Last year's Under 21 Division Two Championship competition was a cracking affair. Hats off to the Lavey lads on going the distance. Kevin Carney reports. Things are looking up, big time, for Lavey. Out of the limelight for a lot longer than is good for Cavan Football Inc. the famed hoops are making strides towards the peleton of the big ball scene in the Breffni County. Remember the club's first ever Under 16 Division Two title success in 1997? The Joe Biggars stalwarts from yester year would have been proud of them! Wind the tape fast forward and another equally talented group of individuals made a similar impression on the local football scene by winning the Under 21 Division Two Championship title last year. But the irony is, in this respect, that a lot of the same fellas were involved in both title-winning camps. Under 16 medal-winning heroes from yester year turned heroes once again. The conveyor belt down of talent around Lavey sure is working okay! Backboned by veterans from the '97 success such as Joey Jordan, Sean Maguire, James Carolan and Michael Maguire (all of whom have county under 21 experience under their belts), the would-be champions of 2002 had the pedigree, the winning mentality and the tactical nous to take on the best of the rest. But would the assembly line theory hold good? Five years on, would the club add Under 21 honours to their aforementioned Under 16 title? The answer turned out to be a resounding yes. And was it a surprise? Well to those who weren't totally au fait with the runners and riders in the race for the title or the quality of Lavey's challenge in particular, the triumph by the black and whites may have had people sitting up and taking notice but for those at the coalface on Lavey's behalf, what came to pass didn't come near the revelation department. "It wasn't a surprise to those in the Lavey club when the team went the distance and eventually won the championship. "We knew we had a very good team and with four players of county standard on your side, the basis for a very good 15 is there and that was obvious to us," team-manager Seamus Smith insists. Part of the Lavey landscape for a long number of years now, Seamus clearly rates Lavey's finest very highly and given the way his charges careered their way to the winners' enclosure, one can understand just why. "The ironic thing about the Under 21s and their success was that at the start of the year practically no one at the club had contemplated whether or not they were going to be in the shake-up for any silverware because the main focus was on the intermediate side and their chances at intermediate level. "While the intermediate side were unlucky to lose out by just a point to Cootehill in trying to get into the quarter-finals of the championship, the Under 21s went further and all credit to the players because they deserved their good fortune." Only too delighted to reflect on the silver lining which appeared in the wake of the club's intermediate championship disappointment, Seamus says that the Lavey mentors fancied the club's under 21s to do well. It was just that they didn't know how well they would do. In the event, the young Lavey lads proved the best of the bunch in division two. With wins over Mountnugent and Ballinagh under their belts, they charged forward to a semi-final meeting with Cuchullains. "We got a bit of the rub of the green in the earlier games but the further we went in the competition the more confident the players became. But they were a gritty, determined bunch and beating Ballinagh, who would have been the clear favourites against us, was a great morale-booster. "I think the win over Ballinagh was the making of the team last year," Seamus opines. The Lavey team also received a major injection of confidence in the semi-final at Drumgoon in late November when they upset the odds by beating a Cuchullains squad whose underage pedigree was second to none in the county. The match underdogs were full value for their 0-9 to 1-4 ticket through to meet neighbours Denn in the decider. Playing the more consistent, more disciplined football all through, Lavey began the game in determined fashion but it was the Cross/Mullagh combination who eased ahead early in the match with points from Shane Smith and Seamus Clarke cancelling out a similar effort in the 3rd minute by Lavey's Ciaran Galligan. In what was a dogged, claustrophobic clash, both sides found it difficult to impose themselves on their opponents with the result that the possession stakes were evenly divided over the hour. Lavey had the edge in front of goal though and two points from Ciaran Galligan in the 13th and 16th minutes edged them