The Gallant John Joe
December 31, 2001
John Joe McEnroe made his bow in 2001 as chairman of Oldcastle GFC but he's no rookie GAA administrator. Far from it. Fact is the man in the hot seat has been an almost ever-present member of the club's think-tank team and was secretary of the blue and whites as far back as 1975. We chat to the bold J.J.
Some day an Oldcastle senior team is going to find the key to unlock the door which will lead them to the club's first ever Meath SFC title. That's the belief of outgoing Oldcastle GFC chairman John Joe McEnroe.
Given the man's innate enthusiasm and optimism, one is almost tempted to make a dash for the nearest turf accountant. And surely, on the law of averages, Oldcastle have to get their day in the sunshine. After all the Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne and Dunderrys of this world had had their day, why not the 'O's' of Oldcastle?
The blue riband crown has been shared out among a rake of clubs in the last seven years but, sadly, Oldcastle's name never quite made it onto the plinth of the glittering prize. Not that the local faithful are still moaning and groaning about their 1998 defeat to Dunboyne.
"We've put that final defeat well behind us by this stage. We're not inclined to look behind us 'cause we all recognise that it's the future we have to concern ourselves with and although we have slipped up in the three years since the Dunboyne final, we're not that far off the pace and maybe next year could see us hitting the jackpot," John Joe enthuses.
It's been changed times over recent years in Oldcastle football circles. The club has been ensconced up at the peleton of Meath football for quite a while now and it's a measure of the confidence within the club that the local faithful have their eyes fixed on championship success every single year now.
The disappointment which accompanied last year's championship exit was compounded by the belief among a large number of Oldcastle supporters that the blue and whites had seen the last hurray from the likes of long-time stalwarts such as Declan Mullen, Ownie and Paul Gilsenan plus Leo McEnroe.
Such a sense of impending loss turned to relieve and no little expectancy however come the following spring when all four were marked down as present and correct when team-manager Colm McEvoy (the man in charge for Oldcastle's trip to the senior final in '98 and the club's Feis Cup run in '99) assembled his forces at the start of 2001.
Oldcastle's championship assault got off to a sluggish and unsuccessful start though as Skryne proved too strong in the opening group match.
"In fairness to the players, preparations for the Skryne match weren't great. Because of the foot and mouth disease scare and the directive from the county board, we didn't train for the game which meant that the lads weren't properly focussed for the match.
"In the end, we didn't have a game from mid-June and had to rely on challenge games against Athlone and Mayobridge to keep the lads in shape. Challenge games serve a purpose but they're not ideal.
"It's hard to replace really competitive matches to keep a team on its game. I felt sorry for the lads and you couldn't fault their level of commitment during the year."
Still, Oldcastle remained on target for a stab at reaching the latter stages of the senior championship with wins over Kells and Syddan. And in early October came the fatal match against defending champions Dunshaughlin . . .and a two point defeat (2-8 to 3-7) for McEvoy's charges.
So did John Joe think that Oldcastle had the beating of the south county side?
"Definitely. Even though they were the holders, we had seen them play earlier in the year and didn't think they were playing particularly well. We also thought that we were probably going to be fitter than them but when you give a team like them a three goal lead, it's very difficult to haul them back in."
The goals were killer blows then?
"No doubt about it. We were surprised that they got so many goals because we've got the best six backs in the county.
"The most annoying thing about that game was that we had the winning of it. We were completely on top in the second half. They only scored two points after half-time," John Joe explains.
Now just finished his first year as chairman, John Joe says that the Oldcastle players have the talent and the ambition to go the distance in the not too distant future. He agrees that the current team is arguably at its peak and it would be better if the side could manufacture a shot at the blue riband title sooner rather than later.
Apart from Skryne, there are no other sides in the county whom John Joe would finger as being that bit better than Oldcastle as things stand:
"You'd have to say there are about eight teams in the county who are in with a chance of winning the senior championship every year - the standard is that even.
