Gowna and Crosserlough the leading contenders

Senior Football Championship preview

Paul Fitzpatrick previews the SFC race.

Ballinagh

While Ballinagh retain a core of very experienced players, they are a side in transition, having lost some key men in recent seasons.

They stormed to intermediate success in 2020 and in hindsight, the pity was that they didn’t get a crack at Ulster due to pandemic-related restrictions as they’d surely have given the competition they won in 2007 a decent rattle given their outstanding performances against Belturbet, Ballyhaise and Butlersbridge.

On their return to senior ranks in 2021, they were competitive, pushing Cavan Gaels for 55 minutes, drawing with Ramor and Laragh before beating Castlerahan.

Ramor, who went on to win it out, subsequently beat them in a well-contested quarter-final. Of the 16 who lined out in that quarter-final, though, Niall and Padraic O’Reilly, Thomas Moore and Killian McBride won’t feature in this coming championship.

Last year, they won two games (both against Butlersbridge) and were well beaten in their other four. In this year’s league, they finished 10th of 14 and ultimately were relegated after a loss to Arva.

They remain capable of big performances – wins over Ramor and Kingscourt and a draw with Gowna prove that – but, and we’re stating the obvious here, Ballinagh are not the force they were and consolidation in senior ranks would be the aim.

Patrick Carroll, David Finnegan, Niall McDermott, Kevin Smith and Philip Bogue remain from the 2013 Senior Championship-winning side. McDermott, Smith and Shane Finnegan provide the bulk of the scores, Cormac Timoney is the key man in the engine room and Ronan Connolly has been playing very well. While at full strength they are a good side, an injury or suspension here or there could prove fatal to their aspirations.

Castlerahan

As the other leading teams are finding out now, it’s hard to make back-to-back county finals so Castlerahan’s achievement in reaching five in succession looks better and better.

In 2020, they were beaten in extra time in the semi-final by the eventual winners Crosserlough so there was no real sign of slippage, which made the 2021 collapse and ultimate relegation all the more stunning.

A lesser group may have decided they’d had enough but there is no doubting the resilience of this Castlerahan squad and they bounced back at the first time of asking, coming through Bailieborough, Cuchulainns and Ballyhaise to win the Intermediate Championship.

Of the 16 who played in the senior final in 2019, six have moved on. Players of the quality of Paul Smith, Cian Mackey and Ronan Flanagan are almost impossible to replace for any club but they have steadied the ship well.

Among those to step up last year were corner-back Euan Henry and wing-back Sean Óg McGearty while Cian McCabe has established himself up front. This year, Jason O’Gorman is one of a few who have broken through and freshened things up but the old warriors still lead the way.

Stephen Cooney, Enda and Oisin O’Connell, Cormac Daly, David Wright, Enda Flanagan and Padraig McGahern have all been decorated in battle over the years and continue to lead the charge. Cooney, Wright and the O’Connells featured in the senior final as far back as 2011.

Their league record was identical to Ballinagh’s but they edged them on head to head (Castlerahan won by a point when they met on June 25). The sides will meet in the opening round in a game both will target.

With a reasonable draw, they have every chance of making the knock-out stages and after that, who knows.

Cavan Gaels

After their glorious run from 2000 to 2017, during which they featured in 15 county finals and won 10, there was always going to be a decline in fortunes for Cavan Gaels.

Those successes were built off an extraordinary underage system which produced 11 Minor Championships between 1998 and 2011. The arrival of Anthony Forde, a county senior, and Micheál Lyng, a stand-out county minor, also helped as the Gaels assembled arguably the best club side the county has seen.

The minor success dried up after 2011 and they have not been back in the final since. The result is that the team has aged, with the majority over the 30 mark. In fact, the Gaels have been the oldest side in the competition in the last couple of seasons.

The arrival of Gearoid McKiernan from Swanlinbar helped re-energise them in the last three years; he has been outstanding, posting some amazing tallies. With the county man said to be injured at present, the Gaels will likely start this championship with no current Cavan senior players in the team, which has not happened in decades.

It’s testament to the standards they set at Terry Coyle Park that even in a transitional period, they were good enough to make the semi-final in 2020 and 2021 (losing the latter by a point) and take eventual champions Gowna to a quarter-final replay last year, having been in control the first day.

