Prior to 2003, Carrick Emmets hadn't won the minor championship title since 1985. That all changed last September though. Absence may make the heart grow fonder but Carrick's absence from the top of the medals podium at minor level had grown to irritating proportions. And something needed doing, all belonging to the Emmets concurred. Not since the days of Pete Cassidy, Eddie Walshe et al back in 1985 had the south Monaghan town celebrated victory in the blue riband Under 18 competition. Doors had been knocked upon, alright, but they remained unopen as one year followed the next with the result that getting their hands on the prized piece of silverware proved to be all too elusive to Carrick's finest over an 17 year period. And yet there was a confident, optimistic air within the Carrick minor camp as the 2003 football season gathered pace. Cold analysis of the club's minor campaign from 2002 suggested that little separated them from getting within the confines of the winner's enclosure. After all the club had beaten Inniskeen in the final to claim the Division One league title and were somewhat unlucky to go down to eventual champions Clontibret in the semi-final of the championship. The subsequent march of Clontibret to the summit in Ulster also served to remind all and sundry within the Carrick set-up as to the sort of potential that existed in the squad. "The team was expected to go further than it did in 2002 and a lot of people in the club probably felt that last year's squad was even better than this year's. "Definitely the expectations surrounding the team in 2002 were much higher but in the end we fell that bit short of the target. "But we took a lot of heart from the success Clontibret achieved and felt that there wasn't that many pieces missing in the jigsaw," Declan Smyth, Carrick's minor team-manager in 2002 and 2003 opines. And so with selectors Pete Cassidy and Seanie Murray in tow, team boss Smyth once again sought to fire up his charges at the start of 2003 for an extended run in the league and championship. That this goal was duly achieved says a lot about both the quality of footballers at minor level in Carrick right now and the quality of coaching personnel in place at the Emmets also. The past year's campaign got off to a flyer with Carrick enjoying a facile win over Truagh Gaels in a lop-sided first round game at Carrick. It was a rather hollow victory though for the would-be champions, team-manager Smyth confesses. "We had things our own way for the whole game and it wasn't the best preparation we could have had going into the semi-final against Clones. "We didn't learn anything from the Truagh game and the size of our win meant that we had to work hard to make sure that the lads kept their feet on the ground. "A lot of the work we did before the Clones game involved getting the fellas right mentally more than physically," Declan recalls. As things transpired, the erstwhile Monaghan senior star and his selectors needn't have worried unduly even if the Clones lads did put it up to Carrick in the penultimate round tie. "Clones gave us a fright but maybe that was just what we needed going into the final, and especially after the Truagh game. "Clones upped their game against us and were definitely the better team in the first half and deserved to go in at the break a couple of points in front. "They had nothing much to lose whereas we were hot favourites and probably went into the game still slightly complacent. "Luckily enough we came good midway through the second half before going onto win the game with a bit to spare." Reflecting on Carrick's run-in to the county decider, Declan admits that while matters may have gone to form with Monaghan Harps joining themselves in the final, he himself was a tad concerned in the days leading up to the big day. The Emmets, Declan confides, had failed to sparkle in their league semi-final win over Scotstown and also in challenge games against Cavan sides, Kingscourt and Castlerahan. "We struggled in all three of those matches. We struggled to get past Clones whereas in the other semi-final, the Harps beat 'Blayney by something like eleven or twelve points in their semi-final. "But going into the final as underdogs didn't do us any harm though," the 29 year-old Carrick supremo acknowledges. Still with an earlier five point win over the Harps under their belts, the Carrick lads knew that if they played to their potential, victory for them was very much a possibility in the county final. And despite some worries over the fact that broken finger victim Eoin Duffy (full-back) had only recently been declared fit to play, the Carrick contingent approached