Knockbride the team to beat in interesting JFC renewal

Junior Football Championship preview

PAUL FITZPATRICK runs the rule over the runners and riders in this season’s Junior Football Championship.

Knockbride

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: the Canningstown-based side are red hot favourites to win this championship.

They have been very close in recent years at a time when Ulster results would suggest junior football in Cavan has been stronger than ever. In 2019, they were beaten by a last-minute goal in the quarter-final against Killinkere.

In 2021, they lost the semi-final in a replay against eventual Ulster winners Denn. The following year, they lost in the semi to Arva with whom they had drawn earlier in the competition; Drumlane, who came from behind to beat Knockbride by a point that year, won it and ended up losing the Ulster final in a penalty shoot-out.

And last year, they made the final but were well beaten by Arva, who of course won the All-Ireland.

In the meantime, they have won the Division 2 league and picked up some impressive scalps in Division 1 this year, including against the likes of Kingscourt and Castlerahan.

The emergence of young players like Kyle McCabe, Lorcan Reilly, Liam Fay (who was on the county senior panel for a while last winter) and Micheál Smith has augmented the established group which includes talented players like playmaker Mattie Traynor, the Nulty brothers, Niall McCabe and Ciaran Smith.

They seem to tick all the boxes and but they must deal with the pressure of being favourites. The sense is that their time has come.

Manager: Aidan McCabe

Captain: Paddy Rogers

Last season: Runners-up

Star man: Liam Fay

Kildallan

It wasn’t a great league campaign for the Ballyconnell men, with only three wins in Division 3 but, notably, two of those came against sides who will be expected to make the latter stages of the championship in Shannon Gaels and Drumalee.

Like a lot of teams, Kildallan are down a few bodies from last year and injuries have hampered progress this year. That’s a shame because the way things fell last year with unforeseen play-offs, Kildallan ended up with seven championship matches for the first time in many years, which should have aided development.

The highlight of the campaign was a shock win over Drung in round four which proved that Kildallan, a club which has always produced good forwards, have the ability to compete strongly on their day at this level.

Key to that victory was the performance of county man Ryan O’Neill (0-8 from play) who has consistently shown that, on his day, he is nigh on unmarkable at junior level.

That said, very heavy losses to Arva (1-17 to 0-1) and Knockbride (7-17 to 0-5) illustrated the gap that exists – and Knockbride are still there this year.

A scalp or two is possible but going all the way is unlikely. Among the key men, O’Neill aside, are Shane McPartland and Brandon Cooke while youngsters Aaron and Darragh Crowe have settled in well.

Manager: Enda Ferris

Captain: Brandon Cooke

Last season: Quarter-final

Star man: Ryan O’Neill

Drung

Having last made the final in 2021, Drung have been competitive since without making any major waves, exiting at the quarter-final stage in the last two years against Drumalee and Knockbride respectively.

Having failed to hit the net in their first three league games, they scored 19 goals in their last six (Maghera conceded) so they are showing improvement in that regard.

The loss of Tiarnan and Caolán Reilly, generally the top scorers, has been offset by the return of the vastly experienced former county duo of Barry Watters and Ciaran Galligan.

Mickey and Declan McEntee, the Heustons, John Cassidy and Stephen Jackson along with Gary Watters are also key men who have lots of experience while youngsters like Sean McDonnell have settled in well.

They face the toughest possible opener against championship favourites Knockbride but if the draw is any way kind, they should have enough about them to escape the group and after that, a run to the final is not beyond them if they click.

Manager: James Reilly, Kieran Kearns, Damien Reilly

Captain: Paul Heuston

Last season: Quarter-final

Star man: Barry Watters

Belturbet

The Rorys are deserved second favourites behind Knockbride to repeat their 1995 success in this grade. Under club stalwart Mark Lawlor, who played full-back on that side 29 years ago, they have reportedly put in a big effort this year and retained their Division 2 League status with an eye-catching win over Denn.

While league form was patchy, there is a strong correlation between playing Division 2 and winning the Sean Leddy Cup and positive results against the likes of Denn, Shercock, Cornafean, Templeport and Drumgoon (all intermediate) should provide confidence.

Lawlor, who is assisted by player-selector Damien O’Reilly and trainer Declan Farrell, has tinkered with his side all season and has had injuries to contend with, notably to key midfielder Cormac Donohoe, who it is hoped will return for championship.

Enda Henry is the chief marksman as usual, ably assisted by Callum McGreevy, while Killian Murray has been going well in the backs.

The half-back line looks particularly strong with Liam Mulligan, Stuart Dunne and Shane Fitzpatrick a formidable trio if they line out that way. Goalkeeper and captain Cian Vaughan is also an important player while Kevin McConnell provides experience off the bench when needed.

Mark Lawlor Jr was lining out at midfield but moved to full-back for the play-off against Denn so the management have plenty of positional options and they are expected to make a bold bid for the title.