There is great work going on at underage level and it will bear fruit in time. The likes of the Shehu brothers, Emmanuel and Favor, have already established themselves in the senior team but more is needed.

Given their great pedigree and vast experience, there could be a kick in the Cavan Town side but league form tailed off after a bright start, with one win in the last five games, and they look to have a bit to find with the leading sides at the moment.

Crosserlough

Many observers are describing this year’s renewal of the Senior Championship as a two-horse race; Crosserlough are one of those nags and Gowna the other.

The two sides have carved out an engaging rivalry in recent seasons and it’s fair to say there is no love lost. That’s to be expected to an extent in that both are young, very talented and very driven.

For Crosserlough, there is pressure this season. Their team is built, for the most part, around their 2016 minor-winning side. If they don’t win the championship this year, by 2024, much of that group will be turning 25 or 26 with one Senior Championship medal to their names, which would be a disappointing return given that they made a final as far back as 2018 and won it in 2020.

If we are holding them to a very high standard, it should be taken as a compliment because this is an outstanding bunch of players. At full stride, they are a sight to behold, with athleticism and pace and, crucially, ball-players in every line of the pitch.

Many times over recent years, the ’Lough have got on top of opponents and turned the screw. As far back as 2019, they posted notice of their ability to slaughter teams when beating Cavan Gaels by 2-15 to 0-9 and they have repeated it on numerous occasions since.

They are so powerful and skilful that they can completely dismantle even quality opponents when they get on a run. On the flip side, they are prone to lapses in concentration too and there do appear to be vulnerabilities at the back.

Maybe it’s nit-picking given they are the only unbeaten team of the county’s 40 this year and avenged two draws against Gowna and Kingscourt in the league by beating both in the semi and final respectively, but the Stars cut them open for half a dozen goal chances in that final.

Only champions Gowna can hope to match their strength on the front foot. James Smith, on form, is nigh on unmarkable; Dara McVeety remains arguably the best player in the county, Paddy Lynch the best full-forward. Stephen Smith (currently injured) and Brandon Boylan, who had a break-out year with the county, are major scoring threats too, as is Oran Rehill.

At the back, Oran’s brother Conor has rediscovered his best form and has been immense in the air, on the ground and with ball in hand. Name-checking the rest of the side would be futile; there is no poor footballer on this Crosserlough side.

They tick almost every box and are deserving of the tag of betting favourites (15/8 at the time of writing).

Gowna

They waited 21 long years in Gowna for that eighth Senior Championship but it finally arrived last year, with the next generation of players bringing home the spoils.

Their breakthrough was based on terrific underage development along with the persistence of men like Mark McKeever, Ronan Bannon and Ray Keogh, who kept on keeping on through the lean years.

Gowna are an example to any rural club working off small numbers as to what can be achieved and with more stellar teenage players coming through the ranks, they will be a force for the next 10 years one would imagine.

But that’s irrelevant to some extent to this exercise, previewing the 2023 Senior Championship. Can Gowna do it again? Of course, but it will be tough. Castlerahan in 2018/19 are the only club to retain the Oliver Plunkett Cup since Cavan Gaels did it in 2009.

While they were deserving winners last year, luck was on their side too. Including the Ulster Club, a winnable tie against Enniskillen, they won four championship matches from nine, which gives hope to the chasing pack.

As a young side, there are vulnerabilities there and, like Crosserlough, they tend to have spikes and dips in performance. Injuries have been a big problem this year – full-back and captain Ryan McGahern has been out all term, for example – and the squad will be tested in this championship.

It’s easy, though, to make the case for the defence (of the title). They have an embarrassment of riches in the front half of the pitch and that Gowna steel is there at the back.

Should they hold on to the cup, the other teams in the county should be very worried because Gowna are only going to get better and haven’t hit their stride yet. The message to the contenders is this: Catch them while you can.

Killygarry

Having lost out in so many tight contests in previous seasons, it all clicked for Killygarry last year as they reached a first Senior Championship final in five decades.

