2003 may prove to be third-time lucky for Cremartin Shamrocks as far as their Dr. Ward Cup ambitions are concerned. However in 2002, Dame Fortune certainly wasn't on their side as they lost out at the final hurdle for the second year running. Hope springs eternal down Cremartin way. The local gaels are a resolute lot too and few clubs are equipped for the long slog that is a lengthy league campaign. In 2002, the Shamrocks began their quest for Dr. Ward Cup honours with more than just hope in their hearts though. Bolstered by a determined, talented and ambitious squad and a fully committed backroom team, it was always likely that Cremartin were going to be in the shake-up at year's end. Their pedigree in the competition said as much. Appearing in their second final in a row was certainly a goal but it was the actual claiming of the cup itself which was to prove to be the spur. Cremartin hadn't won the Dr. Ward Cup since 1991 when the likes of seasoned campaigner Gregory Flanagan was to the fore. The team looked to be in the mood right from the start of the season and by June Cremartin's premier outfit had made it three wins out of four. Playing controlled, positive football, Cremartin had managed climb into third place in the table into the bargain after a convincing 1-15 to 1-6 victory over Killanny. With all the players in the squad giving their full backing to the team-management and training going exceptionally well, the Shamrocks' quest for league honours continued to gather momentum as they proceeded to continue their push up the table with great gusto and no little promise. Mid-July saw Cremartin's 'A' team's engage in a titanic clash with their would-be final opponents and in an archetypal nip and tuck encounter, Cremartin lost out by 0-11 to 1-9. It was a bad week for the Shamrocks all told because the following Sunday they were beaten by Killanny, albeit by a narrow 0-9 to 1-9 margin again. By that juncture, Cremartin were lying in fifth position in the league with ten points on the table from eight games played, just one point behind Oram in fourth spot. The advent of September saw the club well positioned to launch a late bid for a last four berth. A four point win over Currin on the last Sunday in August saw the Shamrocks complete a string of four victories in succession. Morale was now at an all-time high, the spirit was excellent in the camp and eyes were firmly fixed on the play-offs. Confidence levels in the Shamrocks camp remained on an upward trajectory thereafter too despite the team being held at home to Corduff. The visitors made it tough for Cremartin and a goal by the Farneysiders was just the ticket they needed to sneak a 1-9 to 0-12 draw. The result meant that neither Cremartin or Corduff lost ground in the race to claim the Dr. Ward Cup. With 14 games each played they had 21 and 22 points respectively up on the board and were lying in second and third place respectively with Aughnamullen still leading the way with 24 points from 14 matches played. It was all pointing to a tense and claustrophobic finish to the league season. The end of September saw Cremartin with a place in the semi-finals sewn up. Ten wins from fifteen matches played with one draw to boot had cemented their place in the play-offs along with table-toppers Aughnamullen, second-placed Corduff and, of course, Oram. It all added up to an intriguing final run-in with only the foolish or insane putting the deeds of their house on either of the four title contestants. Both semi-finals took place on November 3rd with the Cremartin versus Corduff tie down for decision at the Corduff venue. Despite conceding home advantage, Cremartin had nothing to fear as the quality of their football during the year was of the highest order. The team had proven that on their day they were a match for any team in the division. And so it proved in the heart of Farney country. In an entertaining rugged encounter, Cremartin clinched their place in the final on foot of a 0-12 to 1-6 scoreline. It was a game in which the Shamrocks were never headed only once over the hour but never really looked like relinquishing their claim on a place in the county decider. That said, Corduff's goal in the 12th minute of the first half certainly asked a few questions of the winners-elect but in trademark gritty style, Cremartin composed themselves to regain the lead in double-quick time. Earlier Cremartin had opened the scoring when Barry Carragher pointed from a free in the 10th minute. It was to be a very rewarding day for the impressive Carragher overall as he finished the game as his team's top-scorer with a four point tally. Carragher and co. continued to eat away at the leverage afforded Corduff by their goal and in a real purple spell between the 13th and 25th minutes, the Shamrocks fired over five unanswered points. Predictably the aforementioned Carragher was among the scorers and also on hand to assist the finalists-elect in the scoring stakes at that juncture were Noel Boyd, Gregory Flanagan, Paul McNally and Macartan Carroll. With less than five minutes to go to the break, Cremartin had thus eased into a three point lead and were looking assured and tidy in their play. And that was the cushioned lead which Cremartin took with them into the dressing-room at the interval after Barry Carragher had cancelled out