The first club to win three Dr. Ward Cup titles in a row, Killanny Geraldines sadly ended up a long way removed from the winners' enclosure at adult level in 2003. However those deeply involved with the club, both in the past and the present, insist on putting a brave face on things. The Killanny club has experienced a rollercoaster existence for as long as any of its present club members can recall and, par for the course, the past year proved to be absolutely no exception in that regard. The club, as a whole, had good and bad days in 2003. Sadly, most folk concur that there were more bad days than good. Simply put, in Geraldines' country, the adage of 'hope springs eternal' was never more appropriate nor practiced by dint of the club's overall record over the course of the past year. In reflecting on his beloved club's ongoing travails, former star player Liam Thornton works hard at putting a brave face on things. He manages it alright but a former colleague suggests that Liam was always one who tended to see the glass as being half full rather than half empty. A powerful influence on the field of play for the Geraldines back in the seventies and eighties, Liam stands someway adrift of the club coalface right now. However, in taking a few steps back from the heart of the matter, Monaghan's 1979 Junior Player of the Year has perhaps been better able to see the wood from the trees. "It looks to me as if the players aren't giving the sort of commitment that is needed at the present time. "A bit more spirit is wanted but maybe there's not the same pride in the jersey among the players as there used to be years ago. "When the club was a force to be reckoned with back in the early eighties, every single player was proud to wear the club jersey and we fought for one another. "We tried our damnedest every time we went out on the field and our commitment was as good as players at any other club," Liam argues. The days when Liam and co. were scooping Junior league and championship doubles have long since past for Killanny and the former ace clubman believes that the current Geraldines on-field ambassadors will have to step up their commitment if they are to arrest the junior team's poor recent record. "It's up to the players really. At the end of the day, nobody along the line can win games for them once the ball is thrown in but if they haven't been putting it into it at training, things will always be tough for them. Dedication and determination can go a long way." Liam's points are echoed by Killanny club chairman John McMahon. Frustrated in 2003 most of all by the fact that Killanny failed, for the second successive year, to complete their league fixtures, John says that the onus is on the players to step up their commitment to training and matches if Killanny is to climb up from the nether regions of Monaghan football. "2003 was another very disappointing year at adult level but the lack of interest shown by the panel was there to be seen. "We've a small pool of players to work with and so we need everyone pulling together but the lack of commitment in the past year from the players was disheartening to say the least." Interestingly, both former star and current chairman believe that the gap between the basement of junior football and nicking a place in the final stages of the major competitions isn't unbridgeable for the likes of Killanny. "From what I know of junior football right now, there's not a lot between the teams and if the players in Killanny could give just that bit extra, the club could climb up the rankings fairly quickly," Liam opines. Meanwhile John is no less philosophical. "If we had our full-strength squad in place all year and the lads gave it their full commitment, I've no doubt that we would at least reach the Dr. Ward Cup semi-finals. "But when you don't field for four fixtures and just have the bare fifteen players for another two games, then that tells its own story for the year," John maintains. Of course, Liam plied his football skills in an altogether different era and he knows it. "In fairness, the players are faced with a lot more distractions these days. Football isn't the priority for young fellas that it was, say, 20 or 30 years ago. "And then Killanny hasn't got the same numbers to work from as other clubs have either. "Years ago when we were competing at senior level, a few families provided the most of the team but there's not the same strong backbone there in recent Killanny teams. "Killanny teams of the past always had a great spirit about them and even though we had a share of setbacks, we stuck together and morale was always fairly good," Liam, a self-employed painter, explains. The Creevy residents view of the state of play in Killanny is echoed by the Geraldines' chairman. John recognises that young fellas have long since abandoned any notion of staying at home on a Saturday night in preparation for a match the following day. And he understands how difficult it is for fellas who are working in places like Dublin or who are studying there to give Killanny Geraldines the necessary commitment to make things happen in the heat of battle. Pointedly, he's very much in favour of league games being relocated from a midweek setting to a Saturday evening. That, he is convinced, would help encourage players to make themselves available and to give off their best. "From mid-May to July, we have midweek games for different reasons and it's not working, at least not from Killanny's perspective. "A switch to Saturday evening games would help all clubs get their full panel together and the players could go out and enjoy themselves that night." "At the moment, we're trying to get our heads together to work on a plan to improve things for 2004. "Obviously making sure that we fulfill all our fixtures will be part of the plan but as everyone in any other club will tell you, once you go out of the championship, things start to unravel very quickly. "After losing out to Cremartin and Killeevan, the players' enthusiasm plummeted. At least our reserve team went the distance and played all their games," adds John, who has just completed his third year in the hot-seat. Significantly, Liam Thornton strongly believes that building up as big a panel as possible at the start of the year and encouraging competition for places should be a target for the club as it seeks to regain its former lustre. "There are a lot of good fellas over the club who are doing their best to keep things going but they need everyone of the players to come out and row in behind the club, right from the start of the year to the end. "Hopefully next year will see the players giving that bit more because their time playing football will come to an end sooner than they think and they'll be sorry that they didn't put more into it," Liam insists. Involved with Carrick Emmets a couple of years hence, Liam reckons that Killanny also need to persist with working hard at nurturing the best of their underage talent for he firmly believes in the mantra that "today's youngsters are tomorrow's seniors." "The likes of Castleblayney didn't win all the senior titles they have done without a lot of hard work going into coaching the juveniles. "Because Killanny is such a small parish, it means that even more hard work needs to be done to get the best from the youngsters in the area." In this respect, club chairman McMahon is pleased to report that a lot of people are beavering away at underage level in the club. "Our performances at underage level were the silver lining on the cloud that hung over the club in 2003. "We had a very good year with our under 12s and under 13s making it to semi-finals and our under 14s got to a final but unfortunately Aughnamullen won that one. "What we need to do though is get five or six fellas coming through from underage ranks every year to put pressure on those already playing for the two adult teams. "That's something we need to aim for but you need to have the players working hard as well as everyone else." So things can only get better then? "That's the way it is. When you're on the floor, there's only one way you can go but you have to be optimistic otherwise you wouldn't be around at the start of the year." As for Liam, he earnestly hopes that Killanny Geraldines GAA will see a greater division of labour coming to pass in the coming year(s): "If everyone pulls together, then there's hope. Administrators and mentors will do their best but, at the end of the day, the players have to do the business if things are to be won. "Hopefully, things will get better on that front for next season," Liam concludes. Tweet

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