootehill and Knockbride to the sword afterwards to reach the decider at Kingspan Breffni Park, where they made seeing off a Drumlane side, which had only lost one game all season long going into the final, look easy with Mickey Brennan’s return to club at the start of the year proving worthy as he picked up the ‘Man of the Match’ award for his performance in the final.

In the junior sector, a talented Swanlinbar outfit simply ruled the roost in 2010, completing the league and championship double. Under the

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managership of Belcoo’s John Joe Stewart, Swad clinched promotion to Division Two before their championship campaign got under way. When it did they emerged from a stern group which contained Shannon Gaels, Munterconnacht and Cornafean to meet Arva against whom they scored a comfortable win to advance to the last four against Mountnugent, where the goals of ace forwards Mark Cunningham and Robbie Prior made all the difference in seeing them through to a second consecutive JFC final. In the decider, the west Cavan side truly proved their class by defeating Munterconnacht on a 0-16 to 18 score-line to claim their second Sean Leddy Cup in four years, and a fortnight later they would overcome the same opposition to take the Division Three crown.

Staying with the clubs, I would like to thank each and every one of them that helped us over the last couple of months to put together their sections, whether it be through interviews or identifying photo captions.

I would also like to thank our loyal advertisers who have once again supported us despite these difficult economic times.

This support allows us to put the resources required behind the book, and also benefits the clubs of the county, to whom we gave €7,500 worth of O’Neill’s GAA equipment.

On a final note, I would like to wish every Cavan gael the best of luck wherever your club’s conquests may lie in 2011.

Shane Corrigan,

ONE WILL CONQUER ALL

Follow us on facebook.com/GuinnessHurling The GUINNESS GUINNESS word and associated logos are trade marks. Š Guinness & Co. 2010.

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Breffni Blue gives €7,500 worth of O’Neill’s equipment to the clubs of Cavan

T

he Lynn Group has produced the Cavan GAA annual, Breffni Blue, since 1989. This 2011 edition marks 22 years of covering all things GAA in Cavan.

Every one of these annuals has been a pleasure to bring out with a positive feedback, and in particular the assistance provided by the clubs of the county, ensuring that Breffni Blue is a fitting record of the year’s activities.

Every year we made a contribution to Cavan county board for producing the yearbook, but it was never our way to make a song and dance over this.

This year however we have decided to make our contribution directly to the clubs of the county and have given out over €7,500 worth of O’Neill’s equipment, which we distributed among the 40 adult clubs.

Each club received three O’Neill’s AllIreland footballs and a carrier bag which all together retail for almost €200.

The Breffni Blue Yearbook has always supported Cavan GAA and we are delighted to continue this proud tradition.

Breffni Blue editor Shane Corrigan (right) presents free O’Neill’s equipment to Denn secretary Geraldine Lynch

SOME OF THE FEEDBACK FROM CAVAN CLUBS “Thanks for the footballs. The club really appreciated it.” – Angela Hamilton, Shercock Secretary “Thank you for the gift of three O’Neill’s footballs.” – Killian Monaghan, Cuchullains Secretary “That’s great. Thanks - they’re really needed.” – John Pat Martin, Denn Chairman 4

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Paul Brady looks to get there ahead of Fermanagh’s Mark Little in the Ulster SFC clash at Kingspan Breffni Park

Tough times indeed Cavan’s senior footballers slipped to a new low this past season when they exited the All-Ireland series with only four points to show for against Cork at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The 18-point defeat was certainly in no way a fair reflection of the players’ effort all year, but at the same time was another eye-opener after an extraordinary win over Wicklow had revived hopes. By Shane Corrigan.

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Donegal at Kingspan Breffni Park, where Carr’s new-look team fell to a narrow two-point defeat. Despite the result, most of the talk afterwards was about Cavan’s new centreforward, Gareth ‘Nesty’ Smith, who caught the eye by notching seven points on his Breffni debut.

The Oliver Plunkett’s ace was one of two outsiders which Carr would call on to try and bolster his attack, with Simonstown native Michael Brennan making his return to the squad for the first time since 2007 and also re-joining the Drumalee club, with whom he had enjoyed an intermediate championship success. Both would go on to play in all of Cavan’s championship outings come the summer.

