The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Tyrone ace in unfamiliar territory with club
EVEN for a player of Colm Cavanagh’s experience and glittering CV, the past few months have felt like something of a dream.
A deserved (and long overdue) recipient of an All-Star accolade at the back end of 2017, following a series of consistently superb performances in a Tyrone jersey, Cavanagh’s season went from good to great in the autumn.
After years of toil and frustration trying in some small part to replicate his well-documented county success on the club front, the 30-year old finally annexed not just Tyrone but also Ulster Championship honours with Moy.
And this Sunday he hopes to steer the Sky Blues to a venue to which he has become all to accustomed during his stellar county career, an engagement at Croke Park, in the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship Final.
First things first for the Moy however, and a tough assignment down in Portlaoise against Kerry kingpins, An Ghaeltacht this Sunday.
Cavanagh admits that preparing for such a massive fixture in the midst of winter is a somewhat surreal experience.
“It’s pretty crazy to be talking about this. We are in uncharted territory at the minute. In the last week or so we have put in a few tough sessions. We have started to do a lot of our home work on An Ghaeltacht and look to iron out things which didn’t go to plan in the Ulster Championship and remove some of the ring rust from Christmas.”
Colm states that in the aftermath of their historic, but hard-fought, provincial triumph over Rostrevor at the end of November, the squad were afforded ample time to savour their breakthrough victory.
“It was a fantastic achievement and to be fair the management let us enjoy our Christmas. But we kept things ticking over and have continued training in the midst of all of that. Now it is full steam ahead again preparing for what is going to be the biggest game in the Moy’s history.”
Unlike with Tyrone, who are perennially among the top contenders for leading honours, Cavanagh appreciates that he will probably only get one crack at national glory with his club.
“I have been playing senior for the club since I was sixteen and I’m thirty now so it’s a long number of years. I have had no success Championship-wise up to this past season.
“All our eggs are in this one basket now. For the likes of myself I don’t know if I will ever see this occasion again with the Moy so we have to try and grab the opportunity with both hands and make the best of it we can.”
The Tyrone star acknowledges that the central narrative surrounding Sunday’s clash will focus on the renewal of the Cavanagh versus O Sé battles which were commonplace at county level over the years. Colm, however, feels such a suggestion is unfair on many of the other central characters in the plot.
“It is probably unusual for an Intermediate game to be live on TV (TG4) but, look, it’s not about us or the O Sés, even though it might add a bit for media purposes. Our lads have really pulled together this year. You ask anyone who has won a Championship, it’s about everybody pulling together, the players, the managers and the wider community. It’s not about just one or two individuals. Everyone has rowed in behind us this year.”
Cavanagh does accept that the big match experience both himself and elder brother Sean have amassed down through the years, will hopefully benefit the younger members of the Moy squad heading into such a pivotal fixture.
“I think that can add a bit of value the fact we have played in big games with the county and been on the big stages. We can help lads in that respect not to get too wound up. You have to remember it is only another game of football, albeit a big occasion, but the players have been in big games already and experienced big crowds at Tyrone and Ulster Finals. We have a lot of level headed lads who have shown they can cope very well.
“And while we can chip in with a few bits of advice I’m sure the likes of Marc O Sé can chip in with a bit of advice his end too.”
While the Moy can’t afford to look past Sunday’s onerous test, Cavanagh confesses that it’s hard not to cast his mind forward to a potential dream date with his club at Croker.
“We can’t look past An Ghaeltacht because we know how strong they are. We have to solely focus on the task at hand. But it’s understandable that the thought is in the back of your mind stepping out at Croke Park with your club, in a Moy jersey. We know it is going to be an enormous task but we have already defied a lot of odds this past season. A lot of people probably didn’t give the Moy a chance in the first round of the Tyrone Championship, nevermind in Ulster. We have needed that bit of luck on the day and that will be the case again.
“We have been in bonus territory from after the Tyrone Championship so we are just living the dream at the minute. To be able to say that we got to an All-Ireland Final with our club would be unbelievable
“Seeing what this run has done for the Moy in general it’s massive. People are coming from everywhere to go to the game, even people who are having a bit of difficulty in life. It does lift an awful lot of people and we would never have experienced anything like that before.”