Four still standing in race for the Gilroy Cup

And then there were four. After 28 group matches and four knock-out games, there are a quartet of teams standing in the race for the Gilroy Cup, the semi-finals of which are down for decision this weekend.

First up on Friday evening is the meeting of Arva and Cuchulainns. While there is a history of teams winning the Junior and Intermediate Championships in successive seasons – Belturbet, Knockbride and Drumgoon all managed it – the last of those was in 2001 and in recent years, results have indicated that sides need a couple of years at least to adjust to the higher grade before claiming outright success.

Arva, though, were no ‘ordinary’ junior champions, going all the way to the All-Ireland title. The only other Cavan club to manage this feat was Drumgoon so the portents are good for Finbar O’Reilly’s men.

When Arva last won the Junior Championship in 2014, they followed up by reaching the Intermediate final a year later and winning it in 2016 so going all the way this year will feel like an achievable goal for the St Patrick’s club.

They cruised through the group but struggled against Bailieborough last time out and things will get more difficult from here on in, starting with the Cross-Mullagh men.

Cuchulainns were slightly unfortunate to be relegated from senior in 2017, losing two matches by a point and then becoming one of three sides demoted that year. In the intervening period, they have generally been rated among the top sides in intermediate.

In 2018, they lost the final to Mullahoran. In 2019, they lost the semi-final by a point to eventual champions Laragh.

They exited at the semi-final stage to would-be winners Butlersbridge in 2021 and were beaten in a semi-final replay against champions-in-waiting Castlerahan in 2022, having also drawn with them in the group stage.

The odd years out were 2020, when they exited at the group stage having actually beaten the eventual winners Ballinagh, and last year, when losses to Ballyhaise and Killinkere in the group saw them miss out on score difference.

The current squad is mostly youthful, led by the outstanding trio of Niall Carolan, Bryan Magee and Evan Doughty and with a strong cohort from talented, mobile young players. They lost their opener to Butlersbridge and have won five matches in succession without really tearing it up; if it is the case that they have not peaked yet, that will be a daunting prospect for the other three sides remaining in the competition.

Arva, though, get the nod. They have won 18 championship matches in succession now and that winning habit is hard to break, especially with the likes of Ciaran Brady and Tristan Hofmann, Johnny McCabe and Conal Sheridan in fine form, although they have injuries to contend with.

On Sunday, two sides who have reached this destination from different approach routes go head to head. Denn won the county and Ulster junior titles three years ago and reached the intermediate final last year (interestingly, Downings, whom Denn beat comfortably in that Ulster final, won the Donegal IFC last year) but had a difficult run this year.

Injuries notwithstanding, league form was poor and they were eventually relegated to Division 3. Their early championship form was patchy too, a low-scoring win in a poor game against Drumgoon before squandering a useful lead against a weakened Shercock, but they finished the group in third after good wins against Lacken and Cornafean.

They turned the tables on Shercock in the quarter-final but the win came at a cost as star man Thomas Edward Donohoe, who had really hit his stride after recovering from a serious Achilles injury, went off and must be regarded as a serious injury doubt.

Losing Donohoe could prove a mortal blow to Stephen Baxter’s side’s chances as Butlersbridge have been moving very well.

Along with Crosserlough and Arva, the ‘Bridge are the only three sides in the county with 100pc records intact and that alone makes them deserved favourites.

The ‘Bridge, under experienced coach Keelan Melaniff, have been scoring freely, netting 13 goals in their five matches to date, with Caoimhín O’Reilly and his brother, playmaker Fionntán, going very well up front and the likes of Cathal Leddy and former county man Feargal Flanagan prominent elsewhere, with youngster Joe Dugdale catching the eye last time out.

A concern is that they have yet to keep a clean sheet, leaking nine goals, but it’s worth remembering that when they won the Intermediate Championship for the first time in 2021, the ‘Bridge conceded 12 goals in the first five matches before shoring things up in the semi-final and final.

Like the first semi-final, this could go either way; Denn are a ‘championship team’ traditionally seasoned and gritty but this classy Butlersbridge team have been more consistent.

The ’Bridge are taken to shade a close battle in which Denn’s hopes rest on the prominent trio of Caoláin McCabe, Oisin Kiernan and Sean Donohoe controlling the middle-third exchanges against the likes of Dugdale, Flanagan and Ciaran O’Reilly and Ben Conaty and Cavell Keogan shooting the lights out in the expected absence of ‘Ted’ Donohoe.