Arva come strong against Listowel to seize junior title

Arva 0-13 Listowel Emmets 0-10

What must have seemed like a nightmare AIB All-Ireland club junior football championship final for Arva at half-time ended with a landmark title success.

Trailing by three points at Croke Park, and having hit just four points and a series of bad wides, it seemed at that stage that the Cavan and Ulster champions were destined to defeat.

But a much-improved second-half performance, and an individual display from captain Ciaran Brady that ranks up there with some of his best work for Cavan over the years, turned a near lost cause into a most memorable afternoon.

Brady, who scored 0-04 from play, operated at midfield beside Tristan Noack Hofmann, another Cavan panel member from 2023, and the pair lorded it in a surprisingly one-sided second-half.

Arva would have kicked themselves if they'd let victory slip because they struck 12 wides on the afternoon and wasted several more decent chances.

They were boosted by the 46th minute black card handed to Listowel’s Ger McCarthy as well as the decision by referee Anthony Nolan in stoppage time to rule out a Listowel goal for a build earlier in the buildup.

Arva were also helped beforehand by the availability of Conal Sheridan and Thomas Partington, both of whom were doubtful following injuries in last weekend’s semi-final defeat of Kildare and Leinster champions Milltown.

Finbarr O’Reilly’s side kicked the first two points too, from skipper Brady, who was played in by midfield colleague Noack Hofmann, and then Peter Morris.

But the Ulster side, a senior outfit as recently as 2017, paid a high price for a series of poor wides after that with Morris, Sheridan and free-taker Kevin Bouchier all missing from reasonably straightforward positions.

Eddie Healy did