Brilliant Arva save their best for the big day with fine win

Junior Football Championship final

Arva 2-11

Knockbride 0-9

It was expected that Arva and Knockbride would contest the junior final for 2023 once the draw kept them apart but for Arva to win the contest with eight points to spare wasn’t something many were anticipating - but the champions were quite brilliant as they got their hands on the Sean Leddy Cup.

Arva had shown their defensive capacity in the semi-final where they held Drumalee to 1-6 and Kildallan in the quarter-final to a single point but this Knockbride side was expected to be different having averaged almost 16 scores per game coming into the final.

With four minutes remaining in the first half, Arva held a six point lead and if Aidan McCabe’s side didn’t respond, the game could have been over before the break. Knockbride did hit back with three of the four points before the interval but the signs were there that Arva were on top, having missed 1-7 in the opening half.

Coming into the game, the match-ups were going to be crucial and while both managers got them correct, the Arva man-markers won more of the individual battles than Knockbride. The starting Arva forward line finished with 2-6 from open play while the Knockbride forward line only managed 0-3 from play.

With the weather playing its part for a fast-paced game of football, Arva opened the scoring after 15 seconds when Ciaran Brady won the throw-in and played Tristan Noack Hofmann in for a tap-over point from 25 metres. Knockbride, wanting to play the game at as fast a pace as possible, replied less than a minute later as wing-back Philip Rogers curled a point over from the edge of the D.

With both teams committing bodies to the attack, the scoring zones became congested but as Ciaran Brady failed to break through a mass of Knockbride bodies he flicked a pass out to Hofmann who quickly pulled the trigger to send over his and Arva’s second of the day. With the game still in an end-to-end frantic pace Niall McCabe took a 44-metre Knockbride free quickly to Ciaran Smith but his effort tailed wide from close range.

The Division 2 champions added a second wide from Lorcan Reilly as the pace of the game began to affect the skill execution. Arva showed a hint of what was to come on the eighth minute when quick hands from Barry Donnelly, Kevin Bouchier and Conal Sheridan placed the ball back into Donnelly’s hands but his shot for goal was well saved by James Lynch.

Knockbride, insisting on playing in fifth gear, almost broke through on goal with corner-back Kyle McCabe’s shot from the 13-metre line being blocked by a last ditch James Morris tackle. The ball broke forward to the edge of the small square where a goalmouth scramble ensued but again a diving block by James Morris denied Lorcan Reilly a goal before, with his third swing, Reilly chipped the ball over the bar.

Arva took the lead for the third and final time after 13 minutes when Hofmann completed a super personal start to the game with his and Arva’s third point in space 30 metres from goal. Finbar O’Reilly’s side doubled their lead as the second quarter began with Jonathan McCabe breaking through a number of Knockbride defenders before hooking the ball over the bar on his right foot.

With 16 minutes on the clock, Arva put some daylight between the sides and again Hofmann was instrumental. The former soccer player held the ball long enough for Thomas Partington to make a run in front of the Knockbride goal and perfectly placed it into his path. With runners bursting through left and right, Partington flicked a hand pass to Conal Sheridan who precisely placed the ball to the corner of the net.

Arva had now taken control of the game and their experience of playing at a higher and faster level was showing. After a ruck for the ball 40 metres from the Knockbride goal, McCabe emerged with the ball and after beating three defenders he clipped over from the 13-metre line to leave the score 1-5 to 0-2.

The following eight minutes had more mistakes by both sides than the opening 20 as the energy-sapping pace took its toll. With three minutes remaining in the half a Lorcan Reilly free after Philip Rogers was fouled ended a 17-minute spell without a Knockbride score. From 40 metres and less than a minute later, the Knockbride captain Niall McCabe stepped up with his side’s best score of the half to close the gap to four.

As the game entered first-half injury-time, 18-year-old Thomas Partington once again made a run to the full-forward position and raised a white flag with his right foot. The final score of the first half saw Knockbride work the ball from the right corner back out to Liam Fay who had Roy Donohoe running off his shoulder and Donohoe got the shot away before the diving Ciaran Brady could get a block on to leave the score 1-6 to 0-5 at the break.

At the start of the second half there was a lengthy delay as Jordan McCabe picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Fergal Smith. Once play resumed, Arva, in determined fashion, worked the ball to Bouchier who became Arva’s fourth forward to score from play.

With eight second half minutes played, Arva extended their lead to six points as Conal Sheridan cut through the D to point on his left. Finbar McAvinue, who was successfully curtailing Matthew Traynor’s influence on the game, gave away a free and Lorcan Reilly converted the kick for his third point.

Cian O’Hara wasted no time in getting his kick-out away and found McCabe on the wing. Barry Donnelly gathered the ball under a challenge from Micheál Smith but twisted to the inside track before soloing to the Knockbride 20-metre line where Kevin Bouchier took the ball, broke through three Knockbride defenders and pointed.

With six points between the sides, Stephen Sheridan was shown a black card by referee Noel Mooney for a body check leaving Arva with 14 players until the 23rd minute of the second half. Good defensive work saw Fay turn over an Arva attack and Reilly finished off the counter with a point. As the final quarter began, the gap was five points but before Arva returned to their full complement they put the game to bed.

Playing into the ‘flaggy bottom’ end from outside the 45, Kevin Bouchier punted the ball to the right side of the D for McCabe to gather. McCabe, in one seamless motion, gathered the ball running away from goal and placed it into the hands of Conal Sheridan who, with pace and power, blasted the ball to the roof of the net.

Sheridan added two frees to his tally as the game entered injury time to push Arva into a 10-point lead. Knockbride continued to battle to the final whistle with Lorcan Reilly adding a fifth point to his tally with a free and sub Sean Burns sent over the final score of the game as a small consolation for Knockbride before the final whistle sounded.

Arva: Cian O’Hara, Dylan Maguire, James Morris, Finbar McAvinue, Thomas Brady, Stephen Sheridan, Danny Ellis, Ciaran Brady, Tristan Noach Hoffmann, Thomas Partington, Barry Donnelly, Jonathan McCabe, Peter Morris, Kevin Boucher, Conal Sheridan

Subs: Ciaran Stanley for T Brady(ht), Paul Cassidy for P Morris(61), Stephen Ellis for T Partington (61), Danny Conneely for C Sheridan(64).

Knockbride: James Lynch, Daniel McGuinness, Philip Nulty, Kyle McCabe, Philip Rogers, Mark Magee, Roy Donohoe, Paddy Rogers, Liam Fay, Michéal Smith, Matthew Traynor, Lorcan Reilly, Ciaran Smith, Niall McCabe, Jordan McCabe

Subs: Fergal Smith for J McCabe(33), Shane Carolan for P Rogers(40), Sean Burns for M Traynor(48), Paddy Smith for N McCabe(54), Barry Cahill for M Smith(63).