Arva looking at the next step

By Shaun Casey

IT’S been quite the year for Arva, but manager Finbar O’Reilly is intent on looking forward rather than to the past. In the last year, Arva have collected the Cavan, Ulster and All-Ireland Junior titles before claiming the Cavan IFC trophy.

They’ve grown from strength to strength, but the Breffni men won’t be happy with their lot just yet. They’re excited by the next challenge, which is the Ulster Championship and their forthcoming meeting with Down champions Drumgath.

It’s a step up in class to what they faced last year, plus they’re away from home on Saturday evening, but O’Reilly is hoping their voyage into the provincial campaign last season should aid them.

“There’s no doubt it’s going to help us,” said O’Reilly. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to go up to Newry and win, but we had to go to Owenbeg last year and then we had to go to Clones to play Lisnaskea. Then we had to go to Roslea to play Blackhill in the final.

“They’re all outside of our comfort zone, having to leave your area, leave your county boundaries and go into different places and strange places and strange venues and playing against teams that you’re not hugely familiar with.

“So, when you go through that, whether it’s Senior, Intermediate or Junior, of course it’s going to stand to you. We’re back on that trip now so hopefully it will help. I feel it will.”

There’s no time like the present and that was certainly the feeling inside the Arva changing room as they eyed up more championship silverware this year. The Junior All-Ireland champs knew they had the ability in their team to take on the Intermediate Championship.

“We would have felt that we were there or thereabouts in terms of winning the Intermediate,” added O’Reilly.

“There definitely would have been two or three other teams, Butlersbridge, Cuchulainns, Denn, who would have been major threats.

“But we would have felt that if we could just get our house in order and get a full clean bill of health that we would be really there or thereabouts and we were in tight situations in the quarter-final and the semi-final.

“The semi-final went to a replay but there’s no doubt I think what we went through last year and what we experienced and the places we had been stood to us in the real sticky times this year.

“We 100 per cent felt we were good enough to win the Intermediate but feeling you’re good enough doesn’t mean you’re going to do it, but we did do it.”

On facing Drumgath, O’Reilly added: “They won their final very comfortably. They scored heavily. They have a couple of really good inside forwards. Newry is not an easy place to go, and we know it’s going to be difficult, and we know if we don’t play really well, we won’t win. So, we’re under no illusions what’s ahead.”