Up front wasn’t the only area Carr and his management team tweaked. In defence, Denn pair Eoin McPhilips and Tomas Corr were drafted in for county senior debuts, as were Alan Clarke (Kingscourt), Eoin McGuigan (Belturbet), Dane O’Dowd (Drumlane) and Mark Johnston (Cornafean). All five would also make the cut for the squad come the team’s Ulster SFC opener against Fermanagh on June 12.

Losses to St Mary’s and Tyrone in the space of a week ended an experimental McKenna Cup campaign on a negative tone, but it looked to be all worth it when Carr’s

here does it keep going wrong for the senior footballers of Cavan? Another season done and dusted just two weeks into July and another manager gone by the wayside.

A dream start to 2010 against to-be Connacht champions Roscommon in the National Football League ended in with a whipping at the hands of Cork, which led to Tommy Carr preaching the “gulf in class” between his team and the Rebels before confirming his resignation to the county board a week later.

It’s been the same old story for Cavan for too long now and it has been there for everyone to see. Avoiding relegation, players opting out of the squad and an early championship exit have been the unwanted trend the team has adopted and the past two years have seen them at a low ebb, suggesting that the only way now is up.

You could have said that at the end of their 2009 season, when the Blues were taught a lesson about ruthlessness and putting pride in the jersey by Mick O’Dwyer’s Wicklow at Aughrim in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers, but, in plain truth, 2010 didn’t unravel any better.

‘The Big Freeze’ disrupted teams’ preparations at the start of the year and it was the third week of January before Cavan’s Dr McKenna Cup campaign got underway against 6

CAVAN SENIORS

The 2010 Cavan senior football squad. Front l/r: Eoin McPhillips, Alan Clarke, Ronan Flanagan, Ciaran Galligan, Martin Cahill (capt), Paul Brady, Philip Brady, Cian Mackey, Martin Reilly, Dermot Sheridan, Stephen Jordan. Back: Mark Johnston, Eoin Smith, Raymond Galligan, Michael Brennan, Gareth Smith, Tomas Corr, Fintan Reilly, Mark McKeever, Eoin McGuigan, Dane O'Dowd, David Givney, Declan McKiernan, Lorcan Mulvey, Sean Johnston

David Givney bids to rescue possession from Fermanagh pair James Sherry and Martin McGrath as Eoin McGuigan looks on

white flags to secure a 0-17 to 0-12 victory.

The win saw Cavan travel to Markievicz Park with confidence, with two more points giving them a genuine chance of promotion, and they took in a slender one-point lead at half-time as Gareth Smith and the ever-dangerous Mackey took the fight to the Yeats men. Mackey added three more points after the interval, but it was a disastrous final ten minutes that would spell defeat for the visitors as

charges travelled to Dr Hyde Park and recorded a resounding 2-20 to 1-10 over Roscommon, with Lacken full-forward Raymond Galligan registering an impressive 0-10 in the absence of marksman Sean Johnston, who would miss the entire league trail after dislocating his elbow whilst on Sigerson Cup duty with DCU. It was the desired lift the players needed a game into their competitive season, but they were firmly brought down to earth when their provincial conquers of eight months previous visited Kingspan Breffni Park. There Liam Bradley’s Antrim brushed aside the hosts, who had fell apart in the second-half, to claim a 2-13 to 1-8 victory to take two more points on their way to promotion from Division Three.

A disappointing 0-13 to 1-6 defeat to Louth in Drogheda, where a rousing start after an early Cian Mackey goal raised hopes, left Carr commenting afterwards that there were “a number of areas we need to address”. The loss meant that Carr’s team would need to overcome Wexford’s challenge at Kingspan Breffni Park in order to keep a relegation dog-fight at bay, with a visit to high-flying Sligo just around the corner Once again, Cavan stuck with a Denn full-back line of Eoin McPhilips, Tomas Corr and team captain Martin Cahill and the home side led by 0-8 to 0-7 at half-time with Ronan Flanagan opening the scoring with a fisted point inside the first minute. Flanagan ended the first-half with four points and was a constant threat from right halfforward, while free-taker Shane Roche kept Wexford in touch.

Two points from Cian Mackey and another from midfielder David Givney on the restart put daylight between the sides for the first time, and Cavan grew in confidence after that as Mackey went on to raise five more

Cavan boss Tommy Carr resigned from his post after the defeat to Cork

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Sligo hit 1-4, with the goal coming from Kenneth Sweeney, and not even in six minutes of injury-time could the Blues save themselves from a third defeat of the campaign.

