Steady progress continues
December 30, 2009It could be the beginning of something big. Building towards the future, Geraldines have made a dramatic impression at underage level in recent times. They've eclipsed the Wee County's so-called Big Four - and everybody else! - with a stunningly-consistent run of success at minor level. With some of the best young players in Louth at their disposal, the signs are encouraging that the future could be bright for the Haggardstown-Blackrock men.
The Dundalk satellite club is one of the best-run in Louth and their facilities are second to none, as the County Board clearly agrees considering the number of big games fixed for their fantastic new Pairc Seamus Mhic Eochaidh pitch during the course of the year gone by. All things considered, the future is bright … and the present isn't too bad either!
With an emphatic 7-14 to no score defeat of Cooley and a battling 3-5 to 2-7 semi-final win over Dreadnots / St Fechins, Geraldines blazed through to a third successive Louth minor football championship final. For long spells at Clan Na Gael Park on Sunday October 4, Eamonn McEneaney's charges appeared on course to retain the U18 crown, but this time they were caught on the hop by a late Joes rally. In the end, a total of twelve wides over the hour proved costly as the young Gers fell to a luckless 1-12 to 2-6 defeat. After the final whistle, the Geraldines manager was disappointed but also proud of his team:
"It was particularly hard for our boys to take but finals are all about taking your chances and when we went four points up we had two or three chances to go six or seven up, and we didn't. We left them in the game and ultimately they came back to hurt us.
"We haven't lost a minor championship game since 2005 and it's a bitter pill to swallow, but there's an awful lot of good players coming through there and the important thing now is to try and nurture them through to senior level. The future looks good."
Club secretary Colm Mackin echoes those sentiments: "We have some excellent young talent in the club at the moment, so our goal is to nurture them and hold onto them. If we can hold onto all those lads, then we should be in a good position. We'll give the U21 championship a good lash now at the end of the year and then we'll take it from there. Overall, we are in pretty good shape."
How frustrating was it to lose the final in the very last throes, with a famous three-in-a-row beckoning? "Obviously, we were very disappointed," Colm confirms. "To go in as favourites and lose is always going to be disappointing but we did win two minor championships in a row in 2007 and 2008 and we also retained the minor league this year, so there are plenty of positives. We had U13 'A' success in Darver as well and our first team held their own in intermediate, which is encouraging bearing in mind that they only stayed up in 2008 by winning the very last game. This year they were comfortable, so that's steady progress."
In the IFC, Geraldines found themselves in an ultra-competitive Group B. They failed to make a major impression but also avoided the relegation dogfight, so there was no need to be overly downhearted. After opening with a one-point win over Roche at Dowdallshill, they lost to Hunterstown in Drogheda and drew with St Nicholas at the same venue. With three points from as many games, they were still very much in the shake-up for the knockout stage. A sound thrashing at the hands of O'Connells put paid to any such aspirations and the Gers finished their group programme with a commendable effort against would-be county finalists Na Piarsaigh (losing a well-contested match by a solitary point, 1-8 to 1-7).
Looking at the picture as a whole, the club secretary is quietly content. "I'm happy enough. We're definitely making progress," says Colm. "The challenge now is all about bringing these young lads through from the past three years. If we can get most of those minors through, we'll be competitive at adult level. We have a young intermediate team - the second-oldest lad on the team is 24 - and we expect to be stronger once they all mature a bit. They have plenty of experience already and many of these lads have enjoyed championship success at minor and U16 levels. We've won U14 and U16 championships and won everything on offer at minor level in 2008.
"Ten of the minors from the past three years are already on the intermediate panel and four of this year's minor team played intermediate football in 2009 - Barry Hamilton, Tiernan Hand, Shane O'Hanlon and Conall Hoey, who's minor again next year. We've done a lot of work at underage level and we're delighted with the quality of player we have at our disposal for the future.
"Gerry Hoey was over the first team in 2009. They made good progress and were very comfortable in the league. The performance against Na Piarsaigh in the last round of the championship gave us a lot of heart and we'd hope to stake a claim for a place in senior football over the next few years. We're not going to set any specific targets or deadlines because this is a young team and we're not putting them under any pressure. It won't just happen overnight. If we're patient, I think they'll come good. I know we're losing one man to Australia next year because of the downturn, so hopefully the economy won't affect us too badly. That's a major concern for every club today.
"But, overall, I think we're heading in the right direction. We have finished all our development work and we're delighted with our facilities. We have two floodlit pitches and a nice training ground and everything we need to move forward. The new sand-based pitch is perfect. It's holding up brilliantly and is playable all year around. The County Board held a lot of championship matches there this year and I think it's fair to say that the new pitch has been a complete success."
On and off the field of play, everything seems to be going well for Geraldines at present.
The side that contested the 2009 Louth minor football championship final was: Ross Quigley; Ryan Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Glen Traynor; Tiernan Hand, Stephen Reidy, Kevin Pepper; Shane O'Hanlon (1-0), Jonny Breen (1-3); Owen Brayden, Padraig O Gallchoir (0-1), Conall Hoey (0-1); Paul Molloy (0-1), Barry Hamilton, Sean McEneaney. Subs: Derek Mernagh, Aaron Murray. Tweet
