It was another disappointing year for An Gaeltacht with only one championship win to show for their efforts. Former All-Ireland medalist Barry Ferguson was player/manager in 2001 and feels that the club didn't do itself justice. For An Gaeltacht, 2001 was a year of few highlights. The Rathcairn outfit found the going tough in both the league and championship and are perhaps pleased to see the back of the year. "It wasn't a year to remember," admits An Gaeltacht player/manager Barry Ferguson. "We never really got going and I suppose we had nobody to blame but ourselves. Not everyone gave the full commitment to training and you can't really expect to make progress when that is happening," he adds. Ferguson, who hails from one of the best known GAA families in the county and was a member of the Meath All-Ireland winning panel in 1987, feels that An Gaeltacht's lack of fitness cost them victory in a number of games. "Because the effort wasn't put in in training, we found ourselves fading out of games in the last 10 minutes or so. There were games we could have won if we had been able to play for the full 60 minutes. "In a small club like this, you need everyone giving their all. We're realistic enough to know that we're never going to win anything major but we are capable of a lot better than what we showed this year." Having succeeded Walterstown's John Barry as manager at the start of the year, Ferguson knew he would have a difficult job on his hands. Trying to combine the role of team supremo with that of player proved to be anything but easy. "It was probably more difficult than I could have imagined," the 33-year-old says. "When you're on the field, you tend to concentrate on your own game and forget about everyone else. You really need to be on the sideline to know what's happening and to make the right changes. I don't know if I'll be combining the two jobs again next year but I'd be telling a lie if I said I was comfortable with it." An Gaeltacht's only win in the Junior 'A' Championship came at the expense of St. Brigid's, Ballinacree. The result atoned for the defeat to the same opposition the previous year. In their other championship outings, they ran Gaeil Colmcille, Ratoath and Nobber close but were well outclassed by Drumbaragh. The league brought little satisfaction to the Rathcairn men either. They defeated St. Vincent's but it was mainly disappointment in the other games. Ferguson accepts that An Gaeltacht's confidence took a bit of a pounding in the season just past. Given the circumstances, he believes that the club should consider the possibility of dropping back to Junior 'B'. "It might sound unambitious, but I don't think it would be such a bad thing if we stepped down a grade. "At the moment, we're struggling to make an impact in Junior 'A' and self-belief isn't the best. If we were playing in Junior 'B', I think we could acquire a winning mentality again and possibly win the championship outright. It's something well worth considering," adds the Mullingar-based accountant. An Gaeltacht's adult team may have fared poorly this year but the same cannot be said for the club's underage section. An Gaeltacht joined forces with Athboy to win championships at under 12 and under 14 level. "The underage was the big success of the year. Before this year, we had 20 or 30 underage players but there was no competitive games available for them. The amalgamation with Athboy has worked well and we had big representations on the successful under 12 and under 14 teams. Hopefully, in four or five years' time, we'll have a few of these youngsters on our junior team." Son of former Dublin dual star, Des 'Snitchy' Ferguson, Barry was just 19 when he garnered Leinster and All-Ireland medals with Meath in 1987. He was drafted onto the panel after making a big impression for Gaeil Colmcille in their intermediate championship success the previous year and actually started the Leinster Championship opener against Laois. Ferguson had dropped off the panel by the time Meath retained the Sam Maguire in 1988 but he had been involved for that year's Leinster Championship campaign. Not surprisingly, he has fond memories of that period but feels that he was too young to appreciate those wonderful successes fully. In 1989, Ferguson captained Meath to victory over Kildare in the Leinster Under 21 final but his hopes of winning another All-Ireland medal were dashed by Galway at the penultimate stage. While his brother Terry remained a regular in the Meath defence until 1993, Barry's inter-county career failed to extend beyond his early twenties. He has remained a competent club player to this day, however, and is still going strong in An Gaeltacht's midfield. Barry was corner-back on the Gaeil Colmcille team which won the senior football championship in 1991 and also helped the Kells outfit to two intermediate hurling championship triumphs. No fewer than six Ferguson brothers - Terry, Pierce, Conor, Rory, Dhiarmuid and Barry - have represented Gaeil Colmcille in one code or another over the past 20 years. Barry spent 1994 in Australia where he continued his football career with the Irish Rovers club in Sydney. He returned to play with Gaeil Colmcille before transferring to Dublin giants St. Vincent's - with whom his father had made his name - and actually won a junior championship with them in 1997. The team was trained by none other than Kevin Heffernan and among Barry's team-mates was former Dublin star Tommy Conroy. Barry took up residence in Rathcairn in early 1998 and duly threw in his lot with the local club. He has since become a valued member of An Gaeltacht and will be doing his utmost to bring about an improvement in their fortunes in the coming year. Tweet

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