A man of many hats
November 27, 2011Cootehill's inability to consolidate their success in reaching the IFC final two years ago continues to niggle the Celts, big-time.
As a member of the Cootehill squad that went head-to-head with Lavey in the 2009 decider, Aiden McCabe left Breffni with his colleagues beaten but unbowed.
After all, he had good grounds for believing that defeat to United in the final would be the starter for a tastier dish down the line rather than garnish on a respectable year.
"It's disappointing that we haven't managed to kick on since getting to the final in 2009," Aiden laments. "Last year we got to the quarter-finals but didn't do ourselves justice against Drumalee and then this year things didn't go our way either but we have only ourselves to blame. No excuses."
Cootehill's flagship team never convinced in 2011, in the championship at least. Fact is, the hoops' best innings in the past year came in the subsidiary league competition where no team in division two out-classed them.
Aiden finds it difficult to come to terms with yet another fallible season for Cootehill; another season of underachievement.
In simple terms, he admits that "it's hard to put your finger on what was missing, what went wrong."
"I just don't think we put together a consistently good 60 minutes in any one match - our inconsistency in matches let us down and let teams steal a march on us.
"Maybe there's a bit of a self-belief issue there but I don't think it's anything to do with a lack of hunger or lack of preparation or commitment."
Cootehill were never really at the races in the showpiece, blue riband intermediate competition in 2011. Sadly more unconvincing than invincible.
On paper, the club's finest are at least as talented, collectively, as the best of the rest but nothing, of course, was ever won on paper.
No stone was left unturned, Aiden re-assures us, but Cootehill's championship aspirations crashed on the rocks of a desperately poor start and really never recovered.
"We got off on the wrong foot in losing (0-12 to 2-11) to Knockbride and didn't ever really come close to matching some of our best league form after that either.
"Against Bailieboro, we played a bit better, won it (0-12 to 1-4) and did what we had to do but then the wheels came off unfortunately."
In collecting their first points of the campaign, the Celts' performance resembled something akin to the curate's egg with good and bad pieces found in almost equal measure.
Luckily for the hoops, they encountered an impotent Bailieboro team whose display was fitful at best and downright poor for the most part.
All things being equal, the hungrier team will invariably win out and so it proved thereafter at Breffni Park as Drung advanced to the quarter-finals of the IFC at the expense of Cootehill.
In what was a winner-take-all affair, the Dalcassians were more clear-cut winners (2-10 to 1-12) than their eventual one point success might suggest.
Cootehill's momentum was enough to see the issue go down to the wire and they were actually on level terms, 1-10 to 2-7, two minutes from the end of normal time.
However Drung's superior determination, leadership and concentration worked the oracle thereafter and a place in the last eight is justifiably theirs.
Cootehill can have no complaints having trailed for most of the game and having underperformed in key areas of the field.
Simply said, the Celts' played second fiddle in the vital diamond area of the pitch with some of their big guns firing blanks too often for their own team's good.
Drung's success in winning a lot of the battles for the breaking ball in the middle third proved pivotal in their success in winning the war.
Drung held the edge in experience, so vital in steering a steady path to the winners' enclosure. Their cunning and craft in the final third helped distuinquish them from their opponents too and with Cootehill's lack of incisiveness in front of goal again glaring, the whole picture painted a sorry vista for the hoops.
As is their wont, Cootehill were full of vim and vigour early on and lead by the odd point in five at the end of the first quarter thanks, in part, to Dean Connolly's 14th minute precision point.
"I think the Drung game probably summed up our championship season in that we had a good start but didn't build on that.
"One of our goals last January was to at least get out of the group and it was frustrating that we didn't manage that but we need to channel that frustration next year so that we can do better."
Reflecting on the club's odyssey to the '09 IFC decider, Aiden recognises the boost lent by such a campaign, especially in relation to inspiring the up-and-coming starlets.
"Success breeds success but that success filters down through the ranks as well and another campaign like 2009 would help push the club on."
Aiden combined his role as a member of the club's senior squad in 2011 with that of PRO and Coaching Officer. Ask a busy man anyone?