En route, they played the defending champions Ramor twice (drawing one and winning the other) and beat would-be winners Gowna in the opening round while also seeing off Kingscourt in an epic quarter-final.

The final proved a bridge too far but huge progress was made. This year, under former Cavan manager Terry Hyland, the league proved disappointing as they won just two matches from 13 (including the relegation play-off against Lacken) and found themselves demoted for next year.

With so many players involved in the county senior and U20 panels and a spate of injuries, they were well below strength for much of this year, with county men Cian Reilly and Oisin Brady also travelling to America for the summer.

Last season, they left behind their league form and hit the ground running in championship. They will need to do likewise this time round.

On paper, there is no shortage of firepower although the defence does look slightly weak for a side with aspirations to win the championship. Of all 12 teams in the competition, they are hardest to evaluate given that they have yet to line out with their full team and, when they did last year, proved very strong.

Don’t rule them out, despite a poor league.

Kingscourt

Since last winning the championship in 2015, Kingscourt’s problem has been up front. Their lack of firepower was starkly evident in the tallies they posted in their final match of the year.

While they have made the knock-out stages every season since and made two semis and a final, what they scored in their last match tells its own story: 0-7, 0-8, 0-7, 0-7, 0-8, 0-11.

Last season, then, represented major progress in that while they exited the championship in the quarter-final in a brilliant game against Killygarry, they scored 2-15. The arrival of Jordan Morris and the returns of Joe Dillon and Barry Reilly were key to that – between them, they scored 2-13 in that match.

This year, league form was very good; they advanced to the final, overcoming Ramor in a replayed semi. Based on the decider, though, there is a gap to Crosserlough.

At full strength, the Stars are formidable. Padraig Faulkner, Barry Tully, Paddy Meade, Alan Clarke, Peter Corrigan, Morris, Dillon and Reilly are the spine of the team. They have pedigree, which cannot be discounted, and are a dangerous beast in championship football but they look a couple of players short of a championship-winning outfit at the moment.

It would be unwise, though, to dismiss them, as they showed when beating Gowna in round 4 last year, and a run to the last four is likely. After that, write them off at your peril – but improvement, and a clean bill of health, is needed.

Lacken

While Lacken have generally been competitive and, since 2016, have won a Division 1 league and were beaten in two quarter-final replays, on closer inspection, while they have been involved in numerous draws, they have struggled to actually win championship matches in that period.

From 2016 to 2021 inclusive, the Celts played 27 matches in the Senior Championship (not including relegation play-offs), winning five. Last year saw a notable upturn in their fortunes following a very poor 2021 when they survived in a relegation play-off.

Wins over Lavey and Kingscourt in the group and a one-point loss to Cavan Gaels earned their passage to the quarter-final where Crosserlough ran out 22-point winners.

In the league this season, they started poorly but picked things up late on with wins over Killygarry and Cavan Gaels and then a play-off victory over Killygarry again to preserve their status.

Having lost some key men such as Thomas Galligan, Killian Galligan and Niall McKiernan in recent years, they may struggle for scores but there is no doubting the battling qualities of the Crowe Park men.

Laragh United

Having won the Intermediate Championship in most impressive fashion in 2019, Laragh were expected to make a splash in senior ranks but it hasn’t really happened yet.

In 2020, they were terrible, finishing bottom with no wins and a score difference of -39. Luckily, there was no relegation.

In 2021, they drew two games in the group and enjoyed a big win over Lavey but didn’t perform in the quarter-final against a Cavan Gaels side who started without main threat Gearoid McKiernan.

And last year, they blew another big opportunity. After filleting Butlersbridge and drawing with Gowna, they were leading 0-6 to 0-3 at half-time against Mullahoran and were out-fought after that.

A shocking 24-point loss to Crosserlough ensued and although they got it together to comfortably dismiss Ballinagh in the relegation play-offs, it was still a disappointing campaign.

All of that context means that this is a big year for the Laragh men. They have the talent to break into the top eight or even top four. Goalkeeper Fergal O’Rourke, full-back Fergal McKenna, Jack McKenna and playmaker-finisher Paul Smith are the main men and the supporting cast are talented.

Given their age profile, now is the time for the Stradone-based outfit to make their mark. They have shown their ability in glimpses but recent form is a major worry.

