A winning combination
December 31, 2010Back in the days when we spent time talking about the millenium clock; when we worried about armageddon wiping out our computers and when a new century dawned, Adrian Crossan was bidding his days as a minor a fond goodbye.
In 2000, Adrian, just 18, featured on the Drumgoon junior side that lost out to Cornafean in dramatic circumstances in the JFC final.
Back then he was part of a squad which was liberally laced with fellas who were weighed down with underage medals and hungry for senior gongs.
In 2001 Drumgoon's very own brat pack gave the club the vim and vigour, the confidence and the swagger to go on and annex the JFC title and the IFC the following year.
2001 and 2002 represented the golden years for Drumgoon Eire Og. Crossan still plays for the premier team but he hasn't forgotten his roots.
In the company of Conor Lennon, Adrian held the tiller as his under 14 charges careered all the way to the Roinn D Shield title in 2010.
The Shield success came in the wake of a gritty but, ultimately, unrewarding league campaign which was extraordinarily socialist in its make-up.
It seemed every team bar none in Roinn D had the wherewithal to beat one another. Fortunes swayed this way and that. It was fascinating stuff.
Eire Og lost one game, drew another but defeats to the likes of Cornafean, Belturbet and Gowna scuppered their league title chances.
"We went to win every match but it didn't just work out which was unfortunate 'cause the games we lost we only lost by a point or two," Adrian explains.
"It was a case of 'so near and yet so far' for us in the league which probably made it an even bitter pill to swallow when we went out of the running.
"From the games we played in the league we knew we had a good chance of doing well in the Shield. We went into the Gowna match fairly confident.
"It all came down to a couple of goals we conceded in a ten minute period on the first time we met them. It was a game we could have won.
"It was good that once the league campaign was over, the lads hadn't time to start feeling sorry for themselves and were right back in the action."
According to team-manager Crossan, the Eire Og troupe always showed the potential to work the oracle, sooner rather than later.
"In fairness to the lads, the only time there was a full panel of players on hand was for the final against Gowna 'cause of holidays and illness.
"Conor and myself learned a lot over the past year about the fellas we had available to us but we knew they showed some good form at under 12 and under 13 levels.
"They hadn't won anything prior to this year as a group but they're a very determined bunch and you could count on them to keep fighting 'till the end.
"They're not the biggest or strongest group of under 14s that have ever come on the scene but they're very committed and easy to manage."
Having kicked off training in February and worked on the boys' foot passing, fist passing and scoring, Adrian began to see the players' potential come shining through.
"A lot of the players would have shown their talent through the Cumann na mBunscol matches and they would have picked up the basic skills at school.
"You could see how confident a lot of them were on the ball and they weren't overawed by any challenge put in front of them."
As things panned out, Drumgoon rose to the challenge of overcoming Gowna in the Shield final in superb fashion.
The Shield final against the lads from the seven lochs was played at the 3G pitch on a blustery end-of-May evening.
Drumgoon would emerge winners by 2-6 to 1-4 after Gowna proved to be marginally the more impressive side in the opening stages of the decider.
That was hardly a major surprise given that they had, after all, won the previous encounter in Gowna between the sides.
Gowna opened the scoring but great work in defence by Christopher McCabe and Gavin O'Brien limited the Longford-border side's chances thereafter.
Drumgoon's cause quickly gained momentum and livewire full-forward Joshua Crowe rifled the ball to the net to put his side in pole position.
Young Crowe's brother, Adam, then followed up with a similar score to keep Gowna firmly under the cosh.
To their credit, the green and reds circled the wagons and plundered a goal themselves to cut Drumgoon's lead to 2-1 to 1-2 at half-time.
"We hadn't things easy at any stage of the match and we hadn't a lot of luck either with injuries," 28 year old Adrian explains.
"Enda Shalvey got injured at the start of the game so we took him out of the middle and put him in at full-forward and we lost Darren Lavery to injury after less than minutes of the first half.
"The omens weren't good early on in the match but the players we had were very versatile and we were able to bring Josh Crowe out to midfield."
So what was the nature of the team's pep talk at half-time?
"Basically we wanted the lads to keep doing what they were doing. We looked dangerous every time we went forward and the idea was that we needed to make sure we got enough ammunition up to the fellas up front."
Drumgoon did well to hit the ground running in the second half and a neat point from Conall Farrell was just the start the team wanted.
Enda Shalvey and Barry Harkin rowed in with a point apiece too for the leaders before Gowna appeared to get a life line with the award of a penalty.
However to the delight of the Drumgoon supporters, Damien O'Brien dived to his right to make a brillant save.
"I think the penalty save with about ten minutes to go was a real turning point because we got a huge lift from it and their heads seemed to go down.
"Goals change matches but the penalty save was a big moment in the match and we never really looked back after that."
While generously admitting that the team's five point winning margin might have been a tad flattering, Adrian says Drumgoon were most definitely the better team in the final and deserved to win the title.
And even though the young Eire Og stars subsequently lost their championship semi-final duel with Maghera/Munterconnacht, success in the weeks after against Shercock and Cootehill Celtic in the Tommy Fay Cup helped put the tin hat on a great year for them.
And the plan ahead from here?
"Hopefully we can progress with this group of players and help them improve their skills and ultimately fulfill their potential.
"At least half of the team is eligible to play under 14 again in 2011 which is a positive thing and that'll give those fellas another opportunity to shine."
Reflecting on the health of his beloved club in general, Adrian believes that a bright future lies ahead for the current crop of underage talent in Drumgoon.
He concedes that the club's juveniles haven't quite enjoyed the sort of consistent success in recent years that coloured matters locally when he was an underage player and for periods of time afterwards as well.
"Winning things at underage level is no guarantee of success down the line at adult level but it is a very positive sign of the type of talent you have available to you and their potential.
"The club has had a few lean years recently at underage but there are some very good young lads coming through and if we can add to this year's under 14 success and minor title (in conjunction with Cootehill Celtic) then we are likely to have some good times in front of us at senior level in the future."
Drumgoon Eire Og U14s v Gowna (Roinn D Shield final): Damien O'Brien; Gavin O'Brien, Niall Clerkin, Darren Lavery, Christopher McCabe, Fabian Moore, Enda Shalvey, Barry Harkin, Oisin Quinn, Adam Crowe, Conall Farrell, Joshua Crowe, Jason O'Brien.
Subs used; Cathal Bannon; Christopher Joyce; Colm Shalvey. Tweet
