In 2004, Drumgoon contested the quarter-final stage of the SFC for the second successive year. This is a remarkable achievement considering that they only captured the county junior championship for the first time as recently as 2001. The rise and rise of Drumgoon has been a joy to behold and countyman Edward Jackson is adamant that the progress can continue. Unabated. Words: Gerry Robinson Now's the time for us to take it to the next level. I don't think we should accept that we've peaked. We're still on an upward curve and we can go even further." So says Drumgoon's highly rated county star Edward Jackson, instantly dispelling any notions that he and his colleagues are happy with their lot and ready to rest on their laurels, wallowing in the stunning achievements of the past four years. And what a journey it's been! In 2001, Drumgoon captured the county JFC for the first time in the club's history. They went on to add the All-Ireland junior club title. Astonishingly, in '02, at their very first attempt, Drumgoon also claimed the Cavan intermediate football championship. They've been senior for two years now and have reached the business end of the SFC on both occasions. Now that's progress! In 2004, the Yellow & Blues navigated a safe journey to the quarter-final stage of the county's blue riband competition, only to come a cropper against rampant Cavan Gaels. It was their second consecutive quarter-final exit and there was certainly no shame in going under to a team being touted as one of the best in the province. Still, Drumgoon are disappointed. They've become accustomed to winning and are determined to see the job through by landing the SFC. These lads are winners. They don't believe in going out to make up the numbers and they glean no consolation from championship defeat - even if it is against a side as celebrated as Cavan Gaels. Thus, while his side contributed enormously to the 2004 senior championship season, Edward Jackson is disappointed that they didn't give an even better account of themselves. Furthermore, the county player insists that there's even more to come from Drumgoon and predicts a continuation of the astonishing progress that has become the norm around Boyle Park of late: "As a club member, I'm happy with the progress we've made and the way 2004 went, but as a player I was definitely disappointed with the way the year finished. We didn't perform against Cavan Gaels in the quarter-final and that was disappointing. While it's good to be getting to quarter-finals, I think we have to focus our minds on trying to go even further. When it came to the crunch, we competed with Cavan Gaels for 30 minutes but we didn't perform at all in the second half and we were disappointed with that." In Drumgoon's defence, there were mitigating circumstances. Edward himself damaged ankle ligaments towards the end of the first half of the championship quarter-final, while Michael McDonald also had to cry off with ligament trouble. Adrian Crossan was out long-term and a small rural club with a limited playing pool simply cannot absorb so many blows at once. However: "When we get all the lads back and everybody's fit, we can cause a few raised eyebrows in 2005," Edward promises. "I'm confident that Drumgoon can get stronger and challenge for a senior championship. We're putting a lot of work into our underage at the moment and we're looking forward to those players coming through and challenging for places on the senior team." As team manager, Monaghan man Paddy Bates was instrumental in overseeing Drumgoon's meteoric rise to prominence. However, in a bid to keep things fresh, the long-time mentor has opted to sacrifice himself and step aside to allow someone else to take the reins. Ironically, Paddy's successor is also from the Oriel County. In fact, as Edward explains, the new Drumgoon manager is one of the stars of the best ever side produced by Monaghan, a team that captured Ulster SFCs in 1985 and '88: "We've brought in a new manager," the 2002 IFC-winning captain confirms. "We owe a lot to Paddy because we were nothing before he took over the team. He very unselfishly decided to step aside for the good of the team. He saw that perhaps he's brought us as far as he can and decided that it might be better if a new man came in to shake things up and freshen our approach. The new manager is Ray McCarron and if he's half as good a manager as he was a footballer then we'll do alright! "We started back training on January 4 and, even though there are four of us with the county now, we're looking forward to training under the new manager. It's a different regime and a different approach. Ray's a very modern manager and easy to get along with. He's an intelligent man too. He has plenty of experience and we're delighted to have acquired his services. I know there are a lot of clubs who are sorry they didn't get him, so we're delighted with our committee for bringing in a man of Ray's calibre. Personally speaking, I played almost my entire club career under Paddy [Bates], from U16 level up, and he was brilliant. He did a great job and has brought Drumgoon to where we are today. At the same time, it's exciting to have a new man in charge and that should give us all an extra boost for the new season." If the players continue to show the same dedication that has become their trademark since the turn of the millennium, then there's no reason why Drumgoon can't progress further. "We're a small parish with a small panel of players, so everybody has to be at their best if we're to achieve any further success. But we're quite capable of putting it up to the top clubs in the county. In five years, though, nobody will remember who was in the quarter-finals of the 2004 senior championship, so we can't content ourselves with doing quite well. We have to set our heights higher. "The Gaels are very strong and they've streaked ahead, so it's now up to everybody else to catch up. Eventually some club in Cavan is going to take up the challenge and knock the Gaels off their perch. I hope that club will be Drumgoon. I honestly feel that if we put our minds to it, we're as good as any team in Cavan on our day. "We're on a roll and we've acquired a winning habit. Now it's a matter of keeping it going. "I firmly believe it's all in the head. It's all about preparing the mind as well as the body. The way things have gone in Cavan, clubs are starting to train earlier and they're going more and more into the physical end of it and weights training. We have to keep pace with that. "We have the talented players and we also have the underage lads coming through. We need to work hard at underage and make sure we hold onto all our players. "Four years ago, we beat Mullahoran's second team by two points in the junior championship … in 2004, we drew with their first team in the senior championship. So we're learning quickly and this is going to be a big year. We've been in two quarter-finals in a row and questions have been asked about whether we can go any further. We now have to show that the curve is still going upwards rather than levelling off." Drumgoon's main aim in 2005 will be to give the SFC a crack and consolidate their Division One status. They had a poor run in the league in '04, finishing third from bottom of the table, too close to the relegation zone for comfort. "We didn't take it seriously enough or prepare properly," Edward concedes. "There were games we should have won but we weren't really up for it and it showed." On the county front, Edward is equally optimistic about the outlook for 2005: "We're training well under Marty and Eamon. I've been in and out of the county panel for three or four years and I've never trained as hard before. We have to get out of this way of thinking that it's enough to compete. Nobody remembers a team that was good enough to compete. We have to start getting the results. We should have beaten Armagh last year, but that counts for nothing now. We didn't beat them. "There are some players on the team who realise that they might not have that long left at the top and they're putting in a serious effort this year. There's a bit of pressure on us and it's up to the players to respond. We're the best-supported county in Ireland, so we owe it to the fans and we also owe it to ourselves because we put an awful lot of work in. We train at least as hard as any other county in Ireland - you're talking about 25 or 30 hours a week." Like many of his Cavan team-mates, Edward has yet to play in Croke Park. This is one of the many incentives that'll spur the Breffni County onwards in the coming months. "We have every reason to be optimistic," he concludes. "It's all about getting the right mix of confidence, cockiness and optimism. We're really enjoying it at the moment and that makes it a little easier. As long as we're enjoying our football, we can make our mark. There are a lot of good players in Cavan and I have nightmares thinking about how I'm going to deal with them in training and in club matches." One suspects the players in question don't exactly look forward to the prospect of coming face to face with Edward Jackson either! Tweet

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