Manager: Mark Lawlor

Captain: Cian Vaughan

Last season: Relegated from IFC

Star man: Shane Fitzpatrick

Drumalee

The Cavan Town side have been there or thereabouts in recent seasons, not really threatening to win the title – no shame in that given the standard of late – but proving themselves the best of the rest in both 2022 (beaten in a semi and probably the best-performing side outside of Drumlane, Arva and Knockbride) and last year (beaten in a semi again and joint-leaders, with Shannon Gaels, of the chasing pack behind Arva and Knockbride).

This year, Peter McGinnity and Kevin Downey have taken over as joint-managers with Damien Donohoe assisting with coaching duties.

The league started really well - the only defeat in the opening eight rounds was against Redhills – with the two most impressive wins in that period coming against Drung and Kill, who were both undefeated at the time they played.

However, injuries then intervened and were a hammer blow for what is not the deepest panel in the first place.

Added to that, a difficult and unfortunate seven-week break without a game (they were due to meet Maghera and Corlough in this time but both conceded) broke momentum and they have struggled to get it back since.

Former Cavan U21 attacker Cian Byrne remains the key player. Among the others they will look to are the experienced pair of Philip McArdle and Enda McCormick at the back.

Sean O’Kane and Dylan Duffy have each performed very well at times while youngster Niall Young has really stepped up.

They have proven a good championship team in recent years and dangerous on their day and while beating both Belturbet and Knockbride would be a tall order, if they clicked and the draw fell kindly, the St Felim’s Park men could feasibly take the scalp of one of them.

Manager: Kevin Downey, Peter McGinnity

Captain: Cian Byrne

Last season: Semi-final

Star man: Cian Byrne

Munterconnaught

The Munchies’ profile is similar to that of neighbours Mountnugent in that they have a nice mix of youth and experience and can perform to a high level on their day but tend to be undone by a lack of consistency.

They had a very poor group stage last year (albeit they were unlucky to face both Arva and Knockbride) but bounced back to win the Shield, which was a promising sign in terms of their motivation and intent as other teams lacked the interest to put their best foot forward for it.

They enjoyed an excellent league campaign, finishing second, and had a great win over Kill in a play-off but ultimately fell by six to Redhills in the semi-final, thus missing out on promotion.

A mostly youthful side is led by Danny Nolan, Tadhg Morrissey, Stephen Sheridan and poacher-turned-goalkeeper John McCabe in terms of experience while the O’Sheas are among the younger wave now looking to really step up.

Manager: Stephen McGovern

Captain: Eoin O’Shea, Stephen Sheridan

Last season: Group stage

Star man: Enda O’Shea

Shannon Gaels

The men from the far west of the county have a terrific championship pedigree and are never far away in the Junior Championship, something which is borne out by the stats.

In the last 20 renewals of the competition, the Gaels have failed to reach the last eight just once (2015), an extraordinarily consistent run.

In that time, they have made the final three times and have reached the semi-final stages on 12 occasions. Interestingly, they have also exited the competition by three points or less 12 times in the last 20 years, which again proves how competitive they have been.

Shannon Gaels are a championship team who won’t be overly concerned by a poor league campaign in which they only picked up three wins.

They have exited at the hands of Arva and Knockbride in the last two years and, in fact, the last time the team who beat them didn’t make the final was 2018.

So, they are the gate-keepers in the division but a title is long overdue for the Blacklion-based men, who have produced so many footballers for county teams over the years but have tended to be hit hard by emigration.

They open their campaign against Kildallan, a game they will be favourites to win, and it would be a surprise if they are not in the quarters or, draw depending, semi-finals again this year.

Manager: Eugene Walsh

Captain: Caoimhan McGovern

Last season: Semi-final

Star man: Jason McLoughlin

Swanlinbar

Swanlinbar's league campaign started very well with just one defeat (against Drumalee) in the opening seven games, a run which included a draw with eventual table-toppers Bailieborough and wins over Maghera, Kildallan, Killeshandra and Mountnugent.

A four-point loss to Drung on May 27 heralded a downturn in form and they lost their remaining league games, heavily against Munterconnaught and Kill, by a point against Shannon Gaels and by five to Redhills.

In the end, they finished seventh of 12 which seems about right as they beat the five teams below them and didn’t get the better of any of the six higher-placed sides.

Under clubman and former county player Michael Cunningham (formerly a coach with Enniskillen Gaels), they are a young side who are building for a strong assault on this title in the next couple of years.

Damien Leydon is one of only a few experienced campaigners with most in their 20s. Ruairi Curran remains the big threat up front, with playmaker and place-kicker Cian McGovern an important figure on the 40 and Bhreifne McKiernan the leading man around the middle.