"In Meath, it's nearly always a case of how things go on the day and, unfortunately, things didn't go right on the day against Dunshaughlin although their goalkeeper's penalty save and at least another four brilliant saves by him definitely went a long way to seeing that it wasn't going to be our day."
John Joe re-iterates the Oldcastle GFC philosophy that it's what's around the corner that counts not what has gone by and, in this respect, he feels that with the addition of some new, fresh blood in the coming year and the continued commitment of the old (relatively speaking) guard, the north Meath outfit can go on in 2002 and reach their third senior championship final in 57 years.
"I'd say the quality of the panel we have now is just as good as was on the scene in '98 and if we can maybe make just a little bit more capital from the chances we create in front of the opposition's goal, I think we'll go very close to gaining the sort of success we're looking for.
"Expectations are high locally every year and getting to the quarter-finals in 2001 is a sign that the club continues to make progress towards achieving our ultimate goal of winning the senior championship," the former stalwart centre-back adds.
Certainly ambition runs rampant through the ranks of the Oldcastle club. The planned development of additional facilities at Millbrook is indicative of such a progressive club.
"We received a grant towards the work and hopefully the construction of dressing-rooms and a car park to accompany a new pitch will be well on the way to being completed early next year.
"Planning permission wasn't a problem and everyone is looking forward to being able to use the second pitch - it's badly needed, especially for training in the winter time."
Fulsome in his praise of the work being put into the running of the club by his fellow committee members and all those involved with underage activities at Oldcastle, John Joe says the purchase of the 3.8 acres at Millbrook is a testimony of the go-ahead, ambitious nature of the club.
"I'd also like to mention the fact that all our teams from underage right up to senior made the play-off stages. Our under 12s and under 14s did particularly well in bringing home cups during the year. We're all very positive and upbeat about the club's future."
Listening to the affable John Joe, who'd have guessed it!
Halpins Help
Oldcastle hit the jackpot at underage level on the double in 2001 with both the under 12s and under 14s showing immense promise in careering to title wins. Here Under 14 mentor Brendan Halpin reflects back on a truly memorable campaign in the company of Kevin Carney.
Good goods come in small parcels, it is said. That being so, the good and the great belonging to the Oldcastle under 14s certainly proved in 2001 that there's no substitute for natural talent allied to the football nous that comes with being well tutored.
Oldcastle enjoyed a rich bounty at underage level in 2001 with titles secured at both under 14 and under 12 levels. Good times are assured in the years ahead. Or are they?
Brendan Halpin, joint-selector of the blue and whites all-conquering under 14 side reckons that the club has to continue to employ a rolled-up-sleeves policy to try and ensure that the current wave of fledgling talent blossoms further down the line:
"The sort of success we had this year augurs well for the club but there's definitely no guarantee that all these fellas will go on up through the ranks and stick with it right through to senior level. That doesn't happen, not at Oldcastle or any other club.
"I think most of the under 14 panel will continue their interest in football and I'll be surprised if they don't collect another couple of medals at underage level in the coming years. They should be a force to be reckoned with at under 16 level for instance but the club can't take anything for granted and a lot more work will have to be done with these fellas if they are to realise their potential at the higher grades in the future."
Now there's a mentor with his feet firmly rooted to terra firma! The most interesting aspect about Brendan's analysis of Oldcastle's good fortune at underage level in 2001 is that he firmly believes that talented players left to their own devices isn't sufficient to guarantee a continuation of the good times.
That said, Brendan has great time for his club's all-conquering troupe. He says he was delighted for all the players involved on the panel because of the effort they put in during the year. They were worthy winners, he claims.
"They were very easily managed, turned up at training in good numbers all year, very punctual, very keen and enthusiastic. Frankie Tully, Ollie Fitzpatrick or myself couldn't have asked for any more from the lads.
"The panel did the club proud. They're all great triers and if their physiques develop in line with their talent, I can see a lot them being big additions to the club for many years to come."