The loss slumped Cavan back into relegation worries, rather than promotion hopes, and a showdown with Offaly at Kingspan Breffni Park became a must-win game. Another return of 0-8 from Mackey brought the home side half-way there, as they raced five points clear in the opening quarter but a brave comeback from the Faithful County left nothing in it at half-time.

Hesitant to let the home support down, the Breffni men resumed nicely as full-forward Mickey Brennan, Gareth Smith and Flanagan shot over points to help re-establish a five-point advantage and they wouldn’t look back as further scores from Mackey, Mark McKeever and Brennan saw them reach the 0-20 tally, which would be enough for a six-point triumph.

It was a rare week of positive news for Cavan football, after the Under 21s scored a huge victory over Down in the opening round of the Ulster championship, and the players knew they wanted to keep the momentum going when they welcomed Fermanagh for their remaining league game before the summer’s championship became the sole focus of attention.

Safe from the drop-zone - and with an outside chance of promotion still on the cards - Cavan

Alan Clarke made his breakthrough onto the Cavan senior team in 2010

Fintan Reilly had a tough first season between the posts for the Breffni men

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Newcomer Gareth ‘Nesty’ Smith impressed in his debut season with Cavan

took on their neighbours, with Carr handing out chances to newcomers Dane O’Dowd and Mark Johnston and returning pair Michael Hannon and Ray Cullivan, before the sides met again in two months’ time.

The teams were even during the opening 35 minutes, with Cavan edging the 0-6 to 0-5 half-time lead, but Fermanagh’s wides’ tally continued to rise into the secondhalf and it proved their undoing as Smith, Mackey and McKeever contributed the scores, along with two from play from midfielder Lorcan Mulvey, to assure their side a 0-11 to 0-7 win would bring the curtain down on a mixed league campaign, where narrow defeats to Louth and Sligo proved costly in their hopes for promotion.

Mackey, who was arguably Cavan’s top performer in the league, indicated afterwards that the Breffni men were unfortunate to miss out on Division Two football for 2011.

“At the start of the year we hoped to get promoted, but it didn’t go according to plan. But we regrouped and started to improve towards the end of the league, getting a couple of wins under our belts,” said the Castlerahan man.

“We’re unlucky not to get promoted, but that’s just the way it goes. It’s all a stepping-stone – we improved the whole way through the league.”

Arguably, only Kenneth Sweeney’s late goal in the Sligo defeat denied Carr’s team promotion and that suggested a marked improvement on 2009, and with key-man Sean Johnston returning to fitness Breffni supporters were optimistic heading into the big clash with Fermanagh on June 12.

Carr himself admitted after the league win over the Ernesiders that he was wary of the threat that they would carry, particularly after showing them the exit door in Ulster the year previous.

“I have got warnings from all over the place saying that Fermanagh can play like that in the league and then come

out and play championship football,” said the Tipperary native.

“Joe Kernan reminded me of that too and they can be very dangerous. Cavan are not a team that can take another Ulster team for granted. In one sense, we know that we can beat them, but then the tables always get turned in Gaelic football and you just hope it's not going to be this time.”

Carr handed out six Ulster SFC debuts right up the central positions of his team for the Fermanagh game to goalkeeper Fintan Reilly, Tomas Corr (full-back), Eoin McGuigan (centre-back), Alan Clarke (left half-back), Gareth Smith (centre-forward), Mickey Brennan (full-forward).

Contrastingly, Cavan Gaels club-mates Sean Johnston and Nicholas Walsh were welcomed back from and ruled out through injury, respectively.

The opening stages at Kingspan Breffni Park were tit-fortat as the hosts edged a 0-4 to 0-3 lead after the first 20 minutes, as the superb David Givney, Cian Mackey, Paul Brady and Gareth Smith fired over the Blues’ scores. They pushed on from there as Brennan, Smith and Johnston opened up a three-point lead, but the backs were struggling to handle the red-hot Ryan Carson at the other end and he helped to reduce Fermanagh’s deficit by 0-8 to 0-7 at halftime.

Fermanagh took the lead early on in the second-half before Cavan hit back through a ‘45’ from the faultless Smith and an excellent score from Johnston, but the Breffni men withered in the closing quarter as they failed to account for the quality of Seamus Quigley, who came off the bench to lash over two sublime points, and when Ryan Carson snuck in behind their defence to bang in the game’s only goal a 1-13 to 0-13 defeat was sealed.

