Kingdom braced for 'ultra defensive' Cavan - but early throw-in is a bonus
WAYNE Quillinan and his Kerry minor squad travel to Portlaoise to face Cavan on Saturday knowing what the will face from the Breffni lads - a well-drilled, defensive structure the Munster champions will have to break down with patience.
"I suppose the beauty as you go on into the competition, is you get a chance to get (to see) games. So we've got three games with Cavan - against Down, Donegal and Tyrone the last day, Quillinan said. "So we spent Sunday and Monday going through Cavan. They do play ultra defensive, and they defend the arc with their 11 bodies, 12 including the keeper. So it's going to lead to a different kind of game plan.
"Cavan are going to be they're ultra defensive, they're really well coached. In fairness, they're really, really well coached. They're really hard to break down. They will break a pace there. Obviously with the numbers back protecting the arc.
'They're looking for turnovers. They're looking to break a pace. They have two really good midfielders in Sam Maguire and Faoláin Graham, and they have three really good guys in the three up with Jake Brady, Nathan Quigley, and Mark Reilly. Obviously every team in the country are going to look to transition the ball as fast as you possibly can. But if you're not allowed that, then with 11 behind the arc, you have to be controlled. And that's where I think a huge learning from the Munster final was how mature they were and how controlled they were in their performance. And hopefully, we'll have learned and even bettered that now for next Saturday,' he said.
Looking back on that Cork performance in the provincial decider, Quillinan had a word of warning for Cork's quarter final opponents, and All-Ireland favourites, Tyrone: 'I think Cork are a fine team, and I think they'll put it up to Tyrone this weekend.
'It wasn't a complete performance, by any stretch of the imagination. We were good in patches, and then we let Cork back into it. If you look back at us, even around the middle eight, we weren't as good as we needed to be.
"Our one to one battles at the back weren't as good as they needed to be. And while I know we were fairly economical in front of goals, in the first half we felt there were two or three chances that with players in those situations, the score should have been taken. Overall we were happy, but it wasn't a complete performance. It was more patchy than anything else, and we have to get that right for Saturday."
On the early 12pm starting time in Portlaoise, Quillinan had an interesting take: I'm delighted with it. I think it's an absolutely brilliant time. We'll travel up on Friday, but your experience not only just with the minor teams, even with club teams over the years is the more time you spend in the hotel, that's where you burn nervous energy. Whereas with the game now at 12 o'clock, and where we're staying, it's about 45 minutes away. So it's less time in the morning, more time for preparation the night before, so I'm delighted with the time."
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