Deprived of many key players during the course of the season, Shannon Gaels were up against it in 2003. The Blacklion men made little of the handicap, however, and powered through to the knock-out stages of the Cavan junior football championship. Herein, they were narrowly edged out by Shercock, but the Gaels had done enough to give rise to optimism anew. Now there's every reason to look to 2004 with confidence - if Shannon Gaels get their full complement back, they will certainly be a force to reckon with. Ollie Nolan and co. competed in Section C of the 2003 county JFC, a three-team group. They kicked off with a fine 0-13 to 0-9 defeat of Killeshandra but were beaten by Mountnugent in their other outing, 2-8 to 0-7. In the play-off, however, the Black & Ambers turned the tables on 'Nugent to book their quarter-final place on a 1-6 to 0-8 scoreline. In the knock-outs, Shannon Gaels were drawn against a highly-fancied Shercock outfit. They made the town side fight all the way before bowing out by virtue of a 1-13 to 1-10 defeat. Granted, it was disappointing to be out of contention but, all in all, it was an encouraging effort by a team stripped of some of its most influential players. The performance augurs well for Gaels' 2004 prospects, as team stalwart Oliver Nolan confirms: "Considering that we were under strength, we had a very good year. We played well in the championship and ran Shercock to three points in Belturbet, so we're happy with our performance overall." They have every right to be! At one point it looked as if Shannon Gaels might be crippled by a rash of unavailability. Little was expected from them under such trying conditions … but they rose to the challenge superbly and demonstrated the sort of spirit and determination that could make them frontrunners for JFC honours in the months ahead. Reflecting on the campaign gone by, Ollie Nolan notes: "At the start of the year we were missing a number of players who had gone away in the summertime, so we were struggling to get a team together and were forced to literally take it one game at a time. "The league was meaningless to all the clubs in 2003, so there was no real option only to concentrate on the championship. That's what we did and we had a decent run. We had a good run and were pleased with the results." Amazingly, Shannon Gaels almost fought their way through to the last four - what a story that would've been! Says Ollie: "Considering that we were nowhere close to full strength - missing up to seven players for some games - we think we did well to reach the quarter-finals. Shercock were a strong team and were fancied by many people to go all the way last year, so getting within three points of them was a decent performance." And let us not forget that Mountnugent, who Shannon Gaels defeated in Section C's play-off stage, went on to contest the county final! "I think it's fair to say we had a good year," Ollie continues. "We've laid down a marker for 2004 and we'll definitely be stronger. We played well in our first game against Killeshandra at Breffni Park and, to be honest, we probably surpassed ourselves with some of our championship performances. We pipped Mountnugent at the second time of asking and, in fairness, we put it up to every team we faced." The team was managed by Sean Flanagan, with Anthony Murray as selector. The pair are to be sincerely complimented on their sterling efforts over the year. At the club's AGM in January, a new management team was appointed: Tom Reilly is the new manager and his selectors are Anthony Murray, Padraig Dolan and Ciaran Fitzpatrick. Padraig was on the team until recently. Ollie explains: "Padraig has been a great player for Shannon Gaels. He played up until last year but hurt his back and will be a big loss on the field. However, he's going to be a major asset at backroom level. He's very committed no matter what he does and he'll be a great man to have on the line." Ollie is optimistic that the Gaels will be closer to full strength this term, though nothing is ever certain in this unpredictable existence! Unfortunately, the demography of the region isn't exactly conducive to fielding a steady team, with summer and year-long trips abroad currently the flavour of the month. It can be frustrating but there's little else one can do except 'get on with it'. At the moment, it's looking quite good: "Paul Kealy is back from a long-term injury and his brother Micheal has returned from travelling. We're expecting most of the lads to be around for the summer, so hopefully we'll have a decent pick this year." Hopes are that the influx won't be cancelled out by another exodus. To this end, full back Frankie Rafferty and midfielder Denis Smith have departed to Australia and both men will be sorely missed, as they were steadying influences on the team. Ollie remains upbeat: "We just have to deal with it. We've learned to cope with it in the past and we'll soldier on again this year regardless. "We've always had a small pick, but there are a lot of good young lads coming through from underage level and there should be some fresh new talent breaking through onto the team over the next two or three years. There's plenty of work being put into the club and we know that success will follow." A few young lads were thrown in at the deep end last season and acquitted themselves admirably; Ollie sees this as an encouraging thing: "They knew they were going to get a game in '03 and it gave them a greater interest. It's only right that lads who train all year get games and that's what happened. There was a good bond in the team and morale was as high as I've seen it. Everyone was working for one another. The younger lads all enjoyed training with the senior team and they all came along in leaps and bounds. "We did better than most people expected and morale is good going into this year. We're going to be taking the league and championship seriously. We started training the first week of February and we're looking forward to a good season." Realistically, though, just how good can that season be? Can we expect Shannon Gaels to figure in the JFC shake-up? "There's nothing between any of the junior clubs in Cavan and the championship is wide open. We've been knocking for three or four years and we're not too far away. We have as good a chance as anyone else. "Any of the quarter-finalists could have won it last year, including us. This year we'll be in with a shout again. Our only junior championship win was in '89. Tom Reilly, our manager, was on that team, as was Eugene Walsh who's still playing away and flying fit even though he's in his forties." Ollie himself has been on the first team since 1992/93 and normally lines out either at midfield or on the forty. He has won two league medals with the club but is still anxiously seeking his first championship souvenir. "Hopefully I'll get it this season," he quips. "Tom Reilly and the management team will do a good job and the enthusiasm is there. We're all training as a group from U15 level up to adult and there's a great buzz. There's a wonderful vibe in the club at the moment and our attitude is 'The More The Merrier!' I think we'll have a good year." Ollie represented the county at all underage levels. He was captain of the U16 team that faced Westmeath in the Father Manning Cup final in 1991 and won an Ulster U21 championship in 1996 in such company as Anthony Forde, Mickey Graham and Dermot McCabe on a team captained by Peter Reilly. The Shannon Gaels man played some great football with his club in 2003 and was called in by Eamon Coleman for senior county trials just before Christmas. Despite carrying an injury, he performed well and was unlucky not to make the cut. Like Shannon Gaels, he's still knocking on the door, however… Tweet

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