The fact that 2008 was something of a topsy-turvy year at senior level and disappointing at underage with Clones in the lower reaches of all of the underage divisions is no reason for pessimism. Hopes for the future are bright and it is a spirit of onwards and upwards that pervades the thinking at committee level in the club. By John P Graham Club chairman Tom Kelly is nothing if not pragmatic in assessing the year that is just ending but there is still a little degree of disappointment at the outcome in the junior football championship. An indifferent league campaign that saw Clones in the lower part of the junior football league table was not too bad as they seemed to be able to reserve their best for the championship and they worked their way through to the final but on the day it just simply did not happen for them and it was a case of wounded pride as much as anything else. One disappointing aspect during the year was that they were by and large unable to field a settled team with a number of players absent for various reasons throughout the year at different times and of course they also had to reckon without one of their rising stars in the latter stages of the competition with Mark Connolly heading off to seek his fortune in England as a professional player with Wolverhampton Wanderers. "Mark had been a great underage player with the club but this opportunity presented itself and he simply felt it was too good to turn down and we wish him all the best," explained Tom. When Clones reached the final of the junior football championship Mark in fact was their top scorer with a goal and twenty one points (1-21), narrowly followed by Darren Freeman with a goal and nineteen (1-19), and it was that scoring power that Mark Connolly generated that they missed most on county final day. Clones though were not the only team that missed the burgeoning talents of young Connolly as he was a vital member of the Monaghan County minor team that won their way through to the Ulster MFC final and came very close to defeating Tyrone. Mark though was missing for the All Ireland quarter-final against Mayo and Monaghan did sorely miss his physical presence out around the middle. Testament to the fact that there is up-and-coming talent in Clones is that they had two representatives on that minor team as young Fintan Kelly was also on the minor panel along with Mark Connolly. Club chairman, Tom Kelly, however would not be too despondent at the outcome all age levels during the year but says that Clones perhaps are regarded as being a big town and should be able to compete in the higher divisions of the underage competitions. "The size of the town, or the perception if its size, can be a bit misleading in that regard but I have to say that our minors competed very well in Dvision 2 although there were a couple of very strong teams in that section but we had good games against Latton and Carrickmacross in particular. Latton got to the Division 2 league final so that wasn't a bad reflection on us running them to a couple of points." While the club didn't feature in the latter stages of any of the underage competitions there is nevertheless a lot of work being done with underage teams and Tom Kelly is confident that this will pay dividends in the years ahead and he is confident that Clones will be a bit more competitive at under 16 level next year than they were in 2008. "It's an ongoing problem but the whole thrust of the club now is to do the work right up through the age levels from U8's right through and that should see a good supply of players coming through in the various age groups right through to senior. At the lower age levels there is a lot of work being done by the Holland brothers, Gerry Rehill and Declan McKernan as well as Patrick McCarville. We are fortunate that Darragh Holland's course at university is sports based and now during his year out he is doing valuable work with the two primary schools in the parish. He is putting in 10 hours every week working with the children in the primary schools and that can only be beneficial going forward." Speaking of the games Tom Kelly is also keen to point out and pay tribute to the two young men who have taken up refereeing duty for the club, Damien McGorman and Ciaran Kelly. "They do a great job for us as the onus is on the clubs to provide referees and we are very grateful to them." While confidence is strong that the future can be bright the Clones club though also values the services of people in former years and this year they had a special reunion for the team that won the 1983 Fr Hackett Cup, intermediate football league and with it promotion to senior ranks. Clones retained their place in senior for a few years back then but have not achieved elevation to the top flight since that. Probably the two best-known player from that 1983 team where Ciaran and Brendan Murray who both went on to win Ulster championship and National Football League medals with Monaghan in 1985. Ciaran then went on to win an All Star and he represented Ireland in the International Rules against Australia. Along with the two Murray brothers there were three of the McDonald brothers, Eoin, Donald and Lonan with Donald of course being the current senior team manager while another set of brothers, Gerry and Conor McGirr contributed substantially to that success. It was a night of reminiscing and good-natured banter that attracted almost a 100% turnout with one of the few absentees being David Mealiff who of course is now domiciled in Australia. Stan Kelly was the chairman of the club at that stage and Gerry McMahon was team manager. MC on the night George Pugh recalled some of the events and indeed some of the match reports that Stan Kelly had submitted to the local press, reminding Stan that all of the points that Clones scored that year were super points while all the points that any opposition scored were just merely points, but then it was that sort of night. It is worth recalling the line out for that 1983 Hackett Cup final: Kevin Moore Donal Reilly, Tom Moran, Christy Quigley, Brendan Murray, Ciaran Murray, John McCarthy, Eoin McDonald, Stephen Kerr, Gerry McGirr, Gerry Fahy, Lonan McDonald, Fintan Flynn, Donald McDonald, Pauric Geoghegan. The current chairman