Gaels are moving in on history
Jason has a squad who will do what he asks
THE build-up to this Sunday’s Ulster club final has been coloured almost entirely by the sense that GAA history is within Slaughtneil’s grasp.
If they beat Cavan Gaels at the Athletic Grounds on Sunday they will become the first club to complete the provincial double double in both codes.
In reality, it will be a double treble with the Derry club’s camogs — the reigning All-Ireland champions — having already staged a successful defence of their Ulster crown.
But while the history that their opponents are chasing may not be quite that decadent, it is the kind that can spark a stomach fire in an instant.
Cavan are one of just seven counties who have yet to achieve provincial success at senior club level in football, with Waterford, Leitrim, Louth, Wexford, Longford and Fermanagh the others.
Given Cavan’s tradition that is something that does not sit well, not least with Gaels’ captain Michael Lyng.
‘We actually talked about this earlier in the year,’ said Lyng.
‘When you go into other dressing rooms around Cavan they’ve got pictures on the walls of their winners. Everyone has got county winners but not one club in Cavan has got an Ulster senior title so for us to be the first ever team in Cavan it would be something unique and it would be pure history.’
Not only have Cavan not managed to break that provincial glass ceiling, they have barely knocked against it.
This is only the sixth time that a club representing the county will contest the final and you have to go back to Bailieborough’s loss to Mullaghbawn in 1995 for their most recent appearance.
This also marks the 40th anniversary since the Gaels’ only previous appearance in an Ulster final, which provides some context to the excitement levels which are simmering in the town this week.
‘There’s a few club stalwarts who remember the last time we were there but it’s the first time for most of the boys around the club.
‘We’d never even won back to back games in Ulster in the 15 years that I’ve been playing with the Gaels.
‘We lost four semi-finals before this so it was really good to get over that hurdle,’ explains Lyng.
In truth, their passage to the final was facilitated by a draw drum which shoe-horned all the heavy hitters on one side — Kilcoo, Scotstown, Omagh, Kilcar and, of course, Slaughtneil left to scrap it out for a final spot.
While Antrim’s Lámh Dhearg went quietly, Derrygonnelly over two games inside seven days reminded the Gaels that nothing comes easy in Ulster football, which has left Lyng’s team with just a seven-day turnaround for the biggest game of their lives
‘We’ll be underdogs and rightly so, going up against the reigning champions.
‘They started off their run by beating us in the first round by two points in Owenbeg two years and they have won two Ulster clubs since.
‘They’ve gone on to rack up a lot of trophies since then, and there would have to be part of you that would be envious of what they have achieved,’ admitted Lyng.
But, with his county career now behind him, Lyng has much to be proud off too.
After Seanie Johnston, he is the second longest serving member of the team and he has the medals to prove it too. He has nine Cavan county medals, just one less than Johnston for a very good reason.
‘I wasn’t in the club in 2001 when Seanie won his first one. We moved when I was 17 into Cavan town from Crosserlough.
‘We won three in a row in 2003-05 and then again 2007-09.
‘We have come back with a whole new team apart from Seanie and me. There’s a whole crop of lads with two or three championships and they’re driving the whole thing on.’
So is their manager Jason Reilly, the end of whose county career dove-tailed neatly with Lyng’s, as the latter started out.
The Belturbet man has had a huge impact in a season where the Gaels have remained unbeaten all season, insisted Lyng.
‘In my first few years with Cavan he was the goal-scoring machine.
‘He is a great fella and obviously I knew him personally before he became manager. That is something he has brought this year, he’s just a real friendly fella and has a great attitude and that’s rubbed off on everyone.
‘He has 41/42 fellas there who will do whatever he asks.
‘He is all about keeping things simple and making sure you do the simple things well. That is his coaching philosophy.’