Cavanagh: We keep our heads
IF IMITATION really is the sincerest form of flattery, then Jim Gavin has reason to blush. Earlier this week, Tyrone sub Kieran McGeary suggested that, in packing their bench with quality players, the Red Hands were merely following in the AllIreland champions’ trail-blazing path.
While others pay lip-service to the value of county squads, Gavin has always ensured that he finishes out a game with the team he needs to get the job done.
The other great management tool he regularly references is ‘the process’ — a blueprint his team never stray from and always lean on.
Tyrone have bought into a similar practice this summer when they had reason to lose their heads but have chosen to use them instead.
It has been a rocky road. They suffered an unexpected home defeat to Monaghan in Ulster, teetered on the brink of first round elimination to Meath in the qualifiers and, last weekend, passed a do-or-die contest with Donegal at a venue where they hadn’t previously won since 1973.
There was a moment in that game in Ballybofey — when Niall Morgan’s intercepted short kickout gifted a goal to Michael Murphy — where they turned to their own process.
Rather than being flattened by that score, they were fortified by it, explains veteran midfielder Colm Cavanagh.
‘We didn’t panic at half-time,’ said Cavanagh. ‘There wasn’t a barrage of shouting and roaring that we had to go and get stuck in or whatever.
‘We really composed ourselves, trusted out gameplan and knew that we were going to be able to make the difference — we just had to be patient.’
Such poise wasn’t always in Tyrone’s psyche. Their recent Croke Park failings are evidence of that.
They had Kerry on the rack in the final quarter of the 2015 AllIreland semi-final but botched so many chances coming down the home straight, that they didn’t give themselves a chance. Twelve months later they wasted as many chances before losing a one-point quarter-final to Mayo.
The contrast with last weekend could hardly be greater. They trailed Donegal by four points entering the final quarter, but oozed composure to outscore their rivals by 2-7 to 0-2.
That calmness is sourced in the belief that they now possess a squad to get the job done, with their bench having contributed a massive 4-15 in their last four games.
‘We had belief in ourselves, we knew that we were going to be able to peg on scores. We also knew we had boys to come off the bench and make a difference, and that proved to be the case.
‘There are some serious lads there who are probably disappointed not to be starting
‘We’re blessed we have lads who can come in and make a difference every day. That’s been happening week on week, Mickey [Harte] has tried different men at different stages and they’ve probably given him a headache ahead of this game,’ suggests Cavanagh.
Their other secret is that they learned to move on after a bump in the road.
Their Ulster SFC quarter-final defeat to Monaghan was more comprehensive than the two-point margin might suggest — Michael McKernan’s late goal made the final score more sympathetic — and it had the potential to derail them.
But they drew a line under it quickly and cleared their heads.
‘Monaghan stuck to their gameplan and probably deserved their win. I haven’t looked at it too much afterwards because it was all about getting ourselves back into a position to move forward.
‘Monaghan looked very impressive against Galway the last day.
‘We have a few days to assess that game, along with all the other games that Monaghan have played to date as well as our performance against Donegal.
‘Part of the process is that we have to evaluate everything, look at where we made mistakes against Donegal and in the first Monaghan game, then see where we can improve. Hopefully that will take us to another level.’