into a well-deserved if precarious lead. A Shane Smith point for Cuchullains kept Lavey on their toes and then with 21 minutes played, the only goal of the game was scored when an apparently harmless looking delivery was flighted in and somehow squirmed free of the Lavey defence and Gavin Daly gathered and promptly buried the ball to the Lavey net to leave things all-square, 1-2 to 0-5, at the break. But that was as good as it got for Cuchullains as Lavey proceeded to dictate the exchanges from the opening whistle of the second half. Playing the more cohesive, composed football, the winners-elect banged over three points without reply inside the first ten minutes of the restart with the outstanding Sean Maguire bagging two of them and a free by Ciaran Galligan adding to Cuchullains' worries. Cuchullains seemed to let their heads drop and their attacks became less and less frequent. Marshalled superbly by county under 21 star Joey Jordan, the Lavey defence dealt more than capably with everything Cuchullains could throw at them. Indeed, Cuchullains only managed to score two more points in the game, both of them from frees by Seamus Clarke in the last five minutes of the half. Twelve minutes earlier, Cuchullains' push for a get-out clause suffered a blow when their right corner back Raphael Fitzpatrick was dismissed for a second bookable offence. Cuchullains continued to thread water up 'till the final whistle even though with just four minutes remaining they had managed to close the deficit to just the minimum. Their efforts were fruitless though as Lavey proved themselves to be the hungrier team, pressing hardest in those dying minutes to duly knock over the insurance point when Michael Maguire ran in on goal and cleverly fisted the ball over the bar. "The semi-final was a very tough game and we were just glad to get through to the final at the final whistle. "Their goal brought them right back into it but I always felt we had the edge on them and to finish with a flourish added to our sense of satisfaction at the end of the game." And so to the final and a local derby clash with Denn. Once again the Lavey lads were wearing the underdog label. But didn't it suit just dandy! But, then again, didn't Lavey hoist themselves onto the winner's podium by the circuitous route also! In truth when Denn captain Martin Cahill blasted the ball into the Lavey net in the 5th minute of the second half, even the most partisan Lavey fans must have feared the worst as their favourites then trailed by 0-2 to 2-3. "We looked like we were dead and buried at that stage but those lads have a great spirit, great grit and determination and they turned things around," Seamus remarks. And sure enough, Lavey responded in gutsy style to resurrect their hopes with a mighty bang. A brilliant goal by Ciaran Galligan in the 11th minute was the signal for a grand Lavey comeback. Galligan's goal really put Denn on the retreat and when Michael Maguire raced through to blast over a further point, Lavey were seen to be clearly on a roll. And then the course of the game was changed completely. A high lobbing ball landed on the edge of the Denn square. It invited a fist and it was duly supplied by Lavey corner-forward Declan Murphy who rattled the Denn net to the delight of the Lavey faithful in the stand. Lavey were now ahead by a single point, for just the second time in the game. Denn came back to make it 2-4 apiece but the Lavey's momentum was the greater of the two. The next eight minutes saw stalemate prevail. A brilliant point on the run by Sean Maguire upped the ante. Denn tried but simply couldn't find the target thereafter. It was left to Michael Maguire to fire over another point for Lavey to leave two between the sides. Denn were to have nothing left in the tank though. It was to be Lavey's day. Team-manager Seamus Smith plus selectors Tony Smith, Phil Smith, Paul Conaty and trainer P.J. Lee had guided the players all year and deserved credit. We'll doubtless see them and their title-winning Under 21s combine in the years ahead to good effect once more. The following is the Lavey team which scooped the Under 21 Division Two Championship title last December; Mark Donohoe; Kevin Donohoe, James Carolan, Peter McGee; Finbar Jordan, Joey Jordan, Damian Martin; David Walsh, Michael Maguire (0-3); Conor McGee, Sean Maguire (0-2), David Tierney; Trevor Smith, Ciaran Galligan (1-1) Declan Murphy (1-0). P.S. To all Lavey's would-be opponents at Under 21 level next year, it is surely fair to point out that only three of the all-conquering team of 2002 will be over-age for battle in 2003! Tweet

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