Preview: Little to choose between them but Arva get the nod

JFC final preview

Damien Donohoe

So, we have the final that everyone expected, and it is set up to be a cracker. People can oppose the current structure but it has lead to the two best teams in the competition going head-to-head in the final and there is no better stage to see that battle play out.

Arva and Knockbride are coming into Saturday’s final from very different places over the last number of years. In 2016, when Knockbride were in the first of two Minor Championship finals over a six-year period, there was enough evidence on the pitch to say that Knockbride would be pushing for a Junior title sooner rather than later.

In that same year, Arva were playing in and winning the Intermediate final after a replay. That Arva side was backboned by a number of players who played in the 2010 minor final and lost it, also after a replay. When looking at that you have to ask the question, why in six years a young group of players coming through in Arva could win both Junior and Intermediate championships, while Knockbride in the same period haven’t the Junior?

The major difference is the standard of the Junior Championship from 2017 on improved dramatically with the increased number of teams in the championship. With two teams relegated from intermediate in 2016 and 2017 it became much more difficult to lift the Sean Leddy cup.

This increase in standard is shown by the Cavan junior champions making two of the four Ulster finals played since with Denn winning one of them, and the Cavan champions making the semi-finals of Ulster three of those four years.

The other point could be made that those Arva players came through a development squad era that was producing a very high standard of player which went on to achieve a remarkable four Ulster U21 titles in a row. There were no less than five Arva players involved with those teams who were being exposed to a very high standard of preparation which improved them as players quickly.

All that said, Knockbride now have something that that Arva team didn’t have in a second wave of players who got to a Division 1 minor final in 2021. The injection of Lorcan Reilly, Kyle McCabe and Michéal Smith, who were all part of the Cavan U20 squad this season, has been a huge part of Knockbride’s substantial improvement this year.

Reilly comes into the final as the second top scorer on the field so far in the championship with 2-26 to his name. Smith’s energy and ability to get in behind a defence has caught a few teams out as he added 1-5 to the scoring tally and Kyle McCabe has done very well on his man-marking duties while bringing attacking quality from the back.

When it comes to the experience of dealing with the final and everything that goes around it, Arva have a definite advantage. For a lot of the Arva panel, Saturday will be their fourth Junior final appearance having lost the 2013 and 2022 finals and won the 2014 one. They also have a loss in the 2015 Intermediate final and a win and a draw in 2016 so county finals aren’t new to these lads.

While Arva are the more experienced and older team, they have also introduced a few younger players this year that have added to the set-up. Barry Donnelly has become a crucial part of the forward line in his second year, with his ball-carrying ability standing out and helping him to claim 2-4 in the championship so far. Thomas Partington, Dylan Maguire and Stephen Sheridan have come into the team in their debut season and have added to it with high-fielding ability, hard running and solid defending.

So far in the championship, Arva have conceded 2-39 while Knockbride let in 4-38 with all four goals coming in their round two clash with Redhills, so Arva statistically have a slightly better defence. They also have a better attack statistically, scoring 9-98 to Knockbrides 12-81 but again there’s an element of freak with the Knockbride stat as they scored seven goals against Kildallan in round three.

Both Knockbride and Arva have played Munterconnaught, Drung, Shannon Gaels and Kildallan on their way to the final. Knockbride have done better in terms of winning margins when you compare these games as they had a wide winning margin in three of the four games. The matches that were closest were Drung, where Arva won by four and Knockbride won by 11, and Knockbride’s six-point win over Shannon Gaels one better than Arva’s five-point victory.

As in all games, the kick-out strategies are going to play a key role in the outcome. Aiden McCabe has set up Knockbride with a strong zonal press on the opposition kick-outs. In the Shannon Gaels game, this resulted in three goal chances and a few point-scoring ones as well. It was a brave move by the Cootehill native as Nevin O’Donnell probably has the most accurate and wide-ranging kick-out in the championship.

James Lynch so far has tended to go long with his kick-outs with the mid-range just outside the 45-metre line his next option. This has seen Knockbride do very well on breaking ball and produce a high scoring rate off their kick-outs as they are taking a lot of the opposition players out of the defence.

Arva, on the other hand, went man-to-man against Drumalee in the semi-final and in the first half Drumalee did well in this area. On their own kick-outs, Cian O’Hara has a wider range of kick-out options and has the likes of Thomas Partington as a solid long option while also knowing any one of his back six are comfortable enough on the ball to get it out of the danger zone.

In trying to decide a verdict, my opinion continues to swing from side to side so maybe the ‘who’s need is greater?’ argument will help.

Knockbride have been in junior for too long considering the talent at their disposal. In a club that has been very much progressive over the last decade or more in aspects of underage coaching and facilities, it will not sit well if they don’t soon reap what they’ve sown.

The hope for Knockbride would be to see this team in time progress to senior football but if an exit from junior doesn’t happen soon that progression will become more and more difficult. So their need is very strong in the longer term project.

Arva have been here and done that. They have Junior and Intermediate championship victories in the last decade but that doesn’t appear to have filled their bellies. Maybe this is because they realise that your football career doesn’t go on forever and the players who backbone this team will want to leave the club in a better position than it was when they started coming through.

This is a very, very tough game to call and because I don’t want to be seen sitting on the fence I’m going to give Arva the slightest of nods with Ciaran Brady or Johnny McCabe producing something special to split the sides.