By Niall Gartland

CAVAN minor boss Seanie Smith says they’ll need to get things right at both ends of the pitch if they’re to have any chance of getting the better of Tyrone this weekend.

The Red Hands claimed the minor league title and Mullahoran clubman Smith recognises the importance of curtailing star forwards like Eoin McElholm, as well as ensuring they don’t cough up easy possession and get hit on the counter-attack.

“I was really impressed with their inter-changing, and they’re very skilful. I suppose that comes back to their strength at school level.

“For us, it’s very much about stopping the supply of ball going into their inside forward line, they have a really, really strong full-forward line.

“And we have just got to make sure that when we’re on the ball, we’re making use of the ball, because when you lose a ball against Tyrone, you know what can easily happen.

“They have been very dominant in the league, beating Derry in the final, and Derry are a really good side as well.”

This is Smith’s first season in charge, and while Cavan have struggled at underage level in recent years, the u-20’s run to the Ulster final has emboldened the county.

Smith, who led Mullahoran to an Ulster Intermediate final appearance in 2018, said: “There’s a huge amount of work going in at under-age level and we have obviously reaped the rewards of development squads over the last couple of years.

“This group was the most impacted group because of Covid, they missed out on that two years.

“But it will be a good weekend for Cavan football, with the u-20s in the final against Tyrone and the u-17s meeting Tyrone as well in the first round.”

Cavan players to watch out for include joint-captains Cormac Galligan (Mullahoran), Evan Crowe (Ballyhaise) and their score-getter-in-chief Lorcan Reilly (Knockbride). They looked sharp in the league competition, losing to Derry but carving out solid wins over Sligo, Donegal and Fermanagh. Smith says the fact that they have half-a-dozen players back from last year is a big help, especially as this is his first season in charge.

“Tyrone are really the force in Ulster football when it comes to under-age. It’s a big one for us, but at u-17 level, anything can happen.

“We’ll go out and play our own game and hope for the best.

“We have five or six from last year, and that’s a huge asset to us.

“It’s my first year as u-17 manager, and it’s good to have those lads around the place, they’re familiar with the whole set-up and how things run.

“The league was a good opportunity for us to see where we were at against some of those teams, and we certainly got huge benefit out of it.”