By Niall Gartland

ARVA will put their winning streak of 22 successive championship victories on the line when they take on Magheracloone this Saturday – but that’s very much a subplot to what’s really at stake for the reigning All-Ireland Junior champions.

Making it back to another Ulster final would be a tremendous accomplishment in itself, and manager Finbar O’Reilly stated that last year’s surge to Cavan, Ulster and All-Ireland honours has only served to embolden the side.

“I would’ve sensed throughout this year that there was hunger and a belief that we would win the Intermediate in Cavan – that we would be there or thereabouts.

“It was such a brilliant experience last season and they wanted more. I haven’t seen any sign whatsoever at any point this year of lads being content with their lot. They wanted to drive on, achieve promotion back to senior football in Cavan, and they’ve had that attitude consistently throughout the season.”

They had to wait a full 27 days for their Ulster Championship opener against Drumgath, which they ended up winning with six points to spare. O’Reilly says he gave his side a break after winning the Cavan Intermediate title, though he acknowledged they took a little while to get going against the Down champions.

“Bar two meet-ups to shake off some of the cobwebs, we took 10 days off after winning Cavan.

“It really was a down-time of sorts. We felt mentally, we needed it and that was the gamble we decided to take.

“We’d played four knockout championship matches in five weeks, including three weeks in-a-row in the lead up to the final.

“It’d had been such a busy year in general and I felt we needed a complete break. In the first half against Drumgath there’s no doubt we looked a bit rusty, but we got a fortuitous goal just before half-time and we pushed on from there. It was a tricky game and we were delighted to come through it.”

Standing in Arva’s way of a place in the final is a Magheracloone team that reached the 2019/20 All-Ireland final. The bookies can barely separate them and O’Reilly believes this could be their toughest test yet.

“There’s no doubt that these chances don’t come too often. We’re 60 minutes away from getting back to another Ulster final but I can assure you we’re well aware it’s going to be an extremely tough challenge.

“I went to their Monaghan final as I knew there was a possibility we could end up playing them and I was very impressed. They’ve a lot of pace and aggression, they play on the edge and they’re a typical passionate Monaghan team.

“It’s a huge challenge for us, it really is and we’re well-aware of that. It’s a massive step up for us and we’re going in with our eyes wide open. It’s going to take our very best to stay with them and have a chance of winning it,” concluded O’Reilly.