Victory anticipated for Ballivor

JFC PREVIEW Ardcath men will provide a stern test

One aspect of Sunday's JFC final at Pairc Tailteann that can be predicted with a fair degree of certainty is that Ballivor won't win the Peter McDermott Cup with the same kind of free-wheeling dominance they displayed in the semi-final when they overcame St Ultan's by 19 points.

However, the prediction is that Ballivor will negotiate a St Vincent's side that is appearing in a second decider in three years.

Ballivor might win by one point or it might be more, but there are sound reasons for believing that they will take the coveted trophy to their home village where, no doubt, the locals will welcome the players back like conquering heroes returning from battle.

They won't thank me one little bit for making that call because St Vincent's now have the kind of motivational material they can - if they wish of course - stick up on their dressingroom wall and point towards and say: 'Look they don't give us much of a chance, let's show 'em.'

Or they might ignore all that, at least outwardly. They might store away the hurt and use it on the day to dismantle Ballivor's hopes and win the JFC, last claimed by a team from the area when Ardcath bagged the crown all the way back in 1948.

Every team, it's surely fair to say, loves to go into big games under the radar and avoid being burdened by the weight of expectations.

No doubt Ballivor are no different, but anyone who saw them ransack St Ultan's ambitions can only have been impressed. Very impressed.

In that game Ballivor displayed an abundance of riches in attack.

They particularly displayed the kind of pace that can have the same kind of effect on opponents as a hungry wolf has on a herd of cornered sheep.

Adam Gannon, Brendan McKeon and Nicky Potterton, when they have the ball, love nothing better than to see a large tract of territory in front of them that they can run into.

When they switch on the after-burners it takes a lot to stop them at least when the rules are adhered to.

A team can foul them, but invariably such fouls end up with McKeon firing over from the resultant frees with his cultured left foot.

Others contribute too, perhaps in a more understated, but no less effective, manner.

Players like David Conneely, Kevin McKeon, Harry Smyth and Chris Dunne. They, and their colleagues, do their jobs without any great fuss but with a high degree of efficiency.

At centre-back Paddy Connelly distributes the ball very effectively.

Nine Ballivor players contributed to the big win over St Ultan's, a spread of scores that underlines their threat.

The team managed by James McNally and John Rafferty look to be on an upward trajectory. Together.

As Rafferty alluded to after the St Ultan's game, this Ballivor side has had its fair share of setbacks in recent years having lost out in two championship semi-finals so they certainly won't be taking anything for granted.

Another setback earlier this year was another warning. "In the Tailteann Cup this year St Vincent's beat us in the semi-final, that's why I wouldn't regard us as favourites, they are a very good side, very strong," he added.

Treating St Vincent's with total respect would be wise partly because they have their own recent history of pain that can be utilised as fuel to power them on.

Two years ago they lost to Dunboyne in the final, after extra-time. They have solid reasons for believing they can get it right this time. Okay, they were somewhat fortunate to get past Dunsany in the semi-final.

Dunsany had their chances but didn't take them and St Vincent's were the benefactors of a very fortunate goal that was to prove so crucial.

One way of looking at their one-point victory is by highlighting how they won that game without playing particularly well.

It used to be said that a sign of a good team is when they win without playing well.

If they can move the ball from backs to forwards with a little more tempo and accuracy than they did against Dunsany - and be a little more clinical in attack - they can cause real damage.

They have frontmen such as Patrick McGill, Nigel Hand and Nigel Callaghan who can punish opponents - given the opporunities.

They showed in containing a lively Dunsany attack that their defensive battlements are sturdy and well-organised.

St Vincent's manager Ronan Kearns believes in positivity big time and he spoke after the semi-final about the fact that his team can play a lot better.

"They are brilliant footballers and part of our job is getting them to believe how good they are, they love a battle," he said.

"They have the ability to play much better and our job is to encourage that," he added.

Whether St Vincent's perform to their best in Sunday's final remains to be seen, but even if they do they may find it difficult to subdue a Ballivor outfit who look ready to step forward and claim the big prize.