Carr offered no excuses afterwards as his team were badly caught out (and their place at the bottom of the pile in 11

Ulster confirmed) and instead turned his focus towards the qualifiers and a second consecutive meeting with Mick O’Dwyer’s Wicklow – this time at Kingspan Breffni Park.

The management made the bold choices in dropping team captain Martin Cahill and ace forward Sean Johnston to be bench for the game and would also be without the injured David Givney, who was arguably their best performer in the Fermanagh defeat, while Paul Brady was unavailable through handball commitments in the US. It meant there were places spare for Michael Hannon, John McCutcheon, Lorcan Mulvey and Martin Reilly to come in.

Ex-captain Ronan Flanagan sailed over the first point of the game inside the opening two minutes, but for the rest of the half things went from bad to worse for Cavan as Wicklow registered 1-2 with Leighton Glynn converting a penalty after JP Dalton was fouled in the 10th minute and that followed with points from Paul Earls and Tony Hannon. The Garden men hit a second goal in the 25th minute when Sean Furlong managed to find room and fire home to leave it 2-5 to 0-4, as the visitors looked far more comfortable in possession, and when Tomas Corr was shown a second caution for a tangle with Paul Cunningham just before the interval things looked gloomy.

A sending off for Lorcan Mulvey after clashing with Glynn along the sideline looked to be the final nail in Cavan’s coffin, before they played their aces in reserve with Johnston, Cahill and McKeever all coming off the bench to play salient roles in one of the biggest turnarounds ever witnessed in the championship.

Operating by himself in the full-forward line, Johnston was the catalyst for victory, despite being doubled marked, as he fired over six points, one of which was an utter gem (and quite possibly the finest score ever witnessed in Breffni Park) from the right corner towards the town end.

McKeever, Cahill, Flanagan and Brennan kept the supply coming, as did substitute Dane O’Dowd, who sent in another to the electric Cavan Gaels ace and he dummied past Ciaran Hyland to fire over the winner in injury-time to complete a magnificent turn around after being seven points and two men down with just over 20 minutes to go.

Cavan (SFC qualifier v Wicklow): F Reilly; D Sheridan, T Corr, M Hannon; M Brides, J McCutcheon, A Clarke (01); C Galligan, L Mulvey; R Flanagan (0-2), G Smith (0-4, 1f, 1 '45’), E McGuigan (0-1); C Mackey, M Brennan, M Reilly. Subs: S Johnston (0-6, 2f) for Mackey, M Cahill for M Reilly, M McKeever (0-1) for McGuigan, D O'Dowd for Galligan.

a point or 20 points, it won't raise any eyebrows. But if we manage to scrap a win, wouldn't that raise a few eyebrows?

"They (Cork) are a fine side, a real good football side. I actually tipped them to win the All-Ireland this year. So the big thing is that we are competitive and we get stuck into it because the thing is it is not a bigger task than the one we faced against Wicklow."

The performance from the visitors at Pairc Ui Chaoimh is hardly worth recalling. Completely out of their depth against the would-be All-Ireland champions, Cavan trailed by eight points at half-time, with Mackey grabbing their only point late on, after having the advantage of the breeze.

In the second-half, the misery mounted for the Breffni men as Cork ran up a 14-point lead before a Johnston free halted the onslaught momentarily and two quick points from Ronan Flanagan completed Cavan’s tally for the afternoon, but in the end a 1-19 to 0-4 score-line was nothing short of an embarrassment for all Cavan parties concerned and led to Carr informing the players in the dressing-room afterwards of his resignation, before it was made official by the county board a few days afterwards.

By September the county board moved to appoint Val Andrews and Terry Hyland as joint managers to succeed Carr, handing them a three-year term with a review after the second season.

Andrews, who was in charge of the Dublin minors this year, is returning for a second stint with the Breffni men, having served as manager from 1998 to 2001. But despite guiding them to an Ulster final appearance in the latter year, he didn't get unanimous approval to continue from the clubs and decided to step down. The Ballymun Kickhams clubman subsequently managed Louth for two years and also had a spell in charge of the Leinster inter-provincial team.

Lacken clubman Hyland, who led the Cavan Under 21 and junior sides to provincial final appearances this year, served as a selector with Andrews during his previous time involved with the county.

At the county board’s specially convened meeting on August 26 in the Hotel Kilmore, the duo were proposed by Lacken's Jimmy Galligan and seconded by Johnny O'Hanlon of Cavan Gaels. The clubs were unanimous in their support for the appointment of the new co-managers, neither of whom were present at the meeting.