Cunningham, who is assisted by Sean Prior, Seamus Corrigan, Paul McGovern and Tommy Prior, will be targeting a winnable game against Munterconnaught in the opening round which would set up a path to the last eight.

Swad will be well prepared but are coming from a low base; the only sides they have beaten in the group stage in the last three years are Maghera twice and Killeshandra once (round one last year), although they did squeeze into the quarter-finals last year with an extra time play-off win over Kildallan.

Manager: Michael Cunningham

Captain: Bhreifne McKiernan

Last season: Quarter-final

Star man: Ruairi Curran

Kill Shamrocks

Under Cootehill Celtic clubman Glen Nulty and Killeevan’s Darren Greenan – who was over the Monaghan ladies this year as well – the Shamrocks enjoyed a fine league campaign and can count themselves slightly unfortunate not to have qualified for the semi-finals.

They started superbly with five wins from their first six matches, including inflicting Bailieborough’s only loss and beating Mountnugent (whom they meet in the first round of the championship) by 28 points.

The only defeats in the regular campaign were against Drumalee, Redhills and Drung by three, four and three points so they were very competitive, although the Rathluden men will have been disappointed to lose the semi-final play-off to Munterconnaught.

Darragh Boyle, in his second season, and rookies Colin and Liam McCauley have done well coming through from the underage ranks while there is still an experienced spine led by the likes of Sean Gaffney, Niall McCaffrey and Barry McMenamin.

While they look set to be without an important player in Brendan Brady for a few weeks at least (away travelling), they come into the championship with confidence. The Shamrocks have lost seven group games from eight in the last two seasons and given any sort of luck with the draw, they should greatly improve that record in the upcoming campaign. A well-prepared side, the sense is they will be a handful.

Manager: Glen Nulty, Darren Greenan

Last season: Group stage

Star man: Niall McCaffrey

Redhills

Results indicate that the Max McGrath Park men are one of the most improved teams in the county this year. Having not qualified from the group stages of the championship in the last three seasons, it appeared they were in decline but this year’s league was outstanding and put paid to that theory.

A consistent run of form culminated in a merited semi-final win over Munterconnaught, avenging the round-nine loss, which secured promotion to Division 2 and a place in the league final against a Bailieborough side whom they ran to a point in round two.

The team in general has been playing well as a unit with a strong defensive system and an impressive counter-attacking game plan. In defence, Matthew Mohan has come up from minor and really stood out while Niall Donlon has also broken into the side.

Josh Mohan has been going well as a third midfielder also but key to Redhills’ resurgence has been the return of experienced players like Derek Fay, Alan Brady (captain of the JFC-winning side in 2005) and Pearse West.

Up front, Turloc Mooney and Rory Dunne, when fit, have been brilliant; no team in the division can comfortably contain both.

Redhills will be fancied to get a win against Killeshandra in the opening round (the border men had 12 to spare when they met in the league on April 27) and if they can manage that, they will be well on their way to the knock-out stages.

Manager: Colum Monahan

Captain: Cormac Brides

Last season: Group stage

Star man: Turloc Mooney

Killeshandra

The Leaguers are in a transitional period at present and endured a forgettable league campaign.

The excellent, powerful side which won an Intermediate Championship and contested a Senior Championship semi-final nine years ago has broken up and results have declined in recent years, as often happens after a successful period.

A relegation play-off loss in September, 2022 against Belturbet consigned the Leaguers to junior ranks for the first time since 2007 and on their return, they fell short of making the quarter-finals.

Their only wins in the league were against Kildallan and Maghera and their average concession was around 20 points per match. While the club has a great championship pedigree, it’s hard to make a case for them to go deep in this draw on this occasion.

Manager: Shane Murphy, Niall Connolly

Captain: Ryan Brady

Last season: Group stage

Star man: Ryan Brady

Mountnugent

A team that has threatened to deliver but has yet to fulfil their potential. They will be disappointed by their league campaign which saw them finish in eighth place, with their only wins coming against the four teams below them in Kildallan, Killeshandra, Shannon Gaels and Maghera.

Worryingly, they leaked four goals against the MacFinns, which equalled their neighbours’ green-flag tally from the other six fixtures they fulfilled combined.

There is plenty of talent in Mountnugent and they have shown it in flashes and haven’t always backed it up when it matters and that will be the challenge now under a very good manager. In 2021, for example, they had a tremendous run in the group stages, beating Shannon Gaels, Kill, Redhills and Drung but crashed out in the quarter-finals to Shannon Gaels again.

In 2022 and ’23, they suffered chastening quarter-final losses to Drumlane and Shannon Gaels also, with last year especially disappointing as they had been playing well.

Mountnugent are capable of putting it up to any team in the competition on their day but need to up it for the quarters if they can negotiate the group stage.

Manager: Declan Beard

Captain: Josh O’Reilly

Last season: Quarter-final

Star man: Ned Brunton