"Winning is a great feeling at any level and to see how the lads relished taking the title during the year makes me optimistic that they will stay together as a group of footballers and improve even further as they get older."
Reflecting on the team's winning campaign, Brendan says that the Oldcastle players (including the inspirational Clare Griffin and Julie Cadden) showed a lot of character and ambition to come good at the end of the season.
He recalls how the team learned a harsh lesson when meeting Rathkenny in their penultimate game of the year.
"We played Rathkenny just before the league final and I remember we were beating them by about ten points at half-time but we ended up losing by two at the finish.
"Even though we were already through to the semi-final by that stage, we had to remind the lads that that couldn't be allowed to happen again. I think the team got a real kick up the backside with that result against Rathkenny and it didn't do us any harm at all.
"We told them that they didn't become bad players in a half an hour. We impressed the need upon all 25 players in the panel that whoever was playing had to keep it going for the full hour. Fortunately, our players turned things around in the semi-final when we met Rathkenny again."
Having been beaten in the championship semi-final by Walterstown, the league run was just the tonic Oldcastle needed.
"We found that our hardest matches were against teams who were physically stronger than us and that was the case against Walterstown."
Did heads drop after the championship exit?
"No, not really. I think the lads themselves knew they were up against it because Walterstown were coming in from a higher division and we weren't really expected to win," the 28-year old former All-Ireland minor (1990) and under 21 medallist (1993) opines.
But had he any doubts that Oldcastle had the wherewithal to gain revenge over Rathkenny in the league?
"No, not really, I knew from the way we played in the first half that we were good enough to beat them once we went about the game in a more consistent manner.
"Our lads got complacent in the second half against Rathkenny first time around. You could see them asking the referee for the right score during the game.
"You need to be better focussed than that and we told the lads that and they responded very well to what we were trying to tell them. It was close again when we met them in Drumbaragh in the semi-final but the lads had learned their lesson and we won through with a bit to spare," adds Brendan who was part of the Meath senior county panel in '96.
Meeting Bective in the final again pitted Oldcastle against a physically strong side. It was a Bective side who had earlier in the campaign travelled to Oldcastle and earned a credible draw.
The word on the ground was that Bective were the favourites going into the decider. Significantly, joint-trainer Halpin declined to disagree with such a notion:
"We knew that the players would have to play to the best of their ability to come through against Bective and this they did in what was probably the team's best performance of the year.
"I think the final score of 2-13 to 3-4 was a fair reflection of the difference between the teams on the day. We outscored them and showed our ability to get through for points," adds Brendan who knows what its like to lose a county decider having featured on the Oldcastle under 16 team which lost out to Ronan McGrath-powered Simonstown outfit in 1988 and later to Dunboyne in the SFC final in '98.
Indeed, Brendan was more than relieved to see his beloved north county club make it to Easy Street by half-time against Bective. By that stage Oldcastle had secured a 1-10 to 1-2 lead. Oldcastle moved further ahead minutes later before Bective rallied in brave fashion to notch 2-1 in a purple spell.
However, Oldcastle relieved the pressure when substitute Barry Curran ran through for a great goal. Thereafter, it was a matter of consolidation for Oldcastle. There was, in fact, no danger of them being caught in the final minutes.
"We didn't look in danger once Barry (Curran) got his goal. I think even Bective would agree that we were the better team on the day. The players definitely deserved to win it out - they were great to work with during the year," Brendan concludes.
For the record, the following is the title-winning Oldcastle team, subs and scorers, which did duty against Bective in the Under 14 Football league Division 3 North final at Carlanstown.
A. Fallon; P. Lynch, S. Farrelly, S. Feeney; T. Madden, C. Griffin, R. Kellett; J. Cadden, J. Usher; S. Geraghty, J. McMahon (0-4), A. McCann (0-1); P. Higgins, A.J. Gilsenan (1-7), M. Smith (0-1).
Subs; E. Fox for P. Higgins; B. Curran (1-0) for T. Madden.
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