The win was a sorely needed one for Carr’s team that demonstrated the group’s character and capability when their backs were against the wall, however, when the draw for the next round of the qualifiers threw up a trip to Leeside the team knew that they would be truly up against it.

Afterwards Carr rued what he described as a “cruel draw” for his team against All-Ireland favourites Cork and one that would ultimately bring an end to his twoyear reign as Cavan manager.

"It is a pretty cruel draw you would have to admit. I think everybody in the country would admit that," he said.

"Everything has its up side.

Absolutely nothing will be expected of us. If we get beaten by

Sean Johnston prepares to hit the deck

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Dermot Sheridan was honoured with the Player of the Year award for 2010 by the Cavan Supporter’s Club in Dublin

The 2010 Cavan senior hurling team

Another summer cut short Defeats to neighbours Leitrim and Fermanagh brought a premature end to Cavan’s chances of a run in Lory Meagher Cup at the second attempt back in June. However, there were some signs of improvement for the county’s senior hurlers under Brendan Nelligan in 2010.

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faces to the squad which would keep everyone on their toes, as would the returns of Kevin Downes and Cormac Nelligan to the set-up.

Cavan could not have asked for a more ideal game than Leitrim at Kingspan Breffni Park to get their competitive season underway on February 21.

Finely tuned for this encounter, the Blues had edged their opponents by a point thanks to Kevin Downes after the opening quarter, before their forwards found their rhythm to notch an unanswered 1-5, with the goal coming from Mullahoran attacker Mark McEntee in the 28th minute.

Leitrim clawed their way back into things shortly afterwards though and a goal from Dave McGovern helped reduce the deficit to 1-9 to 1-3 at half-time.

hile Cavan may have been double up on their win tallies from the previous season, overall 2010 had its fair share of disappointments, including a National League final place they let slip through their fingers and early exits in the Ulster championship and Lory Meagher Cup. When Cavan Gaels clubman Brendan Nelligan took the post to succeed John Hunt as Cavan senior hurling manager many believed he was taking up a poised chalice, but he entered the role filled with optimism. He knew this Cavan team had loyal servants in abundance, with players like Anthony Sheridan, Paul Sheridan, Kevin Downes and Mark McEntee making up the nucleus of a good team.

At his first training session in January, he told the squad that they were more than capable of three wins in the National Hurling League and a decent charge in the Lory Meagher Cup. That proved to be true, but, sadly, for the Breffni men it just didn’t materialise.

Both Seamus Farrell of Galway and PJ Martin – a brother of Offaly All-Ireland winner Kevin – were drafted into Nelligan’s backroom team at the start of the year and according to former captain Paul Sheridan training was intense in the build up to the National League campaign, with the first few weeks spent in the gym before slogging it out in what was an icy winter on the fields.

Keen to avoid another finish at the foot of Division Four, the players laboured as Nelligan introduced a few new

In the second-half, Cavan put their foot back on the throttle though, as newcomer Bernard Gaffney finished the game with 0-9 to his name and he was backed up by the accurate Downes, who finished with just three points less.

Leitrim struck two goals in the second period which proved to be consolation, as Cavan ensured their season would be off to a flyer with a 1-17 to 3-4 home win over their neighbours.

It was a rare perfect start for Cavan, who had let opportunities of winning their openers slip by in the past, but with four games remaining they were eager to get the 14

momentum going as they travelled to take on a fancied Longford side at Michael Fay Park, where they flew out of the traps and bagged an early goal through the lethal Gaffney.

At half-time the sides were level (0-7 to 1-4) and after the restart Nellligan’s charges regained the lead when Gaffney and substitute Eugene Hill pucked over, but a comeback from the hosts saw them level once more, with Declan Tanner hitting the winning points late on.

It was a case of so near, yet so far in Longford that day as a win would have presumably been a major lift to a county that have failed to string two competitive wins together for too long now.

The next day out against Fermanagh in Maguiresbridge an even more crushing blow would be sustained.

Cavan started the game in superb fashion with their now established marksman Gaffney hitting 1-6 in the opening quarter to send them eight points clear. It was around that time when the hosts received their wake-up call and narrowed down the difference via scores from Paul McGoldrick and Sean Corrigan.

just one fixture remaining in the league against South Down.