the final on September 21st at Clones with more than a little confidence. In the event, everything worked out to a tee for the Sean Downey-captained outfit as the Harps were convincingly beaten by 3-15 to 2-9. Carrick posted notice of their intentions to regain the title when, after just 15 seconds, the aforementioned Downey lofted over a point. Carrick's lightning quick lead was one that would not be overtaken subsequently despite a bold bid by their opponents around the third-quarter mark to unhinge their opponents. The Emmets continued to enjoy the better of the exchanges as the first half progressed with a point by Mark Downey and Jonathan Gannon helping to ease the south Monaghan side into the lead by the odd point in five by the end of the first quarter. However the second quarter saw Carrick really open up their shoulders as they pummeled their opponents' goal. In the lead up to half-time, Carrick recorded an amazing 2-6 in contrast to a single point tally by the Harps with Sean Downey and Paddy Lonergan bagging the Carrick goals in sparkling style. "We couldn't have dreamt of doing so well in the first half. The lads played some exceptional football and weren't flattered by their advantage at the interval," Declan maintains. Leading by a whopping 12 points, 2-9 to 0-3, on the restart, Carrick showed a real killer instinct in stretching their lead to fifteen points with scores from Mark McNally (two) and Sean Downey. Things looked really rosy for Carrick at that juncture but, predictably, the pendulum did swing for a period the losers' way. The Harps proceeded to dig deep and, to their credit, managed to add 2-1 to their tally between the 10th and 14th minutes to reduce Carrick's lead to eight points. "Being so far ahead at half-time, it was inevitable that they (the Harps) would come back at us for a while. "But when they got their penalty at the midway point in the second half to bring it back to eight points, I felt our lads just upped a couple of gears to make sure that they weren't going to be denied," Declan remembers. And so it was left to Mark Downey to put the issue beyond any doubt when collecting the ball around midfield and then bursting forward before firmly planting the ball into the back of the Harps' net from close range. "Mark's goal left us comfortable again and after that there was never any danger that the game would run away from us," team-manager Smyth confirms. Although the Harps failed to throw in the towel and actually fired over three unanswered points in as many minutes thereafter, the last five minutes of the game saw Carrick put further gloss on their display with a brace of points from Jonathan Gannon doing the needful. A truly satisfying performance then by the Emmets? "Definitely. The lads saved their best displays of the year for the Harps with everyone of them playing some outstanding football. "I think they proved beyond any doubt that they were the best minor squad in Monaghan over the past year. "The players deserved to win the county title too because of their commitment all year, the ability they showed in the matches and the way they worked for each other when things weren't exactly going to plan." And their future prospects? "If they stick together, they should do equally as well at under 21 level in the next couple of years. "It's encouraging that eight of the panel are still eligible to play minor next year as well so we'd hope that between the various panels, we'll have a fair few lads coming through to hopefully do the business at senior level down the line," Declan concludes. For the record, the following is the all-conquering Carrickmacross team, scorers and subs, that featured in the county minor final last September: Thomas Sullivan; Mark Reilly, Eoin Duffy, Paul Conlon; Darren Martin, Timmy Lonergan, Stephen Boylan; Mark McNally (0-2), Declan Finnegan (0-1), Jonathan Gannon (0-3); Sean Downey (1-4), Gavin McMahon; Cathal Dolan, Mark Downey (1-5), Paddy Lonergan (1-0). Subs used; Damien Connolly, Darren Cunningham, Darren Magee. Carrick carry on progressing Carrick Emmets fell a tad short of the target at senior level in 2003 but they're itching ever closer to getting their hands on the Mickey Duffy Cup. 2003 witnessed Carrick's work-in-protest at its progressive best. Reaching the semi-final of the county's blue riband competition and getting to within a point of the eventual champions is the stuff of milestones. To be the best, it is said, you have to beat the best of the rest. That said, when the Emmets were asked to play out the role of spoilsports in tripping up reigning champions Clontibret in their opening defence of the title, even Carrick's most