Cahalane hopes to win over Cork fans
Poor crowds are par for the course even for the seniors who won an All-Ireland title three years ago but Cahalane is loathe to criticise them as stay away fans.
He feels Cork’s geographical size actually counts against big numbers turning up for inter-county games.
As he explained: “Cork football isn’t getting a huge amount of support so if we did win on Saturday maybe it’d encourage people to come to the games a bit more.
“It’s nothing to do with people just not supporting us. It’s to do with clubs maybe having fixtures on the same day and that’s out of their hands. Games have been fixed and people can’t just make the game whether they want to or not.
“I suppose some parts of Cork, a lot of its support would be in the Beara division, which is right down at the tip of Ireland so they’ve a lot further to travel than most other counties.
“It’s nothing to do with people... the cost of it now as well. Petrol costs are high and everything else and it’s not cheap to get into a game either. I wouldn’t be blaming any supporter who can’t go. It’s just the way things are.”
Cork and Galway will know plenty of each other going to the Gaelic Grounds with many of them having battled at both minor and U-21 level. While Cork pulled off a remarkable comeback to win the 2010 All-Ireland minor semi-final after being nine points with 16 minutes left, Galway exacted revenge in the U-21 equivalent a year later.
“Their lads involved will be remembering that game and saying ‘we beat them that time, why can’t we do it again?’
“They are going to be a different challenge in what we have come up against before. Galway are up there with the likes of Kerry in terms of producing skilled footballers. They beat a Kildare side who were favourites for the All-Ireland.”
Cahalane believes he and the other three senior players in the U-21 panel have benefited from Conor Counihan releasing them so early and exclusively to John Cleary.
“It would be difficult going from one to the other and playing different systems and things like that. I suppose when you go back and you are playing with the U-21s and your own age group it’s a bit of a release.
“You get to enjoy your time with your team-mates rather than having to be one place one night and another place another night and having to split your time between the two.”
Cahalane, who dedicated himself solely to football this season after playing senior hurling as well last year, admitted U-21 football was the big pulling factor for him. He has played in a plethora of positions in this campaign, ranging from midfield to centre-back to a man-marking job in the full-back line against Tipperary in the Munster final.
“There are no egos in this team and it’s just about getting a job done for the team and if that’s a job where you mightn’t touch the ball at all then that’s your job done.”
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