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2023 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Club Championship Final – Avra (Cavan) 0-13 Listowel Emmets (Kerry) 0-10
Avra (Cavan) defeated Listowel Emmets (Kerry) by 0-13 to 0-10 in the 2023 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Club Championship Final on Sunday January 14th at Croke Park.
Brady-inspired Arva make hay after the interval to take All-Ireland JFC spoils
Arva (Cavan) 0-13 Listowel Emmets (Kerry) 0-10
Report by Paul Keane for the Irish Examiner newspaper
Considering the amount of chances they wasted, Arva would have had nightmares if they’d let this AIB All-Ireland junior football championship final slip through their fingers.
Thankfully for the Cavan side, they didn’t and a strong second-half performance, powered by captain and Cavan star Ciaran Brady, elevated them to a landmark win having trailed by three points at half-time.
Listowel Emmets, however, will certainly have sleepless nights about this one and how they somehow conspired to go from a position of authority at the interval to pure desolation at the final whistle. Truth be told, Arva could have won by more given their dominance in the second-half.
Man of the Match Brady and midfield colleague Tristan Noack Hofmann had huge games for the Ulster champions.
Free-taker Kevin Bouchier helped himself to four points too while Peter Morris’ three points were significant as well.
Arva were boosted 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 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 Bouchier all missing from reasonably straightforward positions.
Eddie Healy did something similar at the other end after a terrific solo run up the field for Listowel who didn’t score themselves until the 14th minute when Cormac Mulvihill finally split the posts.
That score seemed to ignite the Kerry men who enjoyed a strong second quarter, outscoring Arva by 0-7 to 0-2 from the 14th minute until half-time.
Mulvihill and free-taker David Keane accounted for a brace of points apiece.
Arva were under pressure and it was only momentarily relieved when Hofmann, the former Irish underage soccer international and League of Ireland player, clipped over a tidy 19th minute point.
The Ulster champions, who defeated Ballymaguigan, Lisnaskea and Blackhill to claim their provincial title, must have known that scores were going to be hard to come by.
Listowel had only conceded 2-2, 1-2 and 0-3 tallies in their three games since collecting the Kerry junior title by beating Ballymacelligott after extra-time.
With former Cork senior footballer Joe Joe Grimes at midfield, and captain Niall Collins spinning over a beauty on the run from the left wing, Listowel were full value for their 0-7 to 0-4 half-time lead.
There was an intriguing few minutes immediately after the restart as Arva returned reinvigorated and piled on the pressure but, true to the pattern of the first-half, their wasteful play cost them.
They carved out five scoring chances in the first five minutes of the second-half but only Brady and Bouchier converted with Partington striking a couple of poor wides and Noack Hofmann hitting the post with a free.
Listowel weren’t in a position to capitalise on those misses and when they did launch a heart-raising breakaway at the other end, Arva full-back James Morris came flying from nowhere to block Bryan Sweeney’s shot.
A real barnburner was in full flow now and after fighting back to level terms at 0-8 and 0-9 apiece, Arva took the lead for the first time through Bouchier in the 47th minute.
They were a man up at that stage as Listowel lost Ger McCarthy to a black card sin-binning for a wild lunge at Noack Hofmann.
Arva continued to be wasteful and spurned a couple more decent chances but still stretched the gap to two and then three points with scores from Bouchier and Peter Morris.
When Brady put them four ahead in stoppage time they were in dreamland with the finishing line close at hand.
Grimes struck to the net for Listowel in the 63rd minute and while there was controversy as it was ruled out for a free in the build up, it would have been only consolation anyway.
Arva scorers: K Bouchier (3 frees), C Brady (0-4 each); P Morris (0-3); T Noack Hofmann (0-2).
Listowel Emmets scorers: D Keane (0-3, 3 frees); C Mulvihill, S Keane (1 free) (0-2 each); N Collins, E Healy, S Tarrant (1 free) (0-1 each).
Arva: C O’Hara; C Madden, J Morris, D Maguire; T Partington, S Sheridan, F McAvinue; C Brady, T Noack Hofmann; J McCabe, B Donnelly, D Ellis; P Morris, C Sheridan, K Bouchier.
Subs: C Stanley for Ellis (41); T Brady for C Sheridan (56); P Cassidy for P Morris (61).
Listowel Emmets: C Keane; N Collins, J McElligott, C Pierse; E Browne, E Healy, M Kennedy; JJ Grimes, D Leahy; S Keane, G McCarthy, J McVeigh; C Mulvihill, B Sweeney, D Keane.
Subs: D Lynch for Leahy (h/t); S Tarrant for D Keane (49); A O’Rourke for Sweeney (56); J Moriarty for McCarthy (56); C Holly for McVeigh (58).
Ref: A Nolan (Wicklow).
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