Brendan Cregg is chairman of Roscommon minor football board. With an All-Ireland final appearance in the offing, he concedes it's not a bad time to be in the hot seat. Roscommon's ascent from the mire to pastures rich in promise and potency has surprised the world of Gaelic football this year. While the county's blue chip senior footballers have seen their stock stagnate in 2006, those destined to succeed them as Roscommon's elite have helped lift the county's rating off the basement bottom of share indices within the GAA. The county minors' major success in reaching this year's All-Ireland MFC has surprised all and sundry, including minor board chairman Brendan Cregg. "We're absolutely surprised but delighted of course," Brendan says. "It wasn't what was expected of this particular set of players but it's been an amazing story so far and hopefully it'll have a great ending too." Kerry will be doing their damndest of course to shred any possibility of a fairy tale end of season story for Roscommon's young guns. The story of the rise and rise of Fergal O'Donnell's charges has been one of the stand-out episodes of the 2006 GAA season. A lot of it's attraction lies in the 'slow-burner' nature of their campaign and in the fact that their achievements to date have taken even those within their own camp by surprise. "We had a number of challenge games before the championship but played very poorly and lost six of them in a row. "Then we took part in the Connacht minor league and even though Galway were missing four or five of their best players, they beat us convincingly." And yet, slowly but surely, O'Donnell's side assumed the soubriquet of dynamic instead of dismal. A victory away to Leitrim came as a timely confidence-booster and another win over Sligo added to the sense of recovery. And even defeat to Mayo couldn't punch a hole in the team's growing rejuvenation. Still thoughts of a provincial title were far from anyone's thoughts in Roscommon. All the time though, our man Cregg was gradually coming to realise that team-manager O'Donnell and his selectors had a great bunch of lads to mould into a highly combatative unit. "They're a very level headed bunch of fellas with good football brains and good academically too," Brendan informs us. "They listen carefully to their management, take things on board very quickly and seem to have the knack of being able to adapt to any situations that come before them." Certainly 2006 saw a rare class of Roscommon minor football squad emerge. But like the players' season itself, the evolution of a county under 18 squad capable of becoming the best not alone in Connacht but in Ireland kicked in almost unnoticed by even those at the heart of the revolution. In tracing the genesis of the current Roscommon renaissance at minor level, one must roll the pages of recent history back to reveal a litanty of solid, progressive work with a raft of development teams, the first of which was established in 1999. "We felt we were making progress with the development squads each year but losing to Galway in the 2004 final was a bit of a setback and it was the same again last year. "We won the Fr. Manning under 16 competition in '04 and had expected to do well in 2005 but Mayo put an end to our campaign on their way to the All-Ireland final. "Funnily enough, that was a game we could have won but they got a crucial goal which turned the game in their favour. "But it's safe to say we've been making progress over the last few years at minor level although this current crop of players have no great pedigree in terms of winning things. "I think, like myself, most people would have fancied Galway for the Connacht minor title this year if they were being honest with their St. Mary's College contingent at the heart of the team." Reflecting on the steady progression of the team from outsiders to eventual provincial champions, Brendan - a Michael Glavey's clubman - fingers the team's minor league victory over Leitrim as a watershed win. "I think it wasn't so much the victory itself as the manner of the win which impressed me most," the county board official explains. "They went a man down early on but they pulled together and showed a lot of character and a great work ethic to hold Leitrim scoreless for the final 15 minutes. Brendan accepts that the minors' odyssey to the biggest under 18 football final of the year has lifted the whole of the county, doing much to erase the embarrassment and ridicule which enveloped the county seniors in the not too distant past. "Football in the county had been under a cloud for a number of years and it took these lads to restore pride and honesty in Roscommon football. "This year's minor success couldn't have come at a better time for football in the county. In fairness pride and honesty and competitiveness is what Fergal (O'Donnell) and the selectors set out to get from the lads from the very outset. "Winning the Connacht title has been a bonus really. It's a credit to everyone involved with the team. "Certainly the team-management is as good as I've seen over any Roscommon team; their preparation of the team has been first class. "I have to say too that our senior board chairman Michael McGuire has been first class too. "He has his finger on the pulse of Roscommon football and has contributed an awful lot, having been there at the initiation of the first development squad in 1999 and has helped us out at every opportunity during the year." It seems that the Roscommon minors' success this year is altogether rooted in the collective. A division of labour policy and a unity of purpose had clearly binded all concerned. Even the parents of this year's Connacht minor champions have rowed in generously all year by lightening the load on the county board in carrying out the tasks of ferrying the players to various get-togethers. Good for morale, good for the balance sheet too. "The involvement of the parents has helped bond everyone together and was more important than any financial considerations. "Of course when you reach an All-Ireland final, it's a long year and it costs a bit but we've been helped a lot by the county board and by the Dublin Supporters' Club and Des White of Sierra Communications in particular who has helped greatly in offsetting a lot of our expenses. He's a true Roscommon man." No relation to exciting centre full-forward Fintan Cregg, the Cloonfad-based primary school teacher but Charlestown native is greatly uplifted by the buzz which has been generated in county Roscommon by the minors' triumphs to date. "You have to remember that a place in an All-Ireland final has been a long time coming, 25 years in fact. And it's 55 years since the county last appeared in the All-Ireland minor final. It's been a huge thing for the county. "But the supporters deserve it; they've stuck with the county even in the darkest days. "It was tremendous to see over 2,000 Roscommon supporters going over to New York. "There must have been over five thousand of our supporters for our 1-10 to 0-9 semi-final win over Meath in Croke Park." Looking ahead to next Sunday's decider against Kerry, Brendan is happy that Roscommon will carry with them their almost perennial tag of underdogs. "It has helped the lads so far. Granted they were probably slight favourites going into the quarter-final match against Tipperary but other than than they've been the outsiders all year. "Kerry will go into the final as favourites and I can understand why. "I've seen them on video and they're physically a very strong side but anything can happen in a final." Brendan's reticence in terms of doing some crystal ball gazing is as understandable as it is tactful. So far Roscommon have conceded just nine points in every game they've played in the championship to date. Would he sleep well the night before the match if he was sure that the best from the rest would only concede nine points against the Kingdom? "I'd take that," he says unhesitatingly. "Nine points would leave us in with a good chance of winning. "We've roughly been scoring around the twelve points mark or 1-10 but who knows whether that size of score will be enough on the day." And if the team doesn't succeed in its final goal and doesn't sufficient goals and points to make their point for the final time in 2006? "There'll be no daggers drawn, that's for sure. "We'll be naturally very disappointed if things don't go our way but everyone will still have reason to be very proud of their efforts this year. "There's been a tremendous level of goodwill from the clubs in general and the supporters and hopefully everyone will get their reward in the final." Tweet

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