JFC finalists 'in Limbo' over fixture

County board say junior final ‘will’ be played

Uncertainty surrounds the outstanding Junior Football Championship final, which was due to be played on October 4 last between Denn and Templeport.

The final was called off the day before the game due to Covid cases in the Templeport club and with the GAA subsequently calling a halt to all activity below senior inter-county level, the match has not yet been played.

It had been hoped to re-schedule the final for March and it is understood that Cavan county board have given a commitment that clubs would have five weeks’ notice in order to prepare themselves for the game.

However, given the current national lockdown, it is impossible to say with any certainty when there will be a green light for a return to club activity.

There has been speculation that the final would be scrapped and that both clubs would be promoted to intermediate ranks for 2021. It is understood that informal discussions around that course of action were held but there is no appetite for that in either club.

“It doesn’t look good now at the minute. We haven’t heard much but there is no point making contact with the county board at the minute anyway,” stated Denn club chairman John Brady.

“There was some talk about that [both clubs being promoted] earlier on but that was kind of knocked on the head at the time because the players and management were anxious to play it, they didn’t want to take the option of going up.

“We are still in the dark. The virus is dictating the circumstances and that’s basically it.”

The Templeport club expressed similar sentiments.

“The last I heard was I’d say in November, I spoke to Gerry Sheridan [chairman of Cavan CCC] and he confirmed it wasn’t going to be played in 2020. In fairness, it was very hard for them to predict what was going to happen,” stated Templeport St Aidan’s chairman Martin Dolan.

“No-one really knows, we are in Limbo at the minute. That was before we knew the outcome of Covid in the new year and also before we knew that the inter-county season was going to run before the club season.

“I had thought it might have been played around February, March time but I can’t see that happening now because the club season won’t be starting then now. I don’t honestly know.

“One of the suggestions was about promoting the two clubs up to intermediate but I told the county board that that wasn’t our club’s wishes anyway, we’d rather try to go up on merit and from what I understand, Denn are on a similar wavelength.”

Meanwhile, Cavan county board have insisted that they will do all in their power to ensure that the final is played but unfortunately are unable to give any indication as to when at this point in time.

“The county board will endeavour to play it as soon as is possible, it has to be played,” PRO Susan Brady told The Anglo-Celt.

“But the way things are going we just don’t know when that will be. Our hands are tied and Covid is going to dictate an awful lot of what happens within the GAA.

“We are in Level 5 at the moment and even the senior inter-county activity may yet be pushed back, they were due to return later in the month. So all we can say is that we are very keen to get the final played and will do so but we can’t say when at the moment unfortunately.”