Lavey's exuberance could keep run going
by Paul Fitzpatrick Updated: Wednesday, 28th October, 2009 2:39pm
Having been beaten by a point in the 2007 Intermediate Football Championship final and then gone down narrowly in last year's semi-final, there was a sense that this was always going to be Lavey's season, even if they did do things the hard way.
Losing arguably the best best two footballers in the club to injury and sickness in high summer, days before facing the warm favourites to win the championship outright, is not reccommended but Lavey seemed to be playing with the hand of fate on their shoulder this year.
Their reaction was to shrug their shoulders and roll up their sleeves. Team manager Terry Hyland filled his decimated side with youth and his gamble paid off.
With the benefit of three years playing at the business end of the county championship, the feeling is that Lavey are well-primed for an assault on Ulster, but Hyland is not looking past the Fermanagh champions.
"Kinawley are favourites on Sunday," Hyland told The Anglo-Celt.
"We have a couple of niggly injuries, Stephen Jordan for one, and Sean Maguire is only just back from a long-term injury.
"Any success we have in Ulster will be a bonus, you'd like to get a run in it but we are a very, very young team and we are in winter football now, which wouldn't suit us all that well."
The older players on the side will be the key men this weekend, believes Hyland.
"We'll be looking to the likes of Darren Smith and Joey Jordan, our more experienced players, to play well this weekend if we are to come through. We are into a low-scoring time of year for football and it will be a tight match."
Kinawley, too, have shown theat there is no shortage of heart in their squad. They were Fermanagh intermediate champions in 2007 but found the going tough with the big boys the next season.
Relegation ensued but the south Fermanagh men weren't unduly worried; they went back to work and bounced straight back to the top flight, blitzing Derrylin and eking out a two-point win against St Joseph's Ederney en route.
Shaun Doherty, who is, incidentally, a full-time coach with the Cavan GAA board, and Tomas Corrigan - son of Dominic- are their main danger men.
FIXTURE
Kinawley (Fermanagh) v Lavey (Cavan)
Venue: Brewster Park, Enniskillen, Sunday November 1
Throw-in: 2.30pm
Ref: Ciaran Branagan
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