Onwards and upwards for Drumhowan
December 30, 2009In the aftermath of Drumhowan's glittering accomplishments in '08, one would have imagined that all belonging to Drumhowan would have tempered their assessment of the club's possible potential from here on.
However, club chairman Gerry Finnegan's view of the club's future bears infectious optimism. Drumhowan's ascent towards the peak of the game of Gaelic football in Monaghan will continue, he insists.
And for any observers forecasting a dark, forbidding time for the Geraldines down the line, the Drumhowan chief says such a prognosis must be a long range effort.
"With the present group of footballers we have, I can see us holding our own for at least the next ten years," Gerry booms.
"Apart from Stephen McGinnity, Dermot McDermott and James McElroy, everyone on the panel would be well fit to compete with the best for a long time to come.
"Most of these fellas have won a good few underage medals together so they have proven themselves at every level they have played at.
"Having said that, we still have to make sure we don't take our eyes off the ball. We have to continue to look after our underage players.
"You'd be hoping to get three or four players coming through to adult level from every underage team and we're still doing well with the juveniles.
"I think we'll be alright for numbers in the short term anyway but we'll still have to concentrate on the coaching so as to build on what the lads have achieved at junior and intermediate."
He steadfastly insists that it is a long way from blueprint to success. Night doesn't always follow day in football parlance, he cautions.
And it is plain that Gerry doesn't buy into the notion that underage success necessarily ladens a club with realistic expectations of adult success.
"Look at Scotstown. They must have won four out of the last six minor championships and three out of the last five under 21 championships but there's no guarantee that they're going to add the senior championship to their league title any time soon.
"They won the league this year - their first major title for something like 16 years - but transferring all that underage success to adult is not easy."
Still, things continue to go pretty swimmingly for the mid-county side with exhuberant celebrations now the norm rather than the exception in any given year.
Times are good for the Tullycorbet parishioners and 2009 only served to underpin the mounting tide of praise being heaped on them.
A place in the intermediate final would be enough to keep most happy, but following defeat to Monaghan Harps in the decider Drumhowan put their shoulder the wheel to ensure promotion via the league would not slip away.
The font of the kudos propelled their way is as much rooted in the club's ongoing brilliant use of their resources as it is in their propensity to put silverware in the trophy cabinet.
Sharing a small gaeldom with senior league finalists who have proven upwardly mobile in their own right appears to be bringing out the best in Drumhowan.
"There are clubs with much bigger catchment areas and have more schools to pick from but they're not doing as well as us," says the Doohamlet native and former half-back in a matter-of-fact sort of way.
"Luck does play a part. We have been lucky in the last few years in terms of injuries and not having players sent off, especially in the big matches.
"But the players showed good character at different times in the year. They lost the first game of the league against Cremartin but they looked a tired team after all their exertions from all the games they played in 2008.
"Winning the next 12 games on trot after the Cremartin match showed just what they were made of though and they took it on from there.
"We had qualified for the semi-finals with five games to go and that showed just how consistent the team was."
Losing to Monaghan Harps in the IFC represented a significant blip in Drumhowan's season of course. It was a pill that reined in optimism.
"It's water under the bridge but there were a few decisions in the match that we weren't very happy about, like a couple right after half-time," he says.
Bolstered by the organisation, structure and belief that is emblematic of 'erstwhile provincial club champions, Drumhowan's star remains on the up.
The bluechip victories in '08 over the best that Donegal, Derry and Antrim had to throw at them are fading into the annals.
And, pointedly, Gerry - now into his third year in the hot seat - says that "it is a big ask to continue to live up to the success we had in 2008 but we're not doing too bad.
"Up until this year's final against Monaghan Harps, we had a 100% record of having won all the championship finals we competed in since the club was formed. I think we were unique in Monaghan in terms of that record.
"I regard these fellas as good enough to play senior football. They're as good as many of the teams in the senior league."
Going forward, Gerry - an Under 16 medallist on the double with the Geraldines in times past - reckons that Drumhowan's current premier team will want to make the most of the present considering question marks over the longevity of their long-time talisman, Stephen McGinnity.
