Whatever heights Martin Barry's managerial career may reach in the years ahead, one thing's for certain - he'll never forget the summer of 2003. Barry saw it all as a player with the great Walterstown team of the early '80s, winning four Meath Senior Championship medals and two Leinster titles and experiencing the bitter disappointment of defeat to Cork opposition in a couple of All-Ireland Club finals, but he described managing Meath to their fifth All-Ireland Junior Football Championship triumph as "a very special thrill, one he will always treasure." Barry, who was in his third year as county junior manager, puts the success down to the dedication and sheer commitment of the Royal County players, but there can be no doubting that his own skills as a coach played a highly significant part in a memorable campaign that culminated in a six-point final victory over Galway at Cusack Park, Mullingar, in early August. Barry, a brother of Eamonn, who has achieved so much as manager of the highly successful Dunshaughlin senior team in recent years and who also had a spell as Meath junior manager when Martin was a selector, he has built up a sound reputation as a manager of club teams and, along with his role as Meath junior boss in 2003, he also took charge of St. Patrick's in Meath and Newtowncashel in Longford. However, the addition of an All-Ireland junior title to his CV will do him no harm at all and Barry has no hesitation in saying that he hopes the success will be a stepping-stone in his desired to become manager of the Meath minor team at some stage in the future. But, as he reflected on a six-match campaign that brought Leinster and All-Ireland junior titles to the Royal County in the summer gone by, his thoughts were essentially with the players who did the business where it matters most - on the field of play. "I had a successful playing career and have great memories of those days lining out with Walterstown, but to be the manager of a Meath team made up of such dedicated players and achieving your goal of winning an All-Ireland title was very special," he said. "They were such a fantastic bunch of players to work with and that makes your job so much easier. They trained three nights a week from last March and their attitude was tremendous. That took a big amount of effort and they made huge sacrifices in pursuit of an All-Ireland title. All I had to do was coach them; they did the rest on the field and that's what it comes down to at the end of the day." Barry believes that having a generally settled team was vitally important to the success. "It took us some time to get a settled panel together," he recalled. "I remember we played the Dublin junior team in a challenge match and I just wasn't happy with the panel, so I took the decision to drop 13 players. People will say you did this and you did that, but you have to make decisions like that. "Eventually it came right and it all gelled together for us. We were then in a position to field the same players in most matches and being settled like that is so important. Every player got a run up to the All-Ireland semi-final and I actually used 15 substitutes in the course of three matches." The settled nature of the team was undoubtedly highly significant in the success, but if you're marking out individuals as being of vital importance, the vastly experienced Cathal Sheridan has to come in for special mention. Sheridan was an outstanding under-age player who helped Meath to an All-Ireland Minor Championship success in 1990 and All-Ireland Under-21 honours three years later, while he played senior football for both the Royal County and Kildare. Indeed, the victory over Galway meant he had won All-Ireland medals at senior, junior, under-21 and minor levels with the Royal County. Barry has no hesitation in picking him out for special mention in terms of the junior triumph. "Cathal's attitude just about summed it all up for me," Barry added. "Having him there was so vitally important. I was aware that he was eligible from day one, but I just wasn't sure if he would play with us. I phoned him and I was thrilled to hear him say he would be delighted to be part of the Meath set-up. "Cathal had seen it all before and his experience was simply invaluable to us. He was great with the younger players on the field and was something of a father figure to them. Apart from that, he never missed a single training session, which emphasised his outstanding commitment and sheer enthusiasm. "I was actually the first manager to play him in the half-forward line and he loved it out there. It gave him more space and he revelled in it." The manager was also quick to point to the great work of his fellow Meath selectors - Dessie Rogers, Brian Carberry, Jimmy Kelly and Davy Cahill - in the success, describing their work as "fantastic," while brother Eamonn was always there in the background ready to give advice if it was required. Barry has listened with more than a passing interest to the talk about the inter-county junior competition being scrapped and made it very clear that he wouldn't be in favour of such a move. Having seen at first hand what it meant to the Meath players to win an All-Ireland Junior Championship medal in 2003, and to their clubs, it's quite understandable that he argues in favour of the retention of the grade at inter-county level. "If the decision is taken to bring the junior competition to an end, where will players like the great panel I had get the opportunity to play inter-county football?" he asked. "It has to be appreciated that it's a great, great honour to wear the Meath jersey, or any county jersey for that matter, at whatever level. "To deprive players of that opportunity would be a great shame. I for one would certainly disagree with any such move. We saw just what it meant to the Meath players last August when we won the All-Ireland. It gave them, and myself, a very special thrill and the supporters really enjoyed it too" Barry's schedule during the height of the football season in 2003 was hectic, to say the very least, so how does he cope with such a non-stop situation. "It was go, go, go to be sure," he said. "Apart from the Meath juniors, I coached St. Patrick's over in Stamullen and Newtowncashel in Longford. It was basically a seven night a week situation. I'd have to say that the clubs were very understandable. They knew the situation and whatever night I wanted to do the training they were always agreeable. That was a big help to me." And what of the future for a man who is passionate about football and who is quite ambitions in terms of his career as a manager? "I would really like the chance to manage the Meath minors at some stage in the future," he added. "That would be a big ambition. I managed the Meath under-14 team last year and that was the same side that did so well as under-15s in 2003. I guess the minor job would be a good next step for me at inter-county level." But for the moment, Martin Barry can look back on 2003 and enjoy the fact that he led Meath to the All-Ireland junior title. Tweet

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