Published: Wednesday, 6th August, 2008 12:00pm

Arva"s title hopes on track

Arva 2-7 Corlough 1-5

ARVA"S quest for a long-awaited junior championship title triumph remains on track following their gritty first round replay win over Corlough last weekend. In a game which had little to recommend itself from a purist"s viewpoint, nonetheless the determination and ambition of both sides made for an interesting spectacle. Ultimately the game was decided by Arva"s greater resources and, in this regard, the impact in particular made by the team"s substitutes, all three of whom added to Arva"s potent mix.

Super subs

Replacements Richard Keith and Sean Donnelly did particularly well with the first-named bagging a brace of points and Donnelly, for his part, instrumental in carving out Arva"s vital second goal.

Although well worth their five point win, Arva laboured somewhat in chiselling out their place in the quarter-finals and it wasn"t until they netted for the second time in the 50th minute that they had the look of winners about them.

Evenly-balanced

The first half was a very evenly-balanced contest with the pendulum swinging this way and that. Arva played some very good football in the opening quarter and looked destined to run away with the spoils after they stormed into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead after barely eleven minutes.. Playing with confidence and an appropriate sense of urgency, the town team opened with points from Shane Bouchier and Thomas Brady before an Alan Barry goal fairly rocked a shell-shocked Corlough back on their heels. However instead of pushing on and going for the jugular, Arva lost their way and a seven wides tally reflected their profligacy and their lack of a killer punch. For their part, Corlough gradually began to gain a decided foothold in the match as the second quarter gathered pace and while they themselves hit five wides in the opening period, they at least were a marked improvement in the second quarter.

McGoverns" shoot points

Brendan McGovern and Padraig McGovern both chipped over a point apiece for the west Cavan side before Brendan McGovern latched onto a high punt forward and promptly netted to leave the sides deadlocked at 1-2 apiece at half-time.

The second half was a mirror image of the second quarter with both teams enjoying fleeting moments of control but without ever looking like grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck. A point from Alan Barry and one from sub Donnelly was countered by Paddy McGovern"s point for Corlough as just one point separated the sides at the three-quarter hour mark.

Vital score

Then in the 50th minute came the crucial score which saw a great fetch by full-forward Donnelly and a fine pass from Shane Bouchier to goalscorer Thomas Brady. Corlough showed a lot of ambition and determination to hang in and David McGovern and Ciaran Dolan points sandwiched a fine Richard Keith effort.

The final few minutes of the match were tension-filled but it was Arva who kept their composure and showed an eagle eye with Shane Bouchier and Keith copper-fastening their team"s victory with a point apiece in injury time.

Arva - Darragh Fox; Shane Bouchier (0-2), Sean McManus Shane Finnegan; Stephen Ellis, Dermot McGlade, Philip Galligan; Brian Fitzpatrick, Gavin Doyle; Paul Brady, David Bouchier, Ollie Miney; Alan Barry (1-1), Danny McEntee, Thomas Brady (1-1). Subs; Richard Keith (0-2) for Paul Brady; Sean Donnelly (0-1) for Gavin Doyle; Dean Harrington for Alan Barry.

Corlough - Eoin McGovern; Jamie Crosse, Joe Prior, Hughie McManus; Alan Wright, Martin Cassidy, Darren Dolan; Ronan Kelleher, Derek Kelleher; Padraig McGovern (0-1), Ciaran Dolan (0-1), David McGovern (0-1); Michael Dolan, Pauric McGovern (0-1), Brendan McGovern (1-1).

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