If, as expected, the former county star togs out for his native club this year, the record books will show that he will have played for the Geraldines in four different decades since making his senior bow in the late eighties.
"It'll be very hard to find another one for the club like Stephen but we just have to hope that we'll have enough talent to see us do okay in the years ahead.
"Morale has been good in the club for a long time now and the players we have have shown that you can't beat having a good squad.
"We now have a group of players that expect to win every game and that the supporters are expecting to win each time they go out.
"When you have a panel of players that is good enough to make it into the top four teams in all of Ireland, you have to be optimistic that they can do the club proud in their own county."
As for the standard of football in the county, Gerry says the rise of Monaghan's stock at minor and Under 21 levels in recent years augurs well for the future.
He reckons Monaghan football is in good health and that the fact that at least five club sides are all capable of winning the SFC is a reflection of rising standards across the board.
"For years we knew who was going to be the champions, before even a ball was kicked. It was going to be Scotstown or Castleblayney.
"Now you have those two teams plus the likes of Clontibret, Magheracloone, Latton, and Carrickmacross all capable of winning the senior title.
"I think the fact that so many of them are pretty even is a good indication of the rising standard of the game in the county."
Gerry has been a long-time participant in the world of Gaelic football. He delights in being at the coalface of administration affairs after what he confirms was "some very enjoyable times as a player."
Those enjoyable days with Drumhowan included crossing swords with his brother Peter who was playing for Doohamlet when the sides met in the 1974 JFL final.
Doohamlet won the championship final but Gerry et al in the Drumhowan colours turned the tables in the JFL final by beating the O'Neills after having drawn the two previous league meetings that year with their rivals.
"Those were great days with a lot of banter before and after the games. The football is a lot different now but there's still the same craic and the same sense of pride in the clubs."
Gerry went onto represent Monaghan at minor and Under 21 levels before his football career was guillotined at the age of just 24.
While ensconced in county Cork, Gerry fell 150 feet from a building while at work. He broke almost every bone in his body and was unconscious for a period.
Ever since he's been busy enjoying life and Drumhowan's success has been a real bonus.
In mid-December, Drumhowan were given the ideal chance to bestow cold revenge on Monaghan Harps for their championship final defeat when they met the town side in the county intermediate league final in Emyvale.
After defeating Aghabog in the IFL semi-final, Drumhowan assured themselves of their promotion up to the top-flight of Monaghan club football as the Harps had already claimed themselves a place in the senior ranks by virtue of capturing the Packie Boylan Cup in October.
However in the league final there was much pride at stake, and it was Drumhowan that delivered a superb second-half performance to ease towards 1-11 to 1-4 victory and level themselves on intermediate silverware terms with their opponents. For 2009 it finished 1-1.
Played in the chilly conditions and heavy fog at Oliver Plunkett Park, the would-be winners had fell behind early on before James McElroy, David Millar and Colm Lambe all struck points that helped Drumhowan into a 0-5 to 0-3 half-time lead.
In the second-half, Donal McAdam's charges put their foot to the throttle and totally left their opponents behind, despite the setback of an early goal. The remaining 27 minutes saw Drumhowan dominate their way to the title, with McElroy setting-up Kieran Mooney for a well-taken goal that had them on their way.
McElroy (2), Mooney and Anton Mulligan all raised white flags to steer Drumhowan comfortably in front and when goalkeeper Enda Duffy pulled off a superb save from Harps ace Shane Smyth the writing was on the wall. A sweet point from the ever-dangerous David Millar left seven between the sides, thus securing the victory and a coveted league title for Drumhowan which to remember 2009 by.
Drumhowan (IFL final v Monaghan Harps): Enda Duffy; Darren Duffy (Capt.), Damian Duffy, Paddy Mulligan; Kevin Mooney (0-1), Paddy Duffy, Niall Mooney; Anthony Mulligan (0-2), Dermot McDermott (0-1); Christopher McGinnity, Kieran McElroy, Kieran Mooney (1-0); Colm Lambe (0-2, 1f), James McElroy (0-3, 2f), David Millar (0-2).Subs: Stephen McGinnity, Liam McGuirk, Ciarán Deery, Damien Mooney, Martin McElroy. Tweet
