By collecting the 2003 Ulster Young Player of the Year award, Templeport and Cavan lady footballer Aisling Doonan brought glory to both club and county. Unassumingly, she admits she'd gladly have swapped the honour for the All-Ireland U16 title so cruelly denied the brave Breffni girls. Two-thousand-and-three was certainly a year to remember for exciting young footballer Aisling Doonan. The Templeport youngster was outstanding with her club all season and put in a series of outstanding performances for Cavan at U16, minor and junior levels. To cap an eventful and memorable season, Aisling was selected as the Ulster Young Player of the Year for 2003 ... a fitting acknowledgement of her stellar efforts. However, true to form, the prodigious Templeport footballer says she was taken aback when she heard that she'd been officially recognised as the best young talent in the province: "It was quite a shock, to be honest, though naturally I'm very happy to have won it. It's a nice honour. Of course, it's a team game at the end of the day and I'd definitely have preferred if we'd won the [U16] All-Ireland final. We had hard luck against Galway in that final, but we came a long way during the year and, hopefully, we should have a strong minor team next year and again in 2005." Saying that Aisling had a busy season could be construed as an exercise in understatement. As well as the usual club commitments, she lined out for the Cavan U16s, minors and juniors - and all three teams made it through to their respective provincial finals, with the first-mentioned side going on to contest the national decider. That finished in an unlucky reversal. Meanwhile, the Breffni juniors were beaten by Donegal - who went on to capture the junior All-Ireland - while Monaghan came out on top in the provincial minor showcase. However, Cavan are strongly fancied to annex at least one of the next two Ulster minor championships... Aisling Doonan has been playing ladies football for about eight years. She started with the Corlough boys U10 team when she was seven or eight, playing on the same team as her older brother Fionan, and went on to represent Corlough at U12 level as well. As there's no ladies team in Corlough, she began to play with the Templeport ladies from U14 grade up, lining out in goal for the first team when she was only eleven! Within a couple of years, she was an outfield regular. From there, her career has come along in leaps and bounds and today Aisling is recognised as one of the finest emerging exponents of the ladies game not just in Cavan but in Ulster and beyond. Her first taste of intercounty action was with the Cavan U14s in 2000. An All-Ireland Blitz title was secured that year and Cavan were runners-up in the same competition twelve months later. All at once, a talented crop of youngsters came through to catapult Cavan to the forefront of ladies GAA in the northern province. Aisling notes: "There are great underage structures in the county, great coaches, and great management. We've all been together since U14 level and there's a strong bond between us. We're best friends on and off the field and you could see that in particular with the U16 team this year. There's a great spirit in the camp and that's reflected in the results. Aisling played midfield with the U16s, centre forward with the minors and corner forward with the county juniors. A natural left-footer (who can kick with both feet), she takes all the frees from the right hand side. A trademark feature of Aisling's play is the wonderful goals she tends to score when bursting through from deep to take everybody by surprise. Wonderful stuff! She netted many such majors with the Cavan U16s in '03 and it was her performances for that team that brought her into contention for the Ulster Young Player of the Year accolade. During the year gone by, the Templeport girl was one of five county U16s who also backboned the Cavan first team. The others were Ashling Treanor (Knockbride), Emma Clarke (Knockbride), Bronagh Sheridan (Erne Gaels) and Ailish Cornyn, who plays her club football with the Dowra club in Leitrim. It was an exceptionally strong Cavan U16 side and they went very close to clinching All-Ireland gold. The management trio of Eamonn Lynch, Concepta Treanor and Finian Farrell are to be complimented for the superb work they did preparing the team. Indeed, the same triumvirate also took charge of the Cavan minors, and did a wonderful job there too! The game that made the U16s was beating fancied Monaghan in their own back yard (Aghabog) in the first round. Cavan went down expecting a close game but got on top with a couple of goals and never looked back. They went on to defeat Fermanagh in the Ulster final on the new pitch in Kinawley. The All-Ireland semi-final was a cracker. A superb match against Dublin took place at Navan's Pairc Tailteann in August and the Cavan girls dug deep to record a thrilling victory. The final against Galway at Longford's Pearse Park was also a classic encounter. Either side could have taken the spoils, but in the end it was the westerners who emerged victorious. At club level, Aisling has been representing Templeport since U14 level. With no other ladies club in the immediate area, Templeport also fields players from Corlough, Kildallen and Swanlinbar. Even though the whole thing is run on a shoestring, the movers and shakers behind the vibrant club do great work. Templeport ladies reached the county final in 2003 but were pipped therein by Erne Gaels. They also lost the Division Three league final to Cuchulainns. A number of individuals have played key role's in Aisling Doonan's development as a promising player. These include Michael McGovern at Corlough, Fr Tom McKiernan at underage level with Templeport, Adrian McGovern at U16, minor and senior levels, Martha Brady (national school teacher) and Katie Donoghue. In recent years, the Templeport ladies have been very successful and Aisling Doonan has played an integral role in that success. She was voted Anglo Celt/Northern Sound Cavan Ladies Footballer of the Year in November 2000 while still U14 and is part of a great local family GAA tradition. Her older brother Fionan was on two Templeport teams that contested county finals in 2003 - the Division Two minor side and the Division Two reserve outfit. Sister Clodagh, a year younger than Aisling, captained the Cavan U14s in 2003 and was full back on the county U16 side. She also played for the minors and was invited to join the junior panel. Brothers Conan (11) and Eoin (8) also have a keen interest in gaelic games. Dad Thomas still plays for Templeport and is also club chairman, while mother Carol goes to all the games. Carol is originally from Ballyconnell, where her brothers Mickey and Paddy Duignan played a lot of football. Paddy's son Aaron played for the county minors in 2003 and is eligible again next year. Clearly, there's a lot of football in the family! Aisling Doonan started with the Cavan juniors (the Breffni County's first team) two years ago, as one of four U14s who broke through that season. A couple more came through the following year and Cavan now boast a very young senior side, with eight or nine players minor or younger. Unsurprisingly, Aisling is looking forward to 2004: "I really enjoy the football. I've a lot of friends involved and it's a bit of craic. I think the Cavan junior team could go on next season. We'll be a year older and Donegal are gone up to senior now, so we should be one of the stronger sides this year. "We should have a good minor team as well. We'll get stuck into that after the Leaving Cert and hopefully we'll have a good run." Exciting times indeed... On the development front, Templeport GFC have two new pitches seeded and ready for action. The club's magnificent new 950,000-euro complex will be officially opened in 2004. The pitches and dressing-rooms are complete and two-thirds of the development has already been paid for. Tweet

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