Canovee's Evan Dodd driven by chance to bring club back to intermediate ranks

Canovee joint-captain Evan Dodd expects a major challenge from Cobh in Sunday's McCarthy Insurance Group Premier JFC final, but believes his side's experiences over recent seasons have them well prepared for the occasion at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (2pm).

Sunday's decider will be Canovee's third county final appearance in four seasons, the latest chapter in a sustained run of success that has left the club within 60 minutes of a return to the intermediate ranks for the first time since 2013.

Sharing the captaincy with Liam Kelleher, Dodd has been at the centre of one of the most successful periods in the club's recent history. 

Having fallen short against neighbours Kilmurry in the 2024 decider, the 2023 County Junior A champions are determined to make the most of another shot at silverware and promotion.

While the disappointment of that defeat remains part of the story, Dodd insists it is not something Canovee have spent much time dwelling on.

"I suppose it will be referenced a small bit, but we won't look too far into it," he said.

"We dissected that game a long time ago and took our learnings from it. We're going into our third county final in four seasons now, so we must be doing a lot of things right. We can't focus too much on the bad things when we're doing plenty of stuff right as well.

"We're just hungry for more. It's our third county final in four seasons and we've only one county title so far, so we're hungry to add to that."

The county final occasion itself is something Dodd and his team-mates are determined to embrace.

"County finals are an experience in their own right," he says.

"Between playing in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and everything that goes around the day, plus the Premier Senior final afterwards, it adds another bit to it.

"It's something we're excited for. We've been working for this all year. This is the time of year you want to be playing football. 

"Once it's here, you don't want to wish it away. You're trying to enjoy the build-up to it and hoping to put in a performance on the day."

Dodd believes the foundation for their good run in recent years lies in constant improvement rather than wholesale change.

"We're just fine-tuning all the time. Football is a game of small margins. Against Kilmurry, there was only a point between us.

"It's about adding small bits every year. Everyone becomes more familiar with their roles. There's more work on the training field and with strength and conditioning. We have a lot of good work done and we're always trying to find those little improvements."

Ahead of Sunday's showdown, Canovee have also done their homework on a Cobh side that caught the eye in their semi-final victory.

"We were able to go down and watch their semi-final against St Nick's and they were impressive, there's no two ways about it," Dodd states.

"They're a very balanced team. We haven't had a whole pile of dealings with them over the last few years, but we can only focus on what we can control ourselves.

"We'll have our match-ups and we'll have our plan in place, but it's about controlling what we can control."

For a club that has spent 13 years trying to regain its place in the intermediate ranks, the significance of this opportunity is not lost on the players.

"Winning would be huge, to be back up intermediate," Dodd said.

"There are brilliant people in the club, from the underage teams and schools right through to the volunteers and supporters.

"We spoke the last day about the pride we have in the jersey and the only way we can reward that or repay that is through our effort, 100 percent effort in every game we play.

"We're representing the whole club, the schools, the parish, everyone. Hopefully we can reward all those people on Sunday."