After 14 years, gaels in Oram were all agreed that it was time the county under 21 title returned to its natural home
once more.

In 1996, John Mone featured on what was the last Sarsfields team to annex the cup named after one of their own, PJ Flanagan.
In 2010, Mone acted as Oram's team-manager of the club's up-and-coming starlets who reclaimed the Division Three crown after a 14 year gap.
In beating Tyholland by 3-10 to 0-11 on a perfect autumn evening last August in Cremartin, Oram upset the odds in grand style.
With five games in all to be negotiated, the participants were always going to have to earn the title. Tyholland's early form was ominous though.
The Armagh border side waltzed their way past the challenges presented by Doohamlet, Killanny and Clones.
Oram were victors too over the other wannabes but the local turf accountants continued to finger Tyholland as champions-elect.
Tyholland's senior reserve team included a number of their under 21s in their ranks and their displays underpinned the players' burgeoning ratings.
But with 10 players with senior team experience togging out at under 21 level, the Oram team boasted a lot of experience and football nous.
The fact though that Oram were never able to field at full-strength due to injuries etc meant that their passage through to the final was a tad laboured.
In a stuttering display against Doohamlet, for instance, the would-be champions were missing a handful of players and the team's fluidity suffered.
At the very outset the aforementioned Mone says the Oram think-tank realised that their charges were desperate to get their hands on the silverware.
Along with his selectors Stephen Mone and Lorcan Keenan, team-manager Mone reckoned there was a real conviction and determination at hand.
"The fact that it was the PJ Flanagan Cup that was up for grabs made it all the more special for us," John Mone explains.
"That was a great incentive for the lads to win it and we knew the lads had to potential to go the distance so we were hopeful from the word go.
"I think also the fact that a lot of the lads had lost out in the 2008 minor division three final to Killanny left them not wanting to lose another final.
"For the likes of Rory Murphy - who turned out to be the man of the match in the final against Tyholland - it was a chance to make up for the fact that he had been the losing captain on that minor team two years ago."
And with the likes of under 21 county player Stephen McBride; county vocational schools pair Ryan McGuinness and Toirleach Fitzsimons and county minor Cathal Crowe leading the line, there were certainly solid foundations for Mone and co's optimism.
In fact, quite a few of Oram's under 21 side in 2010 had proven themselves at under 14 and under 16 levels in tandem with Toome and Blackhill.
Indeed an under 16 double and a minor title was also scooped by the triumvirate. So Oram's finest had a winning pedigree to bring to the table.
Similarily, quite a raft of Oram's up-and-coming stars featured on the club's title-winning Junior 'B' Division Four squad in 2009.
With emigration kicking in from the start of the year with a couple first-teamers feeling the need to head for the US, Oram had their work cut out.
"Early on our form was patchy," Mone admits. "We beat Doohamlet and Killanny by the narrowest of margins and Clones by just a couple of points.
"We knew Tyholland were winning their matches very comfortably and it was always on the cards that they were going to be the team to beat.
"Our last fixture was against Tyholland but because both of us had already qualified for the final before the last round, our match didn't go ahead."
The final went ahead on August 14th and proved to be an entertaining and free-flowing contest between what were two evenly matched teams.
The tone of the game was set from early on with both teams opening up at a very high intensity which made for a cracking, end-to-end affair.
Oram answered an opening minute point from Tyholland with a point apiece from Daniel Forde and Toirleach Fitzsimons, the latter from a free.
The sides proceeded to be deadlocked on no fewer than five occasions in the first half with the lead changing hands four times.
It was tit for tat for the first 20 minutes but then Oram hit the jackpot when Ryan McGuinness flicked the ball to Aaron Molloy who duly found the net.
Tyholland hit the front though in the 23rd minute with a brace of points but that was to be the last time the match favourites led.
"I think one of crucial scores of the match was Rory's (Murphy) goal just before half-time," Mone opines.
"It came at the right time, in first half injury time, and gave us just the cushion (2-6 to 0-8) we wanted to carry on into the second half.
"That goal kicked us into life and after that our fitness took over. We trained for seven nights in the three weeks up to the final and it showed late on."
Even without the influential injured pair of Christopher McGuinness and Christopher McGuinness, Oram never looked like being caught thereafter.
A point by Toirleach Fitzsimons added to Oram's lead on the restart but after Tyholland replied in kind, no further scores were forthcoming 'till the 46th minute.
There was still four points between the sides entering the final ten minutes but an unanswered 1-2 tally inside five minutes left them sitting pretty on the back of a nine point lead.
Oram's third and final goal was notched courtesy of a dipping shot from Toirleach Fitzsimons before a point apiece from Ryan McGuinness and Daniel Forde eventually wrapped up the spoils.
The following are the Oram players who did duty against Tyholland in the U21 Division Three League decider:
Berat Turker; Stephen McBride (0-2), Gavan Fox, Conor Murphy, Roy O'Neill, Rory Murphy (1-0), Niall Bishop (0-1), Johnny McGuinness, Ryan McGuinness (0-1), Toirleach Fitzsimons (1-3), Cathal Crowe, Daniel Forde (0-3), Aaron Molloy (1-0).
Subs used; Darragh Morris; Kevin Irwin.
Reflecting on his side's county final victory, team-manager Mone says his charges' mental strength and experience counted big time.
"I was always fairly confident in the second half that we'd hold onto our half-time lead and, in all honesty, there wasn't an awful lot needed to be said at half-time.
"A few of the lads made their feelings known at the break and realised that the destiny of the cup was in their own hands.
"The lads were determined not to be in a position at the end of the match where they'd have to stand around and listen to their opponents celebrating on getting the cup.
"I thought we were in the comfort zone for a lot of second half and, in the end, our third goal was the killer blow.
"Our performance in the final was probably our best of the year and I was delighted for the lads 'cause they deserved it."
And what of the future for the Class of 2010?
"There's plenty of potential there and you'd be hoping that the most of them would go on and carve out good senior careers.
"If they can go on and gel well with the older senior players we should have a good chance of getting out of junior (ranks) in the next couple of years.
"We hope to be in a position to open our new pitch around June next year and it would be great if we were heading towards intermediate at that stage.
"You'll have the likes of Aghabog and Emyvale who'll be there or thereabouts as well but we wouldn't be afraid of either of them.
"Junior will be very open in 2011 and hopefully we can build on the under 21 success and make a real go of getting promotion." Tweet

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