Former Cavan star explains excitement in Breffni County

SOMEONE blessed with a wry sense of humour told Joe Dillon that Cavan will need a favourable referee and three inches of snow to fall in Croke Park if they’re to have any hope of doing the unthinkable against Dublin.

Dillon, a stalwart of the Cavan team during the barren ‘80s, is a little more optimistic than that, but he says he’s ultimately “realistic” about their prospects against the unbackable favourites.

His main hope is that Mickey Graham’s side come back up the road knowing they gave it absolutely everything in Saturday evening’s All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park.

He’ll be plonked on front of the television in time for the 5.30pm throw-in, and if they keep it respectable, it’ll be a fairly good day at the office.

“It’s great to have something to look forward to – it’s just unfortunate we can’t attend as it would’ve been a brilliant spectacle.

“We’re playing probably the best team in history so you’re asking yourself ‘how the hell do we beat Dublin?’

“Personally I think we need to approach the game the same way we approached the Ulster final and at least try to get scores on the board.

“You’ll probably need a couple of goals and 15 or 20 points to beat Dublin, that’ll probably be beyond us but the most important thing is that we give a good account of ourselves.

“I don’t want to see them play a defensive game and I don’t think Mickey Graham or Dermot McCabe are that way inclined anyway.”

Meath basically rolled over against the Dubs in an embarrassingly one-sided Leinster final. Nobody’s giving Cavan a hope, but the pressure is off after they won their first Ulster title in 23 years.

Dillon said: “Meath made Dublin look even better than they are. I thought the way they performed was very uncharacteristic of a Meath team.

“To be honest I’d be delighted if it was at least competitive. Dublin are that good and you have to be realistic. If we cough up the same chances we were getting away with in Ulster, Dublin will punish us, and our defence has been a bit suspect at times.

“I feel we’ll be doing well if we get quick ball into the full-forward line, that’s one of the strengths we have. Our fitness levels and attitude is very good but that won’t be enough against a team of real class.

“You just never know and we’re praying for miracles – somebody told me there’s two things we need – a good referee and three inches of snow in Croke Park.”

It’s been a bittersweet year for Dillon’s son, also named Joe. He’s an outstanding player in his own right but his year was cut short when he was injured in the quarter-final of the championship while playing for his club Kingscourt.

They lost out in a championship final replay to Crosserlough – and who knows what would’ve happened had he been available – and he’d probably be on the Cavan panel only he’s been plagued by injuries in his last few years.

“Joe was coming good this year until his hamstring was torn off the bone in the quarter-finals of the championship.

“He’s been very unlucky with injuries – long-term ones that keep you out the guts of a year. That’s sport and you can be very unlucky, I played and had very little injuries, others seem to get them all the time.

“He was playing well, and he was maturing as a player so it’s very frustrating for him. He’s disappointed but he’s delighted for the lads and what they’ve achieved – he’d just have loved to have been part of it.”

While Dillon won plenty with his club Kingscourt during the ‘80s and early ‘90s, he didn’t manage to pick up an Ulster medal with Cavan. The closest he came was the 1983 final against Donegal, where they fell short by 1-14 to 1-11.

“There wasn’t much between us and Donegal in that match. I remember when I came on the scene in 1978, our manager at the time said ‘it’s nearly ten years since Cavan won an Ulster title’ and that was seen as an awful thing at the time.

“It was seen as a given that you were going to win an Ulster title because of the tradition that was there. We just didn’t manage to get over the line.

That’s the beauty of things now, they’ve such great belief in Mickey Graham and they’ve bought into what he’s doing.

“They have a great never-say-die attitude and play together as a team. They were a joy to watch against Donegal. Thomas Galligan has been a real find in the middle of the field and up front they’re getting the vital scores, but it’s not an individual thing, they’ve been playing for each other and it’s a great time for the county.”