Killian Clarke: Cavan have seen where the bar is set
Friday 26 July 2019 21:27, UK
Cavan footballer Killian Clarke feels the Breffni County are moving in the right direction under Mickey Graham.
They reached their first Ulster title in 18 years this summer with wins over Monaghan and Armagh (after a replay), but their campaign came to a halt as they were comprehensively defeated by Donegal and Tyrone.
"The last two games probably took a bit of a shine off it," reflected Clarke.
"We had a disappointing league - we were probably just finding our feet a wee bit in the league especially.
"But in the championship, we had a good win against a Monaghan team that were probably a bit of a crux for us the last five or six years. We've been on the receiving end of a few tough defeats. It was nice to get over that hurdle.
"Then we had Armagh, the game was taken to a replay. I thought we really played well in the second game and got over the line.
"[Before the Ulster final], the Cavan supporters were definitely waiting for it for a long time. They were happy campers there for a few weeks. You could see in my home town of Shercock, flags flying everywhere. Hopefully next year we'll be able to mimic that, but get across the line and show a better account of ourselves than we did in the final this year."
The defeats to Donegal and Tyrone, who are both still scrapping in the business end of the championship, were eye-openers for Clarke, and they now know the standard they must reach:
"Tyrone were very efficient in their attack, and we weren't. We had five or six wides in the first half, usually normal scoring chances that we would take.
"That's where the bar is set."
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