High hopes for the future
November 27, 2011Thomas has held down all the executive positions at the club except treasurer and held many of the top portfolios while still at the height of his playing career, which saww him represent the county at all levels. This truly long and remarkable playing career saw him tog out for the second team during the 2011 season. With this kind of commitment it is not hard to understand why he is so passionate about his beloved club. His pride for all things gaelic has also seen him become a club referee which is something that he really enjoys.
Thomas is quick to point out that there are also many other people at the club that have put in long and dedicated years to the service of St. Aidans.
"On the playing side other very notable contributions spread over long careers have been made by Chris McCaffrey and Jim Aweeney," said the PRO.
"We as a club are very passionate about our football and while we may not have always achieved our desired goals we nevertheless have held them firm to our hearts.
"I suppose when we look back on the 2011 we will be judged as to how well our senior teams have performed, but there is al lot more to any club than just their adult team.
"This year we made a collective decision to appoint an outside manager and we feel we were very fortunate to acquire the services of former Leitrim senior football star, Gerry Flanagan. Gerry brought with him a fresh approach and a professional attitude to the system. Players and officials responded positively to his approach and the outlook for the season was positive.
"We were also very fortunate that through the goodwill of the areas biggest employer, Sean Quinn we do not have the emigration drain being experienced by many clubs throughout the county. We lost three players to the 'emigrant boat' in Joe McKiernan and Colin Farrell (Australia) and Fionon Doonan (Edinburgh, Scotland). Even with the loss of three senior players we still had a large squad of players, upwards of forty players in total to choose from.
"Numerically, we were in a position to fulfil all our fixtures at both senior and junior level. While our results may not have been what we would have liked they must be viewed in the context of having lost our star forward, Kieran McManus prior to the championship.
"Kieran, would have been our main scoring threat and his loss was to prove a serious setback."
Templeport's championship campaign saw them produce their best performance of the year in the quarter-final play-off against Mountnugent. Leading by one point with just a minute to go 0-11 to 1-7, they conceeded a penalty in the dying seconds. The East Cavan side made no mistake with the spot and so Templeport exited the championship on the back of their best performance of the season.
"We should take heart from that display and believe that we are capable of producing this kind of perfromance throughout our league campaign.
"While we may not reached the dizzy heights of league or championship finals we are, I believe, on the right track. The current squad of players are a very dedicated panel," added Thomas.
Most of them are still quite young which can only be a good thing for the club. Over the years the club has had dfficulty in holding on to panels of players in the 20 to 25 year-old age group. This present panel are proving to be the exception and have shown great dedication and commitment.
"I have no doubt that they will in the not too distant future achieve their full potential. We would also hope that we can retain the services of our senior management team as we feel that continuity is vital for progress," said Thomas.
"The importance of having a senior team that is performing well is essential for the younger players at the club. It gives them something to aspire to and currently this is necessary with present crop of talent at our disposal at St. Aidans."
At the beginning of the season as a club we made the decision to implement a five year coaching programme.
" We know that we have great facilities in place at the club. Our playing surfaces are of the highest quality and we have a state of the art clubrooms. We now feel we need to match our commitment to the playing end of the club to complement our infrastructure," explained Thomas.
A four man coaching committee of Patsy Maguire (Chairman), Aidan Rudden, Paddy Maguire and Thomas, was set up to oversee the smooth progression of this ambitious plan. One of the first steps put in place was utilising the services of the Ulster and Cavan coaches to help put in place the proper methods and approaches required to develop the underage players.
While it is still a work in progress it has already begun to pay dividends. With this professional approach all coaches are working from a system and method which has worked extremely well for many other clubs throughout the country.
Coaching commences at the early age of four and all sessions take place on Friday and Monday evenings.
Templeport begin coaching with boys and girls at U4 to U10. Coaching sessions for the U-4 to U-8s are taken by the teenager members of the club while the U-8s are overseen by Michael McNulty with Michael Leech taking charge of the U-10.
The U-12s (boys only) are coached by Chris McCaffrey, Jim McManus and Mark Plunkett who also take charge of the U-13s. Working with the U-14s is T. F. O'Rourke, Declan Donohoe and P. P. Galligan while the U-16 side is looked after by team manager, Patrick Maguire, Seamus Martin, Thomas Kellegher, Michael Smith and coach Declan Beattie.
At minor level they have amalgamated with neighbours, Drumlane under the banner Drumport, which has worked really well for both clubs.
Playing in the Division 3 league they blazed a trail winning all of their six games and topping the league. Winning Division 3 league saw them promoted to Division 2 for the championship campaign.
"We faced a very strong and phsycial St. Finbarrs in our opening game of the championship. I feel that the tight playing field didn't suit our open style of free flowing football," said Thomas.
The Templeport club had an influential input into the progress of this minor team not only with the players but also with the P. P. Galligan and Thomas working on the successful management team.