optimistic gaels must have felt a wee bit uneasy. But there was a quiet element of confidence in the Emmets' camp. Having been promoted into senior ranks by dint of their 2002 intermediate league title win, all belonging to Carrick Gaelic Football Inc. insisted that their favourites were in with the big boys on merit. And, of course, notwithstanding the fact that defeat in the 2002 intermediate championship final served to highlight the inherent talent in the camp. Certainly in the run-up to the meeting with the defending champions in early July, the words back and door were strictly taboo in Carrick. And didn't Donal McKenna's charges give the raging hot match favourites one hell of a fright! Still, the town team didn't make altogether easy for themselves as they allowed the 2002 kingpins to engineer a 0-5 to 0-0 lead inside a frenetic opening eleven minutes. Gradually though the Emmets began to give as good as they were getting. Even the forced retirement of the injured Ronan Finn (replaced by Declan Smyth) in the first quarter failed to stymie Carrick's resurgence. Within ten minutes of Clontibret going five-up, Carrick had cut their opponent's lead to just one, thanks to four points from Andrew Callan, including three from converted frees. It was punch for punch from there to the interval with Mark McNally and the aforementioned Callan keeping Carrick in touch, 0-6 to 0-8, at the half-time break. Although Clontibret proceeded to add a hat-trick of points in the third-quarter, the tide began to unequivocally turn Carrick's way. By the three-quarter hour mark, the champions looked in real danger in trailing by 0-10 to 0-12 after David Fox, Stephen Gollogly (two) and Andrew Callan (two) had each found their range. In a whirlwind following few minutes though, the champions succeeded in getting out of jail with four unanswered points. Stephen Gollogly did manage to reduce Carrick's deficit to the minimum at the death but without the benefit of any worthwhile added-on time to help their cause, Carrick ended up losing out by the narrowest of margins, 0-13 to 0-14. There was to be no slip-up though next time out with a comprehensive 1-14 to 0-7 win over Donaghmoyne making good the Emmets' berth in the second-chance saloon. Played amidst thunder and lightning and heavy rain at Clontibret in mid-July, Carrick's penchant for making the most of their opportunities in the business end of the field made the whole difference in what was a torrid contest. In this respect the accuracy of Andrew Callan and Stephen Gollogly was once again a forceful characteristic of the Carrick charge into the next round of the championship with the pair of attackers accounting for eleven points of their side's tally. Carrick did most of their best work in the first half, at the end of which they were sitting pretty on a 0-7 to 0-2 advantage. And although Donaghmoyne came more into the game in the third-quarter and at least equalled Carrick's efforts, a clinically-executed goal by Ronan Finn - after good work by messrs. Gollogly, Denis Connolly and Sean Downey - at the start of the final quarter left no one in the ground in doubt as to the destination of the spoils. Carrick continued to wade their way through the play-offs with a meeting against Ballybay at Toome on August 17th. In a game which was delicately poised throughout, it took a late opportunist goal by substitute John O'Connor to propel the south Monaghan side to a gritty 1-11 to 0-9 win. The experienced O'Connor had only been on the field for less than five minutes when he connected with the ball to cleverly flick it past Sean Gorman in the Ballybay goal. In what was an archetypal nip and tuck encounter, the sides had punched and counter-punched for the entire duration of the first half and it was no surprise that only the odd point in thirteen separated the combatants at the interval with Andrew Callan's finely-judged effort coming just before the sounding of the short whistle. The second half was a mirror image, to a great extent, of the first moiety with each side swapping points with gay abandon. The going was tough all through and no quarter was given asked for over the hour-plus. With the Carrick defence superbly marshalled by John Conlon, the Ballybay attack saw a lot of their promising moves flounder within scoring range. However Carrick had no less difficulty in puncturing the Ballybay rearguard but entering the final five minutes, the Emmets did get the decisive breakthrough. A long ball forward was collected by sub. Declan Smyth who released the ball into the path of Ronan Finn. The Carrick number 11 immediately took a pot shot at goal but as it fell short, sub. O'Connor