Although he ended up medal-less, Cremartin attacker Barry Carragher was one of the stand-out players of the 2003 junior football season in Monaghan. Kevin Carney reports. The immense value of having a consistently good free-taker in your ranks simply brooks no debate. All successful teams over the course of the history of Gaelic games have sported at least one ace free-taker. And while 2003 will not go down in the annals of Cremartin Shamrocks as being one of their most successful years at adult level, the accuracy of their Mr. Reliable, Barry Carragher, was a joy to behold. In professional sporting parlance, our man Carragher would be a man very much in demand on the transfer market. Unfortunately for him and his Cremartin colleagues, the conversion of a large percentage of frees during the club's championship and league campaign in the past year wasn't enough on its own to secure any major silverware. Defeats in the Junior Championship decider and, thereafter, in the corresponding league final underpinned the adage that football is very much a team game. Not that you'd hear Barry Carragher crowing about his prowess from dead-ball situations. Far from it. Instead, he rhymes off the occasions when his accuracy from placed balls left the Shamrocks with more work to do than they really ought to have had. Still, even the most casual observer of junior football in Monaghan would tell you that our man Carragher played a pivotal role in Cremartin's achievement in making the championship and league finals. And, yet, months later, his starring role for his club in 2003 still offers Barry no consolation for those galling final defeats. "Maybe when the new season gets well underway, it'll get easier to accept what happened us in 2003 but the memory of how low morale was in the club after the championship defeat especially is still there. "We were convinced that we would have at least got promotion in the year gone by and I personally thought, both times, that we had the measure of Monaghan Harps and Clones but we didn't do the business either team," Barry concedes. In fact, the lively attacker wasn't on his own in thinking that championship and league victories over the Harps and Clones respectively were well within Cremartin's compass. After all, the Shamrocks had gotten the better of both sides during the league campaign and things had, after all, looked to be coming together just nicely as, first the summer season and then the winter league programme gathered pace. In this regard, Cremartin were well-placed at the peleton of the league by the time they opened their championship campaign with a 1-8 to 0-7 win over Blackhill at Aughnamullen in late June. It was a tough tie though and the Shamrocks had to come back from a 0-4 to 0-5 deficit at the interval. But Barry's excellent free-taking form and a better second half display, collectively by the Cremartin players, ensured that the championship outsiders were defeated. "Blackhill are an improving team and we struggled to beat them in Aughnamullen. "We played better in the second half that day and that was the way it was for most of the year for us. It wasn't that good of a start to the championship but a win was all that counted at the end of the day," insists Barry whose two points in added-on time against Blackhill helped seal his team's win. Things improved dramatically for Cremartin thereafter as they set about advancing their championship cause against Clones. As for Barry, well his star fairly rocketed skywards as he notched all three goals in Cremartin's 3-8 to 0-11 victory over the town team in Clontibret. All three goals, ironically, came in the first half - helping to catapult Carragher and co. into a healthy 3-4 to 0-4 interval lead. "I was very lucky against Clones. I never scored a hat-trick of goals before for the club at adult level but the ball just bounced nicely my way against Clones and it was just as well because we knew they (Clones) were going to be tough to beat. "Overall though the team played well; there was a good self-belief there and because we had beaten them earlier in the league, we were fairly confident that we had the beating of them. "At the end of the day, I think we were more up for it than Clones." And the script seemed to be holding firm when, in mid-July, Cremartin handed out a 2-13 to 0-7 beating to Killanny in Aughnamullen with two first half goals by Gregory Flanagan paving the way for a convincing win for the would-be finalists. For his part, Barry - a county under 16 medallist with Cremartin in 1997 - chipped in with a useful three points over the hour. "We didn't get it that easy against Killanny and I was definitely worried when Michael (Malone) was sent off midway through the first half and they started to come back at us. "But we again did well in the second half and with the cushion of the goals were able to hold them off with some great points late on," 22-year old Barry recalls. A win a couple of weeks later in the league against Monaghan Harps boosted confidence in the Cremartin camp even more and team-manager John Malone and his selectors Eddie Carragher and Ciaran Brannigan must have felt that their charges were hitting top form just at the right time as the championship season approached its climax. It was semi-final time next and a date with Aughnamullen in Clontibret. "At the start of the year John (Malone) said he wanted us to at least make the championship final so that was our target he had us aiming for in the run-up to the Aughnamullen game. "We lost out in the semi-final to Corduff in 2002 and we didn't want to go down that road again," explains Barry who has been a regular on Cremartin's premier side for nearly four years now. John Malone's request to his charges was duly responded to in positive fashion as Aughnamullen were knocked out of the competition on foot of a 0-13 to 1-7 scoreline. The game proved to be sour/sweet affair on a personal level for Barry after he spurned a penalty chance in the 18th minute. "Luckily they missed a penalty too when the ball came off the butt of the post and we got a free-out from the scramble for possession