One of the best of all-time
While Kerry and Dublin look forward to an All-Ireland final, Tyrone’s Sean Cavanagh reflects on another missed opportunity.
The Moy clubman is back with his local side licking his wounds after a narrow All-Ireland semi final loss to the Kingdom.
We caught up with the Tyrone legend to chat Mayo, life back at club level and why he is reluctant to ever join social media.
So you’re back in action with Moy?
Yeah, back to club action since last month but unfortunately we got knocked out of the local championship back in April. It’s disappointing but we still have a few rounds of local league action to play so I’m kept active with the club alright until I go back in with Tyrone again in few months time. It’s good to be back in action obviously with the lads and it’s a nice break form the county for a wee while.
Ulster club champions Slaughtneil are struggling a bit?
Yeah, the Derry championship is very, very tough and you have Lavey and Balinderry and a few other teams there that are really good. It will be interesting to see how they get on after a brilliant 2014.
What did you think of Mayo-Dublin replay?
It was very much what was expected. You had two teams going at each other and neither focused too much on defence. Both teams tried to play 8-9 defenders and both teams attacked at pace.
You almost feel a bit sorry for Mayo because when they got that four point lead they had the chance to go five and they dropped the ball and if you do that to a team like Dublin they will punish you.
Dublin took their chances so well but you can’t say they were lucky because they are capable of getting three goals in that amount of time against anyone. Dublin will punish you to the extreme where most other teams are happy with a few points.
They have that ruthless streak that comes out in them when they most need it.
What is holding Mayo back?
It’s probably a bit of a psychological thing with them still. They have serious players at their disposal but it seems to be when they are in the midst of a serious battle they don’t have the guys to settle down and calm it down and have good ‘in game-management’
They have a tendency to leak goals and it’s maybe part of their DNA that they want to keep going forward but at some stage they need to get in there to see the game out and know when it’s right to attack and maybe when it’s right to sit back.
That’s probably been their downfall for the last number of years.
Do the Mayo management need to take some blame for their tactics?
Anyone would know from watching Dublin they love nothing more than going right down the middle. If you can limit those you need to watch just what Donegal did last year to clog up the middle to see how they beat the Dubs.
I wouldn’t say Mayo are arrogant, but they had a confidence to go into a shoot-out with Dublin and win and that’s always a risky tactic.
Maybe it’s just the Mayo culture but the risk of them conceding goals is always quite high.
What did you make of the Sunday Game coverage of the Mayo-Dublin game compared to how they treated Tyrone this year?
We in Tyrone would feel that we don’t always get a fair hearing from the media. It might be connected with us not giving interviews to RTE and I feel the Sunday Game has been quite harsh with ourselves compared to other incidents involving teams where there has been elbows and headbutts and the like.
In my mind there has been ugly things that have taken place but there hasn’t been the same media furore. That’s disappointing as an amateur all you are looking for is fair play and fair judgment.
I’d be the first person to admit Tyrone are no angels, and some of the things you wouldn’t want replicated by children looking on, but at the same time it takes two to tango.
In my eyes whenever it happens with other teams involved you expect to see the same negativity directed toward them but that hasn’t been happening.
Are you looking forward to the final?
I think Kerry are slightly better prepared in terms of their match up’s for Dublin. They have a huge amount of strong ball winners. With Kerry you have O’Donoghue, Geaney, Donaghy and even Tommy Walsh to come off the bench.
Both teams will probably play similar defensive systems it could come down to a long diagonol ball being broken down and the chance being converted.
Look at last year and how Kerry upset Donegal so early.
In my eyes Kerry sligthly shade it in terms of the group but it could be someone who no-one excpects to get that extra yard of space that might be the match-winner.
Is Mickey Harte staying on for another year in charge?
I haven’t heard anything yet. As a team we don’t expect any changes to the management. It’s something that is dealt with by the county board and we have no influence over the process so we’ll just have to wait for the announcement but hopefully things will be sorted soon and we can start looking forward to 2016.
You don’t have any social media presence? Why?
I don’t and I haven’t taken that plunge. I’ll try and keep my head down for a little while longer. I’ll be the first to admit that there is loads of positives with social media but having seen it first hand this year and the influence it has on my team-mates and the Tiernan thing in particular it’s not always good.
We’ve seen guys playing maybe below par and to see guys abused is one of the factor that has kept me away from it to be honest. The last thing when you lose a high-profile game is threats to you or your family and calling you names.
Players can be fragile too and that’s the one negative for me and look at that Paddy O’Rourke incident in the Leinster championship. That was very disappointing as a county player and as someone experience I’ve seen the game grow from two nights a week to be six nights a week.
There is a lack of realisation of the time sacrificed to play inter-county and everything you forego with friends, family and even career to line out every week.
All of us are amateurs and you have to hope that the level of abuse wouldn’t be directed at a group of amateurs committing so much time .
Moy Tír Na nÓg are official suppliers of Sean Cavanagh to Tyrone GAA. For exclusive content and to see why AIB are backing Club and County follow us @AIB_GAA and on Facebook at Facebook.com/AIBGAA
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