All set for mouthwatering SFC final replay

Paul Fitzpatrick

So, we're back again and we cannot wait. Both sets of players were a credit to their clubs last week and if they produce as titanic a tussle as the first one, the thousands in attendance will have their money's worth and more.

As a measure of how hard-fought the drawn senior final was last Sunday before a bumper crowd of 8,600, how about the reactions of the respective managers?

Both men were happy to hear the final whistle and for different reasons. Ramor could have won it and in the end, could have lost it; Castlerahan looked like they had lost it and, 15 minutes later, could have won.

Asked after the game what his over-riding feeling was, Ramor United manager Micheál McDermott didn't beat around the bush.

“Probably relief at the end because when Cormac Daly was coming through on that last ball, the championship was over for us and Castlerahan were going to be the winners. We were very, very fortunate to get out of jail at the end and get back for another day,” the Shercock native told The Anglo-Celt.

Meanwhile, in the opposite corner, Castlerahan bainisteoir Michael Reilly expressed similar sentiments.

“It's just one emotion,” he said,” and that's happiness. We're very happy to still be in it. With five minutes left on the clock we were six points down and it was hard to see where we were going to get the scores from.

“But the boys are showing amazing character all year and they showed it again today, when their backs were really to the wall and they had to grind out it out, they did.

“Okay, we probably had half a chance to win it at the end but we're glad to get a replay.”

It's easy to see where both men were coming from. Ramor will have been disappointed to have conceded three goals. Castlerahan have now scored 18 in the championship and 'just' 69 points. It's incredible, really, to think that 43pc of their total scoring tallies in their seven games to date have been via goals.

Their ability to hit the net was well flagged but, in the end, Ramor couldn't stop it.

To put that in perspective, goals make up just 34pc of the Virginia men's total scoring output. So, if there's one trend McDermott will seek to identify and act on this week, it's this one.

Ramor will feel that if they stop Castlerahan bagging goals, they will win. In the drawn game, it looked that way but Sean Brady popped up with a magnificent goal and that turned the contest on its head.

Ramor were the better team, over the hour, and that can be construed one of two ways; either they are a superior outfit or there is more improvement in the Ballyjamesduff men.

Certainly, the word coming from the camp is that the Virginia side, the strength of whose panel has been well documented, have suffered most from a physical battle, with Jack Brady, Cathal Maguire and Micheál Smart all said to be doubtful for today.

That is counter-balanced by the loss of Enda Flanagan, who it is understood sustained a broken jaw last time out.

Still, Castlerahan have Oisin O'Connell to come in and if he is as electrifying as he was in his cameo off the bench a week ago, the loss of the former Cavan U21 captain can be overcome.

The match-ups were intriguing last week, with Conor Bradley taking the game to Ronan Flanagan in the first half to great effect before Enda O'Connell cooled his fire.

On the other side, Cian Mackey probed and pushed and came up with a fantastic late point but over the course of the game, he struggled to escape the clutches of county team-mate James McEnroe.

Adrian Cole was brilliant at full-forward for Ramor and Catslerahan will hardly repeat the mistake of detailing Brady to mark him. Michael Reilly needs the former Cavan star's coolness and class around the middle more.

Going into last week's match, things couldn't have been more finely poised. This time around, the pressure is off Castlerahan, whose dream of landing the big one looked dead and buried at 5.20pm last Sunday.

It will take one hell of an effort to see off Ramor but we feel a very slight advantage now lies in the Maroon corner. Both sides are unbeaten in the championship; by this evening, there should be just one still standing but another draw, even after extra time, might not be as far-fetched as it sounds.

Neck on the line, though, and it's Castlerahan's time.