Tom Kelly was also a member of that team but suffered a broken leg earlier in the year and was unable to take part in the final but like the others he too enjoyed the reunion and the reminiscing that went on into the small hours. Planning for success on the playing field at all levels is central to the whole club ethos in Clones and one in the thing now that generates most of the optimism in the club is their involvement in a project to develop a major sporting facility in the town. The project is the brainchild of a united approach by the Clones Forum, the Athletic Club and St. Tiarnach's GAA club who came together to formulate a project that would provide sporting facilities for a wide range of sports in one location. The initial task was to identify a suitable location and when this was done land was purchased at Millbrook adjacent to the present club properly that is known as Coyle's Field. "Our plan was drawn up and an approach was made to the National Lottery for funding but at a meeting with the then Minister John O'Donoghue they were advised that the project was perhaps a little too ambitious initially and they were advised to go back and re-examine their plans. Then back in July 2007 a window of opportunity presented itself when funding for such projects was made available through The Peace 3 fund which is managed by The Special EU Programmes Body. The thrust of that particular fund is to create Shared Public Spaces where cross-border initiatives along with cross community initiatives will provide as it were a neutral space that will bring people of all persuasions together." A special committee was set up and fund-raising started with a car as the top prize in a major raffle. With a 14 acre site in place and their plans on paper the applications were made to the appropriate funding bodies. There was great satisfaction when the committee learned that the project would be grant aided to the tune of 7.2 million and when completed the project will provide two full-size GAA pitches, a 400 metres running track, at 3G pitch with a pavilion that will comprise 8 dressing rooms, four for use by the GAA and facilities that can also host boxing and a whole range of other sports. The club is greatly encouraged by the amount of goodwill that is out there for this particular project and the club would be quick to acknowledge the support and the generosity of the Ulster Council who facilitated them in granting them a right of way in along their own property so that the site of this new project could be accessed easily. Tom Kelly also was quick to point out that the Ulster Council has been very good to Clones over the years by staging so many matches and especially Ulster semi finals and finals in St. Tiarnach's Park, something he feels maybe that they did not get due credit for. "There was a difficult period back a few years ago when relations between the Ulster Council and Clones town council were perhaps a little bit frosty but their support for this new project has been warmly welcomed." There is of course the odd sceptic who would have questions as to whether all of these planned facilities are actually needed but Tom Kelly is quick to point out that with the level of activity at juvenile level right up through the age groups and the number of underage matches that the club has to host that they need all of their facilities on one site. "We were training and coaching in Coyle's Field and using the dressing rooms and changing facilities at the main pitch which meant that children were crossing roads and there were safety issues there. The ladies football too will be catered for as they have big demands and are now running a whole range of teams so we do need these new facilities and they will also allow other sports to develop and be facilitated within the town boundary giving the children of Clones town and the parish many more opportunities to take part in a range of sports that otherwise would not be possible". So far from being downcast or downbeat the spirit in the Clones club is very positive and forward thinking and the money provided under this Peace 3 initiative will put Clones right up there at the top of the sporting map as the prime venue in the province. Putting those facilities in place will cost the club money now only to put them in place but to keep them as well. "Running a club now is an expensive business," Tom Kelly mused but Clones is fortunate that they are able to raise funds on an ongoing basis through sponsorship and the Club Lotto. "Clones Credit Union is our main sponsor and they give us great support. Our Lotto is going well especially since we joined with the Ladies club but then with integration in the future we will all be working from the same base and with everyone pulling together the future can only be good." Going back to the future A freak result in last October's JFC final left all belonging to Clones GFC licking their wounds. But long-time club official Martina Holland says the club has its eyes firmly fixed on building a better future and in double-quick time too. Clones ushered in a gentle breeze on the day of the 2008 JFC final rather than a cyclone and sadly ended up generating headlines for all the wrong reasons. Co-finalists Drumhowan were a class apart in Truagh and the 0-4 to 2-14 final scoreline fairly reflected the gulf between the sides over the hour-plus. In reality, the town team's performance was straight out of their JFL panoply of endeavours rather than the form they had shown in their earlier championship matches. There was certainly no evidence of the cohesion, spirit and potency demonstrated in the wins over Killanny, Oram, Aghabog and Currin. It was a classic case of a team leaving their best form behind them. Martina demures. She contends though that the games against Currin were very draining: "I think the lads expended a lot of energy, physical and mental, on the games against Currin because of their importance and that might have come back to haunt them. "We went into the final with plenty of confidence and self-belief but those things didn't show in the final and we just never got going, never showed our true form. "In fairness, Drumhowan are an exceptional team and they showed after the county final just how good they