Lazarus lining out in the corner

June 3rd, 2009 by Kevin Egan

Most readers of this column are supporters of at least one county in Ireland, and will know all too well the charade that often takes place the week of a championship game. A star player is announced to be the subject of an injury scare, with his participation deemed “doubtful”. Sometimes, if the story grabs hold, the team is even announced with the aforementioned star player named on the bench. Either way, come game day, a miraculous recovery takes place and the player lines out in the first fifteen, theoretically providing a huge boost to both team and supporters.

This has become all the more common in recent years, particularly with the acceptance of the new wisdom that if a player is injured, it’s better to start him and then possibly withdraw him, rather than spring him off the bench only to possibly have to withdraw him later anyway and use two substitutions.

It hasn’t yet been confirmed if the Irish Times drama columnist will be in Breffni Park this Saturday, but the signs are on it that it would be a good place to be, because it looks like this particular little play is getting aired once again, with Seanie Johnston of Cavan playing the leading role. Johnston, Cavan’s leading forward and key player, was announced to be a “doubtful” starter for Saturday evening’s match by the Cavan management, due to a hamstring injury, but miracle of miracles, the Cavan Gaels player has been given the number fifteen jersey and is set to start.

Despite Johnston’s inclusion however, the signs are still ominous for those inclined towards backing the home team. Fermanagh benefited in the previous round from their opposition starting a player who wasn’t quite fully fit and the word is that Johnston is genuinely struggling and may not quite be 100% ready. Benny Coulter made little impact with his injury and the danger for Cavan is that Johnston ends up performing similarly toothlessly. If this is in fact the case, Fermanagh are worth a substantial bet this weekend, while even if Johnston was flying fit, Fermanagh would be a value play this weekend at the 10/11 on offer.

If this season has proven nothing else, it’s that the league form is solid and that playing in Division two is a huge advantage over coming from Division three. This was evident in Fermanagh’s previous round win, it was very evident in Kildare’s win over Offaly and it will be evident again next week when Laois take out Louth (you heard it here first). Fermanagh learned a lot about their team over the spring, they have got that championship spring in their step again and they should have too much for a Cavan team which learned little over the league except that Seanie Johnston is crucial to their scoring and Larry Reilly is still as good as anything else they have in the forward division.

Cavan do have some advantages – one of these days Nicholas Walsh is going to have the kind of dominant performance he always looks capable of, while Gerard Pierson is a fine player to have to call on from the bench. Above all, the element of surprise about Ryan Carson is no longer a factor – the big full forward is something that Cavan will be able to plan for.

All that said, it is one thing knowing what your opponent is likely to do – it is quite another to be able to counteract it. Dermot Sheridan looks badly matched with Carson from a Cavan perspective, while the selection of Eugene Keating at centre back is a very brave one with plenty of risk attached. Keating is a player with good attacking instincts, but he’ll have to curb those tendencies as he will have perhaps the biggest role to play in terms of curbing Fermanagh’s fast running game. This is a huge ask of any player, never mind a debutant, and he may find the going particularly tough.

Cavan’s good record against Fermanagh will mean that they will start this game with little or no fear and they can get goals, but Fermanagh have once again proved their capacity to overachieve under Malachy O’Rourke and it looks like they could have enough to take another step forward this Saturday. Off the Ground recommends a 4pt bet on Fermanagh to beat Cavan at 10/11, with plenty more bets still to be suggested this week, so keep checking in!

Tags: Fermanagh, injury scares, Lazarus