Arva boss prepared for crucial Ballyhaise clash

By Michael McMullan

ARVA manager Thomas Brady is expecting a tough game from Ballyhaise this weekend as the Cavan Senior Championship heads into moving week.

Both teams have one win from their two games, leaving this a vital clash with one further round to make it into the top eight and a place in the quarter-finals.

After victory over Killygarry, Arva were on the wrong end of Ramor United’s six-goal blitz.

They will have Cavan senior star Ciarán Brady back from suspension and have taken a dig into their defeat to the back-to-back league champions.

“We underperformed, we weren’t up to the pitch of the game,” Brady said of the Ramor game.

“It was a real lesson for us in what it’s going to take to compete in this Cavan Championship and hopefully we’ll have our eyes wide open now, heading into this next game.”

Arva have the core of the team who won the All-Ireland Junior title and climbed up via intermediate ranks.

If anything, their panel has been bolstered by players who have relocated home since the All-Ireland run.

“Any man that was eligible to play a football in Arva has basically played it,” he added. “There haven’t been too many drop-offs, we wouldn’t have a huge playing pool.”

This season’s league was a mixed bag of heavy defeats with spells of excellent play. Finishing mid-table, victory in the last game erased any concern of relegation and could’ve almost pulled them into the play-offs at the top.

They’ve been missing the injured Barry Donnelly who broke into the Cavan team this season.

Thomas Partington, Dylan Maguire and Éanna Ward were part of the Cavan u-20 squad.

Partington missed some of the campaign with injury and is back on the injured list. Brady hopes he is nearing a return to action.

With their round four opponents unknown until this weekend’s round of games, Brady and Arva are locked into this weekend’s challenge.

Ballyhaise were Cavan Intermediate champions the year Arva went on their All-Ireland Junior run. Before that, they lost two intermediate finals, beating Arva along the way.

“I would say they’ve beat us more times than we’ve beat them,” Brady said of their history.

“We won the Junior in 2014 and got to the Intermediate final in 2015. They beat us and we won the Intermediate then in 2016.

“They’re a big physical strong side,” he added, referring to how they could’ve beaten Cullyhanna in the Ulster final after missing a host of chances.

“They’re a a big physical strong side around the middle and it’ll be a massive task now to beat them. I suppose for both teams, both teams are under pressure to get a result because we’re probably both coming off disappointing performances or results.”

Ballyhaise, managed by former Derry captain Gerard O’Kane, were commanding winners over Lavey before losing to Kingscourt.

As it stands, both teams are in the top eight. With two rounds to go, the battle heats up to make the quarter-finals and stay clear of any relegation concerns.

“You never know what’s coming in the draw,” Brady said of their unknown fourth opponent.

“Obviously there is momentum from winning. If you get a good result, momentum is with you. If you don’t, it can go against you so it’s a huge game for both teams.”