It was a fantastic year for Killanny at U14 level. Kevin Carney catches up with team manager Lornie Duffy to find out more. Last March and Killanny's under 14 squad comes together for the start of a new season of coaching, training and matches. The group had shown potential in times past and their appetite for the game and their willingness to learn impressed those close to juvenile set-up in Killanny. However, that said, even the most partisan Geraldines' fan would hardly have put the deeds of their house on wagering that the Class of 2004 would go the distance in the Farney Cup. They would be there or thereabouts, the grass roots brigade mooted. "The same squad of players had reached the Under 13 semi-final and showed promise and before that they had caught the eye a bit in getting to the Under 12 semi-final. "It wasn't as if they hadn't shown some form. "We were hopeful rather than being overly optimistic at the start of 2004," team-manager Lornie Duffy explains. And yet even the most ignorant of football people could see that the Killanny under 14s boasted quite a lot of the ingredients which makes for a winning formula. Firstly they were well able to handle themselves - able to 'mix' it as they say in the vernacular. And to compliment that physicality, the young Geraldines had pace too plus innate football skills. In addition, the players got on well together and were a cohesive lot, with some of them having played together on all three teams, i.e. under 12/13/14 in the previous seasons. "It's safe to say the same group had been knocking on the door for a few years. "They had shown a fair degree of dedication and determination in sticking together up through the grades. "I don't think there was one fella who dropped off the scene from under 12 level, despite the fact that they had some setbacks along the way at the last couple of hurdles," Lornie reminds us. Oh, and character. The Killanny gasuns showed they had character too. It all added up to a potent concoction as competition favourites Corduff et al were destined to discover. Of course, Lornie would be the first to admit that he, along with assistant John McMahon, needed the material to work with to fashion a long-awaited underage success for the Louth-border side. For apart from their innate skills, the players were all athletic bar none; all instinctively sporty with the athletic club in nearby Carrick and the town's soccer club ready-made nurseries for that athleticism. Did Lornie genuinely think Killanny had the winning formula last March? "We felt we'd give a right good go but Corduff would have been most people's favourites. "They had a fine winning tradition and won at under 12 and under 13 levels over the last couple of years and we knew it was going to be a hell of an achievement for us to beat them and the rest, " adds Lornie, father of medal winning players Caolan, Tiernan and Ronan. By patiently working on the youngsters' ball skills, concentrating on team work and movement off the ball, Lornie and John (McMahon) began to see a gradual and distinct improvement in their charges match performances and their ability to put into practice the exercises worked upon in training. And with attendances seldom dropping below the 100% mark, the Duffy/McMahon approach had an appropriately captive audience. Of course, it did help the aforementioned duo that the parents of the kids involved were right behind the squad from early on. The Killanny think-tank pursued a very strict disciplinary modus operandi and the parents rowed in with their unqualified support in that regard. The fact that a lot of Killanny's under 14 players came from 'football families' helped of course. Killanny's starlets were to do their parents, their club and their mentors proud in 2004. In careering to second place in the league, the Geraldines Og positioned themselves nicely to make their way to the winners' podium. Despite operating with a small panel, Lornie and John were fortunate over the course of the season in that they had little or no injury problems to worry about. However there was the no small matter of having to play without team-captain and influential midfielder Daryl Traynor for quite a bit of the campaign. "I think not having Daryl around spurred the lads on even more. "They were determined to make sure that when he was able to come back and play that we'd still be in the competition." The semi-final pairings pitted Killanny against fourth placed team Toome while Corduff went head to head with Doohamlet. The best four left standing? "Probably but there was a very even standard in the competition and the quality of the football was very good all-round. " I genuinely thought the standard of football was very high for division four," opined the Ballybay native. And as a mentor with some 26 years of coaching to his name, Lornie ought to be able to recognise quality football and a high level of skills when he sees them on show. "You have to keep in mind that there were a lot of good mentors involved with the various teams in division four. "There was Michael McEnaney in Doohamlet, Seamus McBride from Toome, Corduff's Lorcan Woods and Peter Brennan. "The players were very good but I think a lot of the skills the teams showed bore testimony to the quality of the coaches along the sideline," the one-time Ward Cup winning Ballybay ace confirms. In 2004 Killanny's under 14 brigade showed themselves to be highly skilled both on the field and on the sideline. Despite existing within the smallest parish in the diocese of Clogher (half of the parish is actually ensconced in county Louth) the Killanny gaels got more and more optimistic about the prospects of their under 14s the longer the 2004 season went on. A good opening win against Toome at home set the backdrop to a wonderful campaign. However defeat in Corduff, albeit in terrible conditions, tempered Killanny's hopes somewhat. The loss was suffered without the presence of the aforementioned team-captain mind. As things panned out, Toome were again defeated in the semi-finals. It surprised nobody in Killanny that Corduff lay in waiting in the county decider. "We could understand it if the lads felt a wee bit inferior to Corduff having lost out to them earlier in the league. "And, sure enough, they started a bit nervously and a couple lapses of concentration led to them getting a couple of goals which really threatened to cost us dearly. But the lads showed a lot of character after the early stages of the match and as the game went on I knew that there was no way they were going to leave Donaghmoyne without the cup. "It was level-pegging at the break. We were just ahead, 1-7 to 2-3, but with still a lot of work to do. And even though we got through for two more goals, we were left to sweat it out at the end as Corduff tried to pull the fat from the fire. "But pulling Daryl (Traynor) back from midfield to the defence helped steady things up and fortunately we held on to win by five points, 3-11 to 2-9," the former Dublin SFC-winning medallist recalls. Justice served? "I think so. "I'd say the final scoreline was a fair reflection of the balance of play on the day. "We got the scores when we really needed them and showed great determination to hold onto our lead at the end." A good day for the Killanny club then? "Great. "I think the last time the club had such a successful squad of underage players was when the likes of Peter Dooley was around so the Farney Cup win was overdue. "Any trophy for a small club is very welcome and a great boost and if we can get five or six of these fellas to progress to make an impression at senior level, the club will be all the better for it." The following is the triumphant Killanny team and reserves who did duty on Farney Cup final day last August: Kevin Quinn, Ronan Duffy, Edmund Markey, Caolan Duffy, Pierce O'Callaghan, Daryl Traynor, Cian Wakely, Mark Conlon, Stephen McMahon, Gavin Traynor, Andrew Campbell, Tiernan Duffy, Peter Markey, Tommy Kiernan, Sean McDonnell. Tweet

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