Laragh are winless in six matches in the league, with five losses by 22, 8, 12, 8 and 11 points. Needless to say they will have to leave that form behind to have any chance of progressing.

Lavey

A last-minute point by Mullahoran’s Cormac McKeogh in their round four clash ended a proud run for Lavey. From 2016 to 2021 inclusive, the New Inns men made the last eight of the Senior Championship each year, progressing to the semi-finals twice.

Last year, that one-point loss to the Dreadnoughts meant they finished ninth. Traditionally, they have started slowly – they have only won their first-round match once (2020 against Castlerahan when they posted a freakish 5-5) in the last six attempts.

Yet when their backs are to the wall, they tend to respond. Uniquely among the established top-eight sides in the county, they have operated out of Division 2 of the league for quite a few years now. This year, they looked odds-on to escape it but lost their form in the closing rounds, losing three (including the semi-final against Cuchulainns) and drawing one of their last four matches.

Injuries and absentees were an issue throughout the league and it would be unwise to write Lavey off. Under the experienced Kevin McDonnell, Ramor’s 1992 SFC-winning captain, they tend to up their game when it matters.

At full-strength, they are still fairly formidable although they could do with a little more firepower up front (what team couldn’t?). They open with a local derby against Laragh; a win there would set them up nicely for a crack at the top eight but realistically, a title tilt seems beyond them this season.

Mullahoran

When the Dreadnoughts won the Intermediate Championship at the first time of asking in 2018 and went to the Ulster final, knocking out fancied Derry and Down opposition along the way, there was an expectation that they might make waves at senior again in the near future.

That hasn’t happened. Mullahoran have played 21 championship matches since, including one relegation play-off, and won eight. They also shipped double digit losses to the likes of Gowna, Ramor and Cavan Gaels.

The good news is that last year saw a significant upturn in fortunes as they beat Ballinagh, Laragh and Lavey and took Ramor to a replay in the quarter-final.

The club has enjoyed great success at underage level of late and it seems only a matter of time before they come again as a force at senior. Young players like Cormac McKeogh, Daithi Sheils and Caoláinn O’Reilly (to name just a few) have settled into the side and helped give things a big lift.

They are a youthful outfit now but with experience, too, in the likes of Killian Brady (currently on the injured list), Enda O’Reilly and James Reilly.

League form was solid. They finished sixth although, notably, most of their best work was done against the lower-ranked teams (they were unbeaten against the bottom five but only beat one of the top five).

That probably tells us where they are at right now – mid-table and looking upwards – but as with any young side, they could improve dramatically in a short space of time. That, though, will be needed if they are to make a final.

Ramor United

Injuries and absentees cost Ramor last season as they struggled for scores. The Virginia men came into the competition as defending champions but minus the services of the likes of James Brady, Conor Bradley and Sean McEvoy among other forwards, they scored 0-10, 0-11, 0-10, 1-10 and 1-9 in their final five matches.

Those sort of tallies don’t win a lot of championship games yet it is testament to Ramor’s experience and quality that they still only came up short by a point in the semi-final against Killygarry.

This year, league form was good as they finished second but the loss of young attacker Matthew Smith hurt them and they again registered low tallies (0-11 and 1-9, albeit the first game was played in tough conditions) in the drawn and replayed league semi-finals against Kingscourt.

It’s clear they will need to score more freely if they are to repeat their championship successes of 2016 and 2021 but the good news is that they still boast a very strong panel, which has been boosted by the addition of half a dozen of last year’s Minor-winning side.

From number one to eight, they are the best unit in the county, especially with the outstanding Brían O’Connell back on board. That’s a hell of a base to work off and if they can get a few bodies back and begin to hum up front, they’ll be right there in the mix.

It’s a very experienced group who are well conditioned at this stage and know how to win championship matches and they are fancied to make the last four again.

Verdict

It’s being billed as a two-horse race but there is a lot of football to be played between now and the county final. Still, it would be a seismic shock if neither Gowna nor Crosserlough won this championship.

Gun to the head, Crosserlough’s need may be greater and they get the vote by a slim margin. Outside of the top two, next best are Ramor and Kingscourt.