Nationally, Declan McBennett is known for his work as a broadcast journalist but in his native Monaghan, it's been his football exploits which have earned him a degree of fame. Words; Kevin Carney After 12 months of a self-imposed exile from the game he loves, Declan McBennett is in suitably reflective mood. Yes he missed not being involved with his beloved Oram in 2003 and, yes, he missed Gaelic football just as much as he thought he would before cutting the umbilical chord at the tail end of the 2002 season. The dressing-room banter, the cajoling, the leading, the winning and the losing were, for years and years like marrow to his bone. But why walk away from what, for so many 30 year olds in Ireland amounts to the elixir of life? "Pure and simple; work commitments and all the driving that's involved with having to commute from Dublin to Belfast. "I was commuting home from college in Belfast for three years and then back to Oram for the last six years while working between Dublin and Belfast. "Having to work at weekends and trying to fit in training was very difficult and, to my mind, if I couldn't give the commitment to make training, I didn't think it was fair to be looking to get a match all the time." The well-known RTE journalist didn't decide to quit on the spur of the moment. Instead, he says his decision was in the melting pot for at least 18 months. But what a way to bow out! The approachable hack took a leaf out of the manual which ordains that if you're gonna go, go out on a high. So with Dr. Ward Cup medal in his back pocket and the Monaghan Junior Player of the Year award under his oxter, Declan waved adieu to the 2002 season and football itself. He maintains he has no regrets about hanging up his boots but one wonders would he be tempted into re-igniting his career with some big club in the north or east of the country where work and play could be less acrimonious bedfellows? "No, I don't think so. Years ago when I was playing freshers football at Queens University with the likes of Anthony Tohill and Kieran McGeeney, I did have the opportunity to go to St. Paul's in Belfast but I didn't want to leave Oram. "We're only a small club, operate from a small base and if one regular player leaves, it can be difficult enough to compensate for his loss. "Anyway the ties with Oram are too strong. I got a great kick playing with the club over the years and despite the fact things didn't all go our way, I enjoyed my time playing for the club. So a move to the much-vaunted and highly-decorated 'Blayney contingent was never contemplated way back yonder? "'Blayney is a great club and they've been setting the standard in Monaghan for a long number of years now but, to my mind, the likes of small clubs like Oram form the nucleus of the GAA. "We can't all play for the Blayneys or Crossmaglens of this world. "Of course it would have been nice to have picked up seven or eight senior championship medals but once you put on your own club jersey, you play with pride for your club and for the love of the game. "From the age of ten 'till I was 22 I played for Oram and didn't win a single medal and we only got to one final in that time, losing out at Under 21 level. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. With Oram you had to take the rough with the smooth and get on with it." And while there were rough, barren, frustrating times, there were also good times for McBennett and co. Two JFL title successes and a JFC winners medal ain't a bad haul. And for Declan personally the satisfaction of having co-trained/managed Oram (with Edmund Meegan) to Dr. Ward Cup success in 2002 added to the feel-good factor as he meandered out to pasture. Of course, being the trainer when the club won the JFL title in '97 also went down a treat. The 1997 season, it seems, has at this stage been carved into his heart. "1997 was a fantastic year for us because we won five trophies that year. Along with the Dr. Ward Cup, we also won the Reserve double, a minor and under 16 title. "And then we followed that up by getting the championship monkey off our backs after 18 years by winning the Junior Championship in '98. Those were a great couple of years, unforgettable really." There were, of course, a veritable litany of lows down the years too. In this respect, Declan doesn't hesitate in fingering the 1997 JFC final defeat to Cremartin as being the nadir of his time with Oram. As if losing to the Shamrocks by a single point wasn't cruel enough, he vividly recalls how he missed a penalty midway through the first half when his shot saw the ball ricochet off the inside of the post and rebound off Francie McGeough before being cleared to safety. And there was a further twist to the story as Declan is at pains to point out: "I was on Gregory Flanagan for the first 20 minutes of the final and he ended up being man of the match!" Revenge, it is said, is a dish best served cold. Well, five years later, that dish was at its freezing best when Declan helped mastermind Cremartin's 1-8 to 2-10 defeat in the 2002 Dr. Ward Cup decider. Oram's 2002 league final win - in which Declan notched three points from his midfield role - came on the back of a nine-game unbeaten run which kicked in after the team's "unfortunate" exit from the championship following on from defeats to Corduff and Aughnamullen. "With no disrespect to Cremartin, we would have liked a rattle at Corduff. They had beaten us earlier in the league in Oram and we drew with them in Corduff and it was a surprise to us that they lost out to Cremartin in the semi-final. "I think the fact that they (Corduff) went on to do so well in the Ulster club championship gave us a boost too." One wonders though would he not have liked to have enjoyed some recognition at county level to go along with the kudos he picked up in wearing the famed Saffron and white strip? "Of course, every player, from the time they're very young, wants to play with their county and test themselves against the best players from other counties and I was no different growing up. "I had the ambition, the desire and the right attitude but I was that 10 percent or so short in the ability stakes and that's something that the various county managers over the years probably concluded too." It seems that like so many others, our man McBennett was destined to be acknowledged as a great club player and one of the best around not to have represented his county at senior level. "I think that unless you're an exceptional player playing for a junior club, it's very difficult to make the step up to senior inter-county level. "You could count the number of fellas who managed to succeed in that respect on one hand - fellas like Stephen McGinnity, Gregory Flanagan and Declan McKernan are just three I can think of right now. And perhaps the fact that he didn't make the grade at county minor or under 21 levels didn't help his senior claims either? "Maybe not. I suppose before you get the call-up to a senior county team, you have to be knocking on the door for a while before that and I hadn't made any of the underage county teams. "I always believe though that if you're good enough, you'll get a chance. "In my case, maybe I was a Jack of all trades in terms of the positions I played and master of none." Hardly. There hasn't been a Monaghan Junior Player of the Year award winner born yet who hasn't earned the accolade. And in joining the company of former winners like Shane McManus, Raymond Leonard and Stephen McGinnity - to name but a few - our man McBennett is undoubtedly to the manor born. Tweet

Most Read Stories