Positives for Cavan but Westmeath simply got a lot more shots off

Analysis

Michael Hannon

The first clue as to Cavan’s intentions and their plan to silence a packed stadium arrived before a ball was kicked.

Having won the toss, Dermot McCabe’s side elected to play against the breeze. At first glance it appeared a risky call but there was sound logic behind it. Mullingar was packed, Westmeath were riding the crest of a historic Leinster title and the home support were in full voice long before throw-in.

Cavan’s objective seemed clear: retain possession, slow the pace of the contest and remove the emotion from the occasion.

For the opening 20 minutes they executed that plan reasonably well.

The contrast in styles was fascinating. Westmeath looked to transition at pace whenever opportunities arose. Every turnover, sideline ball and breaking ball was treated as a chance to attack immediately. Players sprinted ahead of the ball, looking to create advantages before Cavan could get organised.

Cavan adopted a more patient approach. Playing into the elements, they recycled possession and looked to control territory through possession rather than pace.

The problem was that while they controlled the ball, they weren’t creating enough opportunities. Emmanuel Shehu’s powerful break through the middle was one of the few occasions where the Westmeath defence looked genuinely stretched.

Then came a pivotal moment. A somewhat ambitious handpass from Shehu found a hesitant Fionntán O’Reilly in the middle third and Westmeath pounced. It didn’t directly decide the game but it felt like the moment momentum began to shift.

Up to that point Liam Brady’s kick-out strategy had been working impressively well.

Westmeath’s press was leaving space between their 45-metre line and halfway and Brady repeatedly found Cavan players operating in that pocket. It allowed Cavan to establish possession and play the game on their own terms.

To Westmeath’s credit, they identified the problem.

The Leinster champions began leaving players in that area of the field, taking away the medium option and forcing Brady to kick shorter or longer. What had been controlled possession became contested possession and Westmeath started winning more of those contests.

The game immediately became more chaotic and Cavan struggled for the first 10 minutes of the second half on their own restarts

The encouraging aspect for Cavan was how they responded after that period.

Tiarnan Madden, Emmanuel Shehu and Ciarán Brady began dropping into the arc passing that middle line that Westmeath were occupying. By overloading the arc, they recreated the shorter kick-out option and allowed Liam Brady to regain control of proceedings.

Thus, possession returned and momentum returned.

Suddenly Cavan were spending more time in attacking areas and, just as importantly, they started causing problems on Jason Daly’s restarts at the opposite end. Brían O'Connell, Paddy Meade, Conor Brady, Paddy Lynch and, when he came on, Conor Casey all found success on the Daly kickout.

Whether it was a sideline adjustment, something recognised on the field, or something worked on in training finally clicking, it was evidence of a team capable of solving problems during a championship match.

And then there was was Casey effect. Championship football has a habit of introducing new faces at important moments and the Gowna debutant’s contribution in Mullingar was impossible to ignore.

The two two-pointers naturally attracted the headlines and both arrived at crucial stages of the contest. Yet the scores alone don’t fully capture the impact he made - what stood out was his intent.

He won primary possession around the middle third, looked to play forward at every opportunity and immediately chased the next phase of the attack. There was a directness to his play that injected fresh energy into Cavan’s performance.

At a time when the game threatened to drift away from them, Casey helped change its direction. Too often possession football becomes possession for possession’s sake. Casey’s first instinct was always to advance the attack.

His willingness to move the ball quickly and support it aggressively was a major factor in Cavan’s second-half revival.

For a player making his championship debut, it was an eye-catching contribution and one that suggests Cavan may have uncovered another valuable attacking option.

A key statistic

The goals will dominate discussion in the days ahead. Lynch, Meade and Dara McVeety all found the net, against a Westmeath rearguard that hadn't been breached in over six hours of football, as Cavan transformed a difficult afternoon into what looked like a winning position.

Yet beneath the drama sat a statistic that tells the real story - by the end of normal time Westmeath had registered 33 shots to Cavan’s 25. By the end of extra-time that figure had grown to 46 shots versus 33.

Westmeath’s final tally of 1-31 came from 28 separate scores while Cavan’s 3-21 came from 18 so it’s fair to argue that the goals disguised what was happening underneath.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Westmeath simply generated more attacks, more opportunities and more pressure; the difference was volume.

Every time the game became stretched, Westmeath looked to attack first and organise later. That relentless commitment to transition football eventually accumulated into a significant advantage.

So where does this leave Cavan? The disappointment for the away supporters will centre on the final ten minutes. Leading by six points in extratime, the game appeared to be under control.

Yet instead of continuing to manufacture high-quality opportunities, Cavan became sloppy in possession. A number of rushed shots and avoidable turnovers handed momentum back to Westmeath at precisely the wrong time.

The frustration isn’t necessarily about the scores they conceded, it’s about the scores they failed to create.

Throughout the league campaign, Oisín Brady and Jason McLoughlin repeatedly demonstrated an ability to engineer chances for the team from 20 to 30 metres, often turning patient possession into scoreboard pressure. How? By running hard in the final third and taking on a man when the opportunity arises.

Both were absent in Cusack Park and there were moments late on when their creativity was badly missed.

That said, this should not be viewed as a story of what Cavan got wrong. There was resilience, adaptability and courage throughout the performance. The adjustments to the kick-out battle were impressive, the contributions from the bench were significant. The response to a nine-point deficit was outstanding.

Ultimately, though, the lesson is a simple one: Westmeath generated 46 shots, Cavan generated 33.

On most days, the team creating 13 more opportunities will find a way to win and on Saturday evening in Mullingar, they did.