The future on show AGB and Pearse Gaels will do battle in the MFC final
KIERON KENNY MFC Final Preview SOME of the busiest and most talented footballers in Wicklow at the minute have another outing on Sunday when the holders AGB put their title on the line against the newcomers Pearse Gaels in this year’s Minor football final.
In what should be an intriguing contest, the Arklow men will be determined to add another championship to their budding list while the new grouping from North Wicklow will give it their all appearing in a final at the first time of asking. A lot of the players in both these squads have already had a county final outing this year and while some will be chasing a second medal, some won’t want a second loss.
There will be a large portion of county Minors on view and it should make for a high-quality game with plenty of pace and skill on show.
The Arklow lads play the game with plenty of speed, tight marking backs, two very mobile midfielders and classy forwards who never stop sniffing out a chance for a score.
The Pearse Gaels squad will have more of the team ethic about them now having had time to work on things in the past month or two. With plenty of talent to pick from they are a serious and resolute obstacle. They have some really good forward players and strong defenders too so the match ups could be very interesting.
AGB have been favourites to lift this title from the word go and the performances of many of their players in the Intermediate championship will have copper fastened that opinion amongst many. The Gaels team made up of players from Kilcoole, Ashford, Newtown and An Tochar under the management of Ciaran McGuirl won’t be there just to make up the numbers and have improved steadily over the summer.
It won’t have been easy to manage a group where four clubs must be placated but the winding down of club fixtures will have benefitted the development of his squad since the semi-final some weeks back.
Plenty of the Arklow team have been busy winning an Intermediate crown and making names for themselves with their exertions.
Full-back Tom Maher belies his years with mature defensive displays every day, behind him Kyle O’Connor is a sound goalkeeper and Michael O’Sullivan and Tadgh O’Callaghan know how to close forwards down too.
They will have a strong halfback line with Tiernan McBride, Jonathan Devereux, Jack McCall and Ciaran O’Shea competing for places. Cal Kelly and Cormac O’Shea will possibly form the midfield pairing. Both these were central to AGB winning the Intermediate final a few weeks back with Kelly having a great knack for a midfielder of ending up at the finish of a forward movement. O’Shea has pace to burn and showed this again last week with a fine solo goal in the Leinster club game.
Pearse Gaels must watch their forward runs and try stop them out the field. The problem for the Gaels may be having to try stop so many likeminded players in the AGB line up and one of them who is a real danger is Darragh Fitzgerald. Being able to play in almost any position and excel wherever he is stationed the consistent Fitzgerald must be a nightmare to curb. His elusiveness and ball carrying ability mark him down as threat that thus far many have failed to halt.
Cathal Kelleher, if fit, will be close to goal and he is another finisher of note. Gavin Bentley is developing well and a good target man while Peter Hempenstall, Jack Darcy and Quentin O’Reilly are regulars who work hard to create space in the forward line. Gary Fennell, Tom Hurley, Andrew Maher, Tom Jameson and Davey Byrne have also featured in the run to the final and will be itching to be involved on Sunday and manager Eugene Bentley will have them ready for all Pearse Gaels have to offer.
As I mentioned earlier, the Pearse Gaels squad has grown along the run to the final and they now possess a squad of players well capable of winning this game. Ken Turner is a top goalkeeper with a lengthy kick out and if he plays out the field his Newtown clubmate Sean Carthy, who is a fine shot stopper, would get the nod here over Ashford’s Cian Staunton.
Conor O’Toole is a fine full-back and was gutted to miss out on the Junior ‘A’ final with Kilcoole so he will put his all in to this as he does every day.
Killian Hannon, another Kilcoole player, could also take station in the full-back line but has been used in a forward role at times also.
John Kavanagh and Jack Mockler (An Tochar), Thomas Kearns (Ashford) and Aaron Toner (Newtown) can all play in the back line with Kearns a promising player for the future if his efforts for Ashford and the county Minor team this year are anything to go by.
Cal Connolly and Cormac Doyle from Ashford will look to start in the middle although ace free taker and star man Jack Bellamy from Kilcoole could be called in to action here and is a capable fielder too. Another Kilcoole player, Jordan Murray, is a promising talent and can play anywhere while picking six starting forwards from the talented bunch of Luke Evans (Kilcoole) an important player in their championship run, Ashford’s Kyle Duffy, Newtown’s Sean Gregory a speedy and tricky forward, Ryan and Adam Heffernan and Conor Odlum won’t be easy either.
Throw in An Tochar’s Jack Salley, Luke Power and Seamus Carr along with Lee Turner and James Sinnott from Newtown who have seen game time earlier and the management’s task will be a tough one but options will be plentiful.
Adam Cummins and Brian Short from Kilcoole, along with Gary McCann from Ashford have also been part of the squad along the way.
The Pearse Gaels team and squad are a confident bunch with good management but so are these AGB lads who have shown already that they love the feeling of winning and will want to retain their crown, they could scrape home but the hunger and purpose of the Gaels men won’t be easily dismissed.