"Overall when we look back on the progress of the juvenile section of the club we can feel justifiably proud with the level of performances of all involved. However, the real pride of place must go to our U-16 squad who won the prestigious U-16 Division 1 league title."
This was an historic and outstanding achievement for this panel of talented players. After having won an epic league final they had little time to recover as they faced into the cauldron of 'sudden death' championship football just eight days after winning the title.
"I felt that we had insufficient time to recover and mentally focus for the task of championship football. We were competing among the 'giants' of underage football in our league campaign. These young hopefuls have shown throughout the various age groups that they are indeed a talented bunch of footballers. It is the aim of the club through their five year coahcing plan to bring on all players through the ranks to the level of senior player," said the PRO.
U-16s create history
In what can only be described as an epic encounter played at Milltown, Templeport St. Aidan's produced a 'David and Goliath' performance to overcome the might of one of the county's greatest and most prestigious juvenile nurseries, Ramor United.
In a high scoring game that produced scintillating football, high tension and drama, the West Cavan side showed not only a high standard of football skill but a resolve that is needed to go with this skill to win titles. This they did as they accounted fo the East Cavan by 2-13 to 4-6. Ben Kiernan and Liam Galligan set the scene as they fired over three unanswered points for St. Aidans. However, in an exciting and drama filled first half, it was Ramor that managed to edge the proceedings as they took a 1-4 to 0-5 half-time lead.
Ramor opened the second half in whirlwind fashion and were denied a possible score as a rocket of shot rebounded of the Templeport crossbar. Quick thinking and swift movement saw St. Aidan's turn this potential danger into attack as they moved the ball quickly downfield for Niall Farrell to register Templeport's first goal. Spurred on this score, the West Cavan side grew in confidence and registered a brace of points to give them a commanding lead of seven points 1-11 to 1-4 as the game ebbed into the final quarter. With less than thirteen minutes left St. Aidan's Michael Devine put the game beyond the reach of Ramor when he struck for his side's second goal.
Trailing by double scores it looked all over for the Virginia side but true to their nature they fought back and registered three goals and take the lead as the game headed into injury time. The true moment of truth had now arrived for the young west Cavan hopefuls could they face down the resurgent Ramor side in just the couple of minutes remaining. A great spirited effort from Templeport was duly rewarded through two late frees which were converted by Farrell and Kiernan to hand the Bawnboy side a well deserved victory.
Templeport panel: Darren Donohoe, Niall Farrell, Benjamin Kelly, Oran Duffy, Dylan Curran Maguire, Liam Galligan, Eoin Doonan, Ben Kiernan, Haydn Kellegher, Daragh O'Shea, Killian Leonard, Ciaran Leonard, Liam McAweeney, Patrick McGoldrick, Dylan Raythorne, Michael Devine, Conor McAweeney, Brendan McGoldrick, Conor Mimnagh, Shane Galligan, Aaron Donohoe.
Ladies football
Reviewing the progress of the club overall, one cannot forget the impact the ladies of the area have brought to Templeport. At St. Aidan's they have a vibrant ladies section.
"We are currently the only senior ladies football team in the West Cavan area. This has been built on the back of a strong girls underage structure. With teams competing from U12 to minor level we are in a position to bring players through the competitive ranks onto our senior panel. This year we have seen our U14s and U16s reach the league final while our minors made it to the semi-finals," said the club PRO.
The strength of the club over the years has helped to produce one of the county's best known and most talented lady footballers to grace the playing of fields of not only Cavan but the nation, in Aisling Doonan.
Aisling's career commenced as an under fourteen. It was not long before her special talent saw her propelled into the senior ranks an arena she has been playing in for the past seven years. Aisling belies her youthfulness as she displays a talent well beyond her years. Her skill and football craft has been honed through a great coaching structure at her local club and ten years representing Cavan at the different levels.
She is currently captain of the ground breaking Cavan Ladies Intermediate side who recently qualified to play in the TG4 All Ireland final. Playing a captain's role, Aisling received a well earned recognition as 'Player of the Match' for her role in dragging Cavan from the jaws of defeat to victory.
Gratitude
Thomas said that while reviews are inevitably centred around those involved in the playing side of things it would be remiss of him not acknowledge a number of people whose trojan work usually goes unheralded.
"We have a magnificent executive committee. In Patsy Maguire we have a dedicated and committed Chairman whose contributions are equally matched by a very diligent and hard-working secretary in Tony McCann.
"We also have a very capable and competent treasurer in Fintan McTaggart and a strong back up committee that all contribute to the smooth running of the club. The work put in on a weekly basis by Con O'Gorman, Paddy Maguire and Aidan D'Arcy in ensuring that football fields are of the highest standard and marshalling the gates for the homegames is truly appreciated.
"We owe a great debt of gratitude to all those involved at the club and on behalf of St. Aidan's GFC we would like to publically thank them all," said Thomas. Tweet