afterwards. "If their goal had went in, we might have been in trouble and I might have had to emigrate!" With five points to his credit against the Sarsfields, Barry emerged as the game's top-scorer and as the championship final duel with Monaghan Harps approached both his, and his team's confidence, was sky-high. Sadly though Cremartin "didn't last the pace" and failed to show the necessary staying-power as they went under to the county team side by 0-9 to 0-12. So what went wrong? "We hadn't any excuses. They were the better team on the day. "We had heard of how they'd been training very early in the mornings and had been putting a lot of work into their game all year. "But we had been working hard as well. "I think the turning point came with about ten minutes to go after we went two points ahead. "If we had managed to tag on another point or two at that stage, we would have went on and won it but Darren Swift pulled one back for them a couple of minutes later and that marked the slippery slope for us and a roll for them," Barry opines. The championship final defeat was a really bitter blow for all concerned with Cremartin. But that misery was subsequently compounded a couple of weeks later when Clones emerged victorious in the league final by 1-8 to 0-6 in a match played in Tyholland. "We played some good football in the last few games of the league but Clones obviously learned more from our championship game that we did. "It didn't help that we had Ciaran Lavelle sent off, that I missed a few frees and we should have converted a couple of goal chances but that's just all ifs and buts at the end of the day." Now a new season beckons from just around the corner and Barry is working hard at removing the bad and the ugly from 2003 from his cerebellum. "We're a close-knit team and we should be able to stick together and learn from 2003. "Our underage teams have been doing really well in recent years with the under 14s winning four-in-a-row and with the addition of a few of our under 16s and minors over the next couple of years, I'd be confident that we can repeat our junior championship win of '98." So Cremartin will more likely than not start off 2004 as favourites to win the JFC title? "I'm not saying that although I could understand it if others made us favourites. "We wouldn't fear Corduff or Oram who'll be back playing junior next year or any of the other teams in the race. "At the start of the year, we always felt that the Harps were going to be the team to beat in the championship and that's the way things turned out. "Maybe next year we'll take their place." Time will tell. Juvenile Matters Our juvenile teams performed very well this year with four teams competiting in Division 1 football at Under 13, Under 14, Under 15 and Under 16 level. Under 12 Our Under 12 team competed in Division 3 this year having lost at least ten of last years team and fielding a very young team which also consisted of three talented girls; Erin Brennan, Leanne Murray and Amy Boyd. They worked so hard to reach a semi-final of this competition which they dually succeeded in doing. The semi-final was played in Aughnamullen against the homeside and we were in contention for honours right to the late stages of the game until Aughnamullen broke down our defence and we conceded handy goals. This Aughnamullen team went on to win the competition outright. Under 13 This team under the guidance of Noel Marry and Declan Bishop really enjoyed Division 1 status having being newly promoted from Division 2 the previous year. These young players relished playing against the kingpins of juvenile football in the county. Their efforts were duly rewarded when they reached the semi-final against Monaghan Harps, having drawn with them in the league game. The semi-final was a great exhibition of Gaelic Football from both teams and at the final whistle there was only four points separating the two teams. Great credit must go to this team. Under 14 The Under 14 team under the newly appointed manager Terence McCaffrey and his helpers Pauric Kerr and Paddy McMahon had their sights set on reaching a semi-final in this Division 1 competition. This management team emphasised to the players about self-belief and self confidence in their own football ability and with this belief they succeeded in reaching the semi-final stage. The semi-final was played on a wet Thursday evening against a Monaghan Harps team at their home venue. Cremartin under-performed in the first half and faced an uphill battle going into the second half. They excelled themselves in the final half with some brilliant football and at the final whistle the Harps advanced to the final winning by the narrowest of margins. Under 15 Under the guidance of Maurice Branigan and Philip McCague this under 15 team gave numerous outstanding performances in a very evently contested under 15 Division 1 competition and like the previous three teams succeeded in reaching a semi-final, this time with our neighbours Castleblayney Faughs. The game itself was a thriller from start to finish with fantastic displays of football and we were very unlucky not to have reached a Co. Final at this age group. Great credit must go to players and management of this squad. Under 16 & Minors These teams achieved success in the early stages of the competitions but due to unfortunate injuries, holidays and exams we were unable to advance to the semi-finals. But the future certainly looks bright for minor and senior football with this young blood coming through the ranks, again credit due to mentors Pete Farrell and Gregory Flanagan. Overall we can look back over the past year of juvenile football in the club with great satisfaction. We may not have any silverware but our boys are up at the top and putting it up to the best in the county. The club deeply appreciates the hard work of all our mentors, from our Under 10 coaches Harry Leonard and Ciaran McNally right up to Minor manager Pete Farrell & Co. These men are ensuring that juvenile football in Cremartin will continue to improve and blossom in the years ahead. Tweet

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