While there was plenty of noise around marketing campaigns, contribution to holiday funds and television coverage from the outset of the hotly-debated Tailteann Cup, the key factor in whether it was to be a success or not was always going to be buy-in from players.
Cavan and Tipperary, who met in the Division Four final at Croke Park on April 2nd, were perceived as the outliers in the 17-team field from the off in that both have enjoyed recent provincial success. But while the Munster side bit the dust early, Cavan have impressed with comprehensive wins over Down and Fermanagh to date to set up a semi-final against Sligo this Sunday.
Their players have embraced the competition and the reasons were not complex, according to manager Mickey Graham, who said that simply more games and a chance to line out at HQ again were all the enticement they needed.
“It was very hard to get over the disappointment of the Donegal game and sometimes you don’t know how lads are going to react. But we gave the lads a few days off, let them back to the clubs for a week and we regrouped, sat down and said ‘why would we let all the good work we have put in so far be undone, let’s give this a good cut and see where it gets us’,” stated Graham at yesterday’s semi-final launch.
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“It’s a stepping stone to maybe making the last 16 of the qualifiers next season.”
Cavan followers, perhaps responding to what they have witnessed on the pitch, also appear to have given the Tailteann Cup the seal of approval.
“There was a good atmosphere in Kingspan Breffni for the Down game we felt and an even better atmosphere for the Fermanagh game. I think they were only expecting 3,000 and there could have been near 6,000 there for that game.
“There is a good buzz around Cavan at the moment for this weekend so we’ll just see how that pans out. There definitely seems to be good interest in it.”
Graham spent time touring schools in the county this week as part of Active Schools Week and says there is a buzz there among the fans.
“Being around a few schools in Cavan this week, the kids were talking about coming up to Croke Park.
“Being up here and them coming to watch it is inspiring the next generation, they are saying ‘I want to play with Cavan, I want to be in Croke Park’ and that in itself is a success I think, if it’s going to encourage more children to play football in the years ahead.”
Encouraging the players themselves, he said, was easy. Asked had any been reluctant to commit, he replied “none whatsoever”. The Cavan Gaels clubman broached the subject in the dressingroom immediately after the loss to Donegal.
“It was straight afterwards, there was disappointment and our heads were probably all over the place at that stage. Lads were disappointed and realised we could have got something out of the game.
“I said ‘go away and play with the clubs, dust yourselves down and we’ll decide when you come back what way we’re going to approach this’. After a few days I was talking to numerous players individually on the phone and they all said they wanted to get more games and they felt, as I said, that they had put so much work in to get to where they were that it would be a shame not to try and see it out.”
Meanwhile, Offaly manager John Maughan, whose side meet Westmeath in the other semi-final, confirmed that the Faithful will be without former team captain Niall Darby for the remainder of the season.
The Rhode man picked up a suspected cruciate ligament tear at training on Tuesday night; Offaly have also been hit by a vomiting bug in recent days, Maughan said.