If Cavan were to avoid another bottom place finish in the fourth tier and salvage some pride from the campaign then they would have to put the Mourne men to the sword up in Ballela.

Cavan started the game in similar fashion to that of the Fermanagh defeat, opening up a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after the first 20 minutes, with Gaffney's accurate frees doing the trick for the visitors.

South Down recovered brilliantly though and when James McGrath lashed in the game's first goal they took in a 1-7 to 0-9 lead at the break. The home side added to their lead with a further 1-5 and it looked as though it was going to be the same old story for Cavan, but they took over after that by winning frees for Gaffney to convert and Michael McEntee buried in their goal towards the end to ensure a memorable victory.

Cavan (NHL 4 v South Down): D Sheridan; B Devine, M Carr, A Sheridan; P Sheridan (0-1), C Nelligan, L Kelly (01); M O'Connell, E Hill (0-1); K Downes (0-1), B Gaffney (0-14, 14f), R O'Hagan; S Brady (0-1), M McEntee (1-0), B Harten.

The win was a major bonus for Cavan, who hadn’t finished in third position in the basement for some time, and was something they took encouragement from as they headed into their second ever Ulster Senior Hurling Championship competition, with Tyrone waiting in the first round.

The Red Hands struggled in their own league campaign in Division 3B, losing all six of their games suffering relegation, leaving Cavan confident that they could pull off another win on their journey across the border to Omagh.

After the restart, Fermanagh picked up where they left off at the end of the first-half and lashed in goals two quick goals to move four points in front, which ultimately devastated the visitors.

Gaffney, who finished with an outstanding 2-11, pounced for his second goal to keep Cavan in the hunt for the points, but a combination of sloppy defending and slick finishing down the other end made sure of a two-point win for the Ernesiders.

Seven days later and a trouncing at the hands of eventual champions Monaghan at Kingspan Breffni Park confirmed three defeats in as many weeks for Nelligan’s team with

Shea McKiver of Tyrone looks to block Daithi Neary’s clearance for Cavan in the Ulster SHC

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Sean Og Brady bids to halt the charge of Tyrone’s Tony Hughes

As it turned out, the game proved a total mis-match as Tyrone scored a 25-point victory, which flattered the hosts as Cavan fell apart in the second-half.

The two teams were level after 28 minutes when Kevin Downes and Michael O’Connell took the fight to their opponents and only Conor Grugan’s goal just before the break separated the sides at half-time on 2-10 to 1-10.

However, it was all Tyrone in the second half with the Breffni being ripped to shreds after Justin Kelly's longrange free went all the way to the net in the 45th minute.

Grugan completed his hat-trick four minutes later and further majors from Cormac McHugh and Sean McLoughney before the end capped off a huge win for the O’Neill County.

The players regrouped, did their best to forget about the defeat in Omagh at the start of May and turned their attentions towards the Lory Meagher Cup – the focus of their season – without the services of key figure Paul Sheridan, who had taken the decision to withdraw from the panel for “personal reasons” after the defeat to Tyrone.

With a home tie against Leitrim in the opening round on June 12, Cavan were confident that they could hand their neighbours defeat at ‘Breffni’ for a second time in one season, but there plans were foiled when Liam Burns’ 41st minute effort hit the net and they were condemned to defeat on a 2-13 to 1-13 score-line.

It was another narrow loss that left the players dejected, and they were given two weeks to make it right with a shot at revenge against Fermanagh in Enniskillen, where the winners would progress through to the last four of the competition.

After an evenly contested opening period, Cavan looked to have put themselves in the driving-seat when Jamie Rosney pounced for the only goal midway through the half, but the Ernesiders responded impressively with free-taker Paul McGoldrick accounting for the majority of their first half tally of eight points.

The excellent Bernard Gaffney – a shoo-in as one of Cavan’s top performers in 2010 - had the visitors back on level terms 12 minutes into the second half, but Fermanagh upped the tempo again and ran-out easy winners to bring the Breffni men’s season to an early end.

Cavan (Lory Meagher v Fermanagh): M Curry; D Neary, M Carr, S Og Brady; B Devine, C Nelligan, K Fitzpatrick; L Kelly (0-1), G Brennan (0-1); K Downes (0-5, 4f), J Rosney (1-0), R O'Hagan; M O'Connell, C Brennan, B Harten. Subs: F Bird for S Og Brady (47), M Doheny for J Rosney (68), R O'Hanlon for B Harten (71).

Marksman Kevin Downes

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