skilfully diverted it into the Ballybay net for the crucial score of the game. With true grit and no little ambition, Carrick proceeded to turn the screw on their shell-shocked opponents and points by Sean Downey three minutes from time and a late, late effort by Andrew Callan completed a good day's work for the workmanlike Emmets. Late August and just Scotstown stood in the way of Carrick and a place in the semi-final of the senior championship. In the event, seldom in modern times has a Carrick team secured such a clear-cut victory over the one-time mighty blues. Played in Clontibret, the game was an interesting if somewhat predictable affair with Scotstown being forced to play a game of catch-up from very early on. It was a game that the north Monaghan outfit, in truth, never looked like winning even if the final scoreline of 1-14 to 0-7 did flatter Carrick a tad. As things panned out, Scotstown had no answer to Carrick's cohesion, workrate and finishing power where, in this latter regard, Andrew Callan produced a virtuoso display in hitting nine shots over the bar, including five from dead-ball situations. Carrick led by a single point at the end of the first quarter before stretching their legs, and ultimately their lead, to ease into a six point cushioned advantage, 0-10 to 0-4, at the interval. Things went from good to better on the restart for the Emmets with John O'Connor working intelligently as a third midfielder after James Conlon had to retire injured with ankle trouble. There was an inevitability about the end-result of the match from a long way out with Carrick's defenders in almost complete command over their opposite numbers. At the other end of the field, the Carrick forwards quietly went about consolidating their lead and after man of the match Callan had chipped over his ninth point in the 27th minute, Owen Sherry pushed forward a couple of minutes later to crash home a goal to really put the icing on the cake. Sadly Carrick's subsequent semi-final tussle with would-be champions Castleblayney in Aughnamullen proved to be a bridge too far. Carrick's eventual 0-9 to 0-10 defeat had heartbreak written all over it with former countyman Peter Duffy firing over a point in the last minute of normal time to deny Carrick at least a deserved replay. Duffy's effort made it a tragic afternoon for the Emmets who appeared to have the winning of the match after a powerful first half performance which saw the defence completely non-plussed by Blayney's vaunted attack; the team's midfield sector just about eding matters and the forwards showing up at their efficient, creative best. Two points by Andrew Callan and a single effort by Stephen Gollogly was the least Carrick's inventiveness deserved as the underdogs drove at their opponents with great gusto in the opening quarter. Playing ultra-positive football, Carrick continued to sweep forward - inspired by John Conlon - ad nauseum and when Declan Smyth and Andrew Callan combined to put the Emmets four points in front after 19 minutes, it appeared as if 'Blayney were in real trouble. Carrick's lead was stretched to five after a brillant shot by Callan in the 25th minute and when Owen Sherry responded to a great block by John Conlon to go on and tack on a brace of points to ease Carrick into a five points lead, the script seemed to be going to plan as far as Carrick were concerned even if the losers-elect saw their luck out when Owen Sherry hit the side-netting after being well found by Terry Kiernan. Still, in leading by 0-8 to 0-3 on the restart, it almost seemed as if the Emmets only had to 'keep their heads' to go on and triumph. Even by the three-quarter mark, things looked really rosy for Carrick as their four point lead had 'Blayney sweating it out. And thanks, in part, to a point by Andrew Callan in the 21st minute, Carrick still enjoyed a three point cushioned lead. Sadly things began to unravel for Carrick thereafter and with five minutes of normal time left to play, Dermot McArdle pointed for the Faughs to tie the scores at 0-9 apiece. Carrick struggled to steady the ship as their opponents got the scent of victory in their nostrils. And in the end, victory was lost to Carrick by dint of that aforementioned last-gasp Duffy score. In the best tradition of sporting cliches, the whole episode echoed the mantra of 'what might have been'. But with more than a sprinkling of youth on their side and the undoubted football nous to complement the team's innate exhuberance and ambition, the next season or two may well see Carrick climbing the summit of Monaghan football. Watch this space! Tweet

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