Bright future ahead
December 30, 2010
While many clubs devote their focus to the present, Fergal O'Hanlons have been upsetting the trends since their arrival in Monaghan seven years ago and still continue to build for the future. Secretary Darren Doyle informed Monaghan's Match that 2010 had been the club's most successful year to date.
Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh si. The Fergal O'Hanlons club out Mullaghdun way are simply living proof of the old Irish phrase.
2010 saw a memorable year unravel for the Fergal O'Hanlons club with silverware coming across the Under 12, 14 and 16 grades to cap-off the club's best season to date and one that devoted clubman Darren Doyle won't soon forget.
"On the senior front our objectives were to compete," said Darren, "but our main objective since we started the club has been to build from juvenile up and hopefully get a successful senior team a few years down the line.
"We won an Under 12 title three years ago, which was our first, but we hadn't won anything since until this year."
A proud Darren was able to list off the honours his club earned this past season without any hesitation; such does the success men to a young club like Fergal O'Hanlons GAA.
He stated: "Our Under 16 team won the Division Three championship, the Under 14s won the Division Four Shield and our Under 12s were unbeaten in Division Five, so overall you'd have to say it was a good season for us.
"We have a few younger guys coming through now and we're in the process of licensing the field we've been using for the last few years. Hopefully we can get more parents involved now and get more numbers in management so everyone's shoulder is to the wheel."
A Division Three Championship triumph at the end of September was a historic first for the club at Under 16 level.
Fresh from the success of their Under 12 and Under 14 scalps, O'Hanlon's were bidding for a hat-trick of county title successes and the pressure was on after they'd defeated a fancied Clones side in the semi-final to book their place alongside Aughnamullen in the decider.
"The team was managed by Ronan McKenna, with myself, Daniel McKenna, Brendan McKenna and Tom Cawley as team selectors," Darren explained.
"We had a good run in the championship to get to the final against Aughnamullen, who had beat us in the league semi-final earlier on in the year, and it was played on a real miserable night in Emyvale under floodlights."
The conditions contributed to a low-scoring affair in which O'Hanlons had taken the early lead, but even after saving a penalty they couldn't halt Aughnamullen's goal threat in the first-half and the sides would be all square at half-time at 0-3 to 1-0.
In the second-half, the Monaghan town side converted a penalty of their own and added two more points to make sure they were out of reach by the full-time whistle to clinch the coveted title.
"It was a low-scoring game and Aughnamullen got a penalty in the first-half which our goalkeeper saved. They went in front early on in the second-half but we got a penalty and scored it which put us a few points in front. There was two points in it towards the end and they missed a few chances and thankfully we held on for a one-point win," said Darren.
"It was a very good accomplishment for such a small pool of guys and I suppose it was a bit of revenge too because we were beaten by them in the league semi-final earlier on in the year. We were glad to win the final, but in a way we were also relived when that whistle went."
The "accomplishment", as Darren fittingly puts it, was one to savour for the club especially after their Under 14 footballers had strode to the Division Four Shield title just four weeks previous.
Under the managership of Darren, who was ably assisted by Daniel McKenna, Tom Cawley, Ronan McKenna and Martin McCaffrey, O'Hanlons made their mark on the competition after exiting the championship by a mere point to eventual winners Scotstown.
After overcoming Doohamlet's challenge in the semi-finals of the Shield, O'Hanlons met Cremartin at Oram in the competition's decider and controlled the game from start to finish, with the likes of team captain Gary O'Leary and Lee McKeon causing the Shamrocks real problems.
"It was our first trophy of the year and it was great to get," Darren stated on the win.
"There wasn't any pressure on us. Scotstown beat us in the championship by a point and that put us into the Shield and the lads put in the effort and you get what you give. We felt strong and that helped us into the final and we led it from start to finish.
"Our captain was Gary O'Leary, who was a great addition to us because of his strength. Other players on the team that day were Dermot O'Leary, Curtis McCann, Packie Comiskey, Keith McCann, Conor Doyle, Lee McKeown, Shane Power, Tyrone McCann, Cillian Cooney and Wesley Cauley."
It was a triumph that got the ball rolling for the O'Hanlons' season and at the start of September they would capture a second underage crown in as many weeks - this time in the Under 12 grade.
The win over Emyvale was one that Darren himself reserved particular praise for, considering that the team had went unbeaten throughout their league campaign to storm to the title.
"The management was myself, Seamus Myles, Martin McCaffrey, Jim Cauley and John Cauley, who were all very helpful throughout the year. I don't think they missed a training session all year," said Darren.
"It was a long league campaign, with both home and away games, and we managed to go undefeated. I've had these players three years from Under 8s and this year all the work they'd put in really paid off. They drew one game all year with Emyvale and we ended up meeting them in the final.
Darren described the final as "a real war of attrition" and one that saw the eventual winners make a riveting start to.
"We had a brilliant start and ended going up by more than ten points before Emyvale got their first score. They managed to get back within two points of us and we held on for a win in the end and I can tell you it was a great feeling when that final went.
"They're a team that deserves a lot of credit and this is another year under their belts," he stated.
The team which defeated Emyvale in the nine-a-side final was as follows: William McQuaid, Cillian Cooney, Oisin Clerkin, Shane Power, Conor Doyle, Lee McKeown, Dylan Kelly, Wesley Cauley, Tyrone McCann. Subs: Justin Cauley, Joshua Clerkin, Jordan Clerkin, Caolan Myles, Terence McDonald.
Three weeks later and O'Hanlons Under 16 footballers would finish the job to complete a unique treble for the club which Darren believes no other club in the county achieved in clinching silverware in three different underage grades.
"It was a happy year for us and I think we were the only club to win a trophy at every underage level - Under 12, 14 and 16," he enthused. We don't want to rest on our laurels though because we have to get in the habit of winning silverware again next year.
"We had teams for the Under 8s and 10s for the Go Games and I'd like to think that we've been very competitive in that as well.
"We have a very big support that come to our games and hopefully it counties into the future. I'd like to give a special thanks to Brendan McKenna for helping to organising all the teams, and also a small thanks to all who helped out over the year."
To add to his already hectic schedule, Darren's work with O'Hanlons underage fraternity has earned him a call into the Monaghan Under 15 development squad management team, so he has it all ahead of him yet.
With that in mind, a bright future certainly looks to be on the horizon for the ever-growing Fergal O'Hanlons.
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