are and that they're a team well able to play at a much higher level. "Once they got up a head of steam in the county final and went in 1-7 to no-score ahead at half-time, we had far too much to do in the second half." The decision by the Clones think-tank to opt to play against the wind in the opening half of the county final did, of course, backfire. Hindsight is a great thing," Martina points out. "But had the decision worked out, it would have been seen as an ingenious move but that's football. We were just blown away. "I thought we would have been out of the traps much quicker but Drumhowan were very focussed, very determined and after the first ten minutes, our lads were shell-shocked." Martina reckons the club has moved on from the nightmare that transpired at St. Mellan's Park, Truagh on October 19th last. She maintains Clones has no choice. A tough lesson was learned, the hard-working Secretary maintains, from the final and now it's up to the players "to up the ante and make sure we get back to the final again next year." "Once we get to the final, we must make sure that we play with confidence and self-belief, do better overall and really do ourselves justice on the big day. "Junior football in Monaghan has changed a lot over the last few years and we have to keep improving. It's a lot more evenly-contested now with a lot of good teams around. "There's no such thing as a handy game. The likes of Killanny, Toome and Blackhill are all making progress and there's only ever a couple of points between the teams really." Gaels in Clones aren't ones for putting their heads in the sand and, for her part, Martina recognises that finishing in the bottom quarter of the league in '08 wasn't good enough either. A bad start in the campaign preceded a decent middle before minds turned to the the blue riband championship and eyes were understandably taken off the ball. "I think we took our feet off the pedal as far as the league is concerned once we started off on our championship run and also once a place in the top four looked certain to elude us. "After the championship, the bottom went out of the year for us really and it was even difficult to get full-strength teams together for the last few games of the league. "It was a disappointing league season overall and another lesson to be learned. These lessons are no harm once they are learned and I'm sure we will learn from them." And the possibility of a resurgence in the coming season? "I don't see why not. We have a good, strong panel and they showed that by reaching the final. After all, there's another six clubs would have loved to have made it to the final. "Our fellas showed a lot of character and ambition during the year. They lost to Oram in the league but beat them in the championship and the same with their clashes with Aghabog. "There's not a lot in it at junior level and most teams are in with a shout of winning the league or the championship in any given year. "We have some good minors coming on and the more experienced fellas on the team will go into 2009 with a point or two to prove. "I can't see anyone retiring and if they can all stay together, I'm sure they have the ability to go one step better next year. I think most people in the county would go along with that." Aside from the story of the rise and fall of the club's premier team, the main talking point in Clones in 2008 revolved around the determined efforts being made at underage level. While the adult fraternity are uber-keen to force their way out of junior ranks, sooner rather than later, there is an even greater level of determination being channelled at juvenile level. From under 8 upwards, the youngsters in the border town are being well looked after by a coterie of club stalwarts whose focus is principally on the long-term future of the club. "We have seen from other clubs' progress at adult level that they put in an awful lot of resouces into their juvenile ranks and they've been getting the rewards as a result. "It's not difficult to see that your players at under 12 level will be looking at playing adult football within five or six years so in the long run underage coaching is crucial. "We've good structures in place and there are a lot of people willing and able to give of their time to train the youngsters so we're optimistic that good young talent will come through." Martina is wont to talk up the positives about Clones GFC but she does maintain that it can be more difficult for a club based in a town to engender a gung-ho spirit about the place. "In a small, rural area, for instance, everyone knows everyone else and you're likely to be talking about smaller panel numbers and maybe a more close-knit feel to the area. "Sometimes the criticism handed out to the players in a town can be that bit more severe and there's a lot more people willing and able to tell them where they went wrong. "We have to work harder, I feel, in a town to generate a buzz around our football than maybe a club in a small parish does but that's something we have had to live with." An ever-present at Clones's top-table since 1999, the former club Chairperson, Registrar and PRO is convinced that Clones has a bright future in its own hands. Mother of fellow St. Tighernach's stalwarts, John, Eugene and Darragh, the long-time Clones official believes her club can rise, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of last October's pyre. "We have a lot of things in the pipeline for the coming year and, as regards the juniors, I think they can use their achievement in getting to the final as a springboard for 2009. "Getting to a final is no mean achievement and we will be looking to build on that and a better league campaign, early on at least, will help. "Off the field, we're hoping that work on our seven and a half-million complex, in association with the local athletic club will commence sometime between June and September. "Two pitches are planned plus a running track and dressing rooms and we expect several organisations in the town to benefit from the project. "It should be a great addition to local leisure facilities and of great benefit to the footballers for training so that's a lot to look forward to." Tweet

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