'Refuse to lose' - O'Reilly proud as Arva produce stunning comeback

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A “refusal to lose”, said manager Finbar O’Reilly, was key for Arva as they advanced to the Ulster Club Intermediate Championship final with a memorable comeback against Magheracloone this afternoon in Crossmaglen.

Trailing by seven points (0-11 to 0-4) with as many minutes of normal time remaining, Arva stunned the Monaghan champions with a brilliant late surge, goals from Tristan Noach Hofmann and Barry Donnelly helping them to a 2-7 to 0-11 win.

“What can you say? We didn’t play well. We started both halves really well but never pushed on. Conditions were really difficult, we had the breeze in the second half, we didn’t really make great use of it,” O’Reilly commented.

“I thought we were sloppy in possession and Magheracloone’s high pressing and high energy really unsettled us when we felt in that second half that we might get latitude and be able to really have sustained pressure on them – but we never really had that sustained pressure which meant we never really got on top of the game and on top of them and they just kept nosing in front.

“And it looked like it was gone, with five or six minutes to go there was seven in it and it did look like it was gone but I’ve been in this situation before once or twice and I always feel if you can get a goal… and whatever way that comes, whether it drops in or whatever.

“And we got a goal and I think straight away we smelled blood and felt it was there to be won and we drove on from there really.”

Points from Kevin Bouchier and Ciaran Brady helped Arva cut the gap to a more manageable five points while Magheracloone were down a man due to a black card and the Cavanmen kicked on from there.

“The two points to take it from seven down to five were critical, it just shifted the whole play back down to where we wanted it and it put the pressure on the keeper with that breeze and the resulting goal came off that. So that was 1-2 in two minutes you could say and straight away, it’s game on then, it’s there for you and all of a sudden it’s an uphill struggle for Magheracloone,” said Finbar.

“It’s just conditions were so difficult, it’s hard to explain for people who weren’t here, it’s a gale-force wind and we were glad to have it at our backs in the last couple of minutes.

“The resilience and the heart and character that’s in these lads is phenomenal and it’s built up through their underage ranks and then the last two years, we’ve just been on an unbelievable journey, game on game, week on week, not losing and refusing to lose in a lot of situations. All of that came to the surface in that last couple of minutes and there was only going to be one winner at that point.”

See this week’s print edition for full coverage.