His coaching role sees him dovetail between liasing with the football talent at St. Michael's N.S and his duties with the club's various underage teams.
Last summer, he combined with fellow selector Liam Fox in assisting U16 team-manager Paul Hayes in guiding the Celts to the Division Four title.
In skipping to a 5-12 to 1-8 win in the final over Killinkere, Cootehill thundered into a 2-5 to 0-1 lead inside the opening quarter.
Cootehill's victory owed much more to the collective than the individual with every single player contributing handsomely to the title win.
The fact that seven of the winners' team made the scoresheet and that Killinkere managed just four scores from play speaks volumes for the division of labour Cootehill sported all around the field.
Crucially, some of Cootehill's lesser lights chose the final to produce their best individual form of the season, thus underpinning the team's mettle.
Cootehill Celtic (U16 Div. 4 final v Killinkere):
Darragh McCarney; James McKitterick, Fintan Roche; Fiachra Hughes, Aaron Cosgrove, Odhran O'Reilly; Ryan O'Reilly (0-1), Tom Hayes (1-3); Dean McMullen (0-2, both frees), Caoimhin Carney (0-3), Jason Halton; Alex Hamilton (1-1), Dermie Connolly (2-2).
Subs; Sean O'Connor (1-0) for A Hamilton; Joshua Reilly for F Roche; Johnny McKay for J Halton.
"Winning the under 16s helped make it a very good year for the underage sector in the club in 2011 and I can see most of that team going onto make a good impression at senior level for the club in the years ahead," Aiden enthuses.
"Our under 14s won their Shield competition too and the under 12s were very competitive and showed a lot of promise.
"Our under 8s and 10s were well looked after all year and took part in tournaments, blitzes and friendlies during the year.
"A lot of work has been done - a lot of it unseen - at underage level and with our 5 year strategic plan, good things are in the pipeline off the field too.
"Hopefully the plan will provide the road map and blueprint for the club as we look to enhance our existing facilities at Hugh O'Reilly Park while achieving league and championship success down the line."
HURLING REVIEW
Victory in the U16 football decider capped a great week for Cootehill Celtic GAA on the back of the club's stunning victory (6-3 to 4-5) the previous Monday over kingpins Castleblayney in the U16 Monaghan Hurling League, a win which involved all but three of the team that started the football final against Killinkere.
The local hurlers reached the U16 final in Monaghan but, alas, went down to Truagh by 3-5 to 3-9 despite a gutsy second half fightback.
Truagh blitzed their way into a 2-3 to 0-0 lead early on but Cootehill came back to cut the deficit by 1-2 to 3-6 at the interval.
Despite holding their opponents to just three points in the second half, the Celts just fell short of overhauling the north Monaghan team's lead.
Cootehill Celtic (U16 Monaghan HL final v Truagh):
Alex Hamilton; Fintan Roche, James McKitterick; Stephen McCooey, Aaron Cosgrove, Jason Halton; Enda Shalvey (0-2), Ryan Rogers; Fiachra Hughes (1-0), Odhran Reilly, Caoimhin Carney (0-3); Dermie Connolly (1-0), Amhlaoidh Brady (1-0).
Sub; Ryan Reilly for S. McCooey.
Elsewhere on the hurling front, the club's under 8 and 10s took part in a number of challenge games with both Cavan and Monaghan opposition and various blitzes held during 2011.
The club's under 12s competed in determined fashion in Monaghan without picking up a point but they rebounded later in the season to win three of their four league games in the corresponding Cavan league.
Similarily, the under 14s enjoyed mixed luck in their campaigns in Cavan and Monaghan but showed a lot of promise in the process with an away win over East Cavan Gaels the pick of their displays.
Last, but not least, the team's 'top' team performed admirably to reach the Monaghan MHL semi-final only to lose out to Castleblayney Faughs.
At the time of going to print, the minors - all of whom are eligible to compete at under 18 level in 2012 - were preparing to compete in the Cavan league. Tweet