a neat point by Raymond Byrne for Corduff. As the second half got underway, Cremartin were once again quickest out of the blocks as they successfully consolidated their 0-7 to 1-1 advantage. Their lead extended to five points after just four minutes with points from Paul McNally and Noel Boyd leading the way. It was a case of 'what we have, we hold' thereafter for Cremartin. In the final five minutes of the match, Corduff pressed forward in search of a goal that they needed to haul in Cremartin's five point lead. Faced with a tigerish and focussed Cremartin defence, the Corduff attack huffed and puffed but could only manage to record another two points before the final whistle, thus leaving Cremartin deserved three point winners. A meeting with Oram in the final now beckoned. For their part, Oram reached the decider after a battling win away to Aughnamullen on November 3rd. In careering through to the final, Oram posted notice of their intention to really put it up to the Shamrocks. In a very competitive contest, Oram led by 0-4 to 0-1 at the interval and John Mone the pick of the forwards in getting through for two points. Although Aughnamullen fought back to get on level terms just five minutes after the restart, dangerman Mone struck for a decisive goal to restore Oram's lead. In a tense finish, Gareth Mone galloped forward to fire over the insurance point to leave Oram 1-5 to 0-6 winners. All eyes down Cremartin were focussed on going one better. The team's defeat in the 2001 final to Eire Og was a major disappointment to the club but the determination was obvious as the team and management crew prepared to travel to Toome on Sunday, November 10th. The final was one in which a lot of the county would be eavesdropping in on. Apart from the traditional local rivalry and the almost guarantee of a rousing game between the combatants, the head-to-head was a particularly sentimental affair for former Oram stalwart Declan Bishop, the Cremartin supremo. Sadly it was to be a case of second time unlucky for Bishop and co as Oram proceeded to add to their Dr. Ward Cup win of 1995 by emerging victorious on foot of a 2-10 to 1-8 scoreline. Oram won out despite being reduced to 14 players midway through the second half. Cremartin left their best form behind them, only managing to get ahead of their opponents just once. After five minutes of play, Macartan Carroll found the Oram net to put his side two points in front. Cremartin hung in there but they came under more and more pressure and a goal by Oram's Dermot McBride edged Oram in front. Cremartin worked hard to weather the storm ass the first half gathered pace but they had to rely on two converted frees by Barry Carragher to gain parity in the run-up to the interval. Tragically though for the Shamrocks, disaster struck when Oram's David Sheehy got his side's second goal in the 23rd minute to help his side into a 2-5 to 1-3 lead by half-time. It was a case of Cremartin playing catch-up thereafter but Oram stubbornly refused to let their lead slip. Marcartan Carroll did point to help matters but each time Cremartin looked like putting their opponents on the backfoot, Oram hit back with valuable points to ensure an eight point gap existed between the sides entering the final quarter. Even with the 'extra' man Cremartin just couldn't retrieve the deficit sufficiently to propel the issue to the wire. Still, the Shamrocks never threw in the towel and two points from Gregory Flanagan and Barry Carragher at the death demonstrated the degree of pride and spirit in the camp. Unfortunately those ingredients weren't enough on the day for Cremartin to lift the title. The Dr. Ward Cup would once again be on the agenda in 2003. For those who Kerr In an otherwise dim and dank year for Monaghan football, the realisation of the Paul Kerr tournament lit up the landscape in 2002. The host club, Cremartin Shamrocks, can be truly proud of the way the inaugural tournament panned out. Kevin Carney reports. The village of Roundwood was en fete. Bunting adorned the town like dandelions along the road heading north-east. Flags billowed in the wind from local businesses and youngsters bellowed out the An Tochar clubname from street corners. The gaels were on the move and headed for Cremartin. Things wouldn't go exactly to plan for the gaels of Roundwood and their An Tochar favourites that day though. 2001 Cavan Junior Football Championship winners Drumgoon doused the Roundwood fire in a gutsy display in the Cremartin Shamrocks-hosted All-Ireland semi-final. An Tochar's dream of winning the All-Ireland Junior football crown was over. Fast forward some weeks later and all concerned with the boys of Belmullet were on tenterhooks as they attempted to do what the Wicklow and Leinster champions failed to do. The Mayo and Connacht championship winners were a fancied outfit and carried the hopes of an awful lot of people - including those of neighbours Crossmolina. On the road to Cremartin, Belmullet's best passed by a huge banner across the highway which proclaimed "Best of luck Belmullet from all at Crossmolina GFC." The Cremartin tournament had not only caught the imagination of the parish of Drumgoon but also of many parishes south, east and west of mid-Monaghan's gaelic heartland. Yet again, Cavan's finest proved too strong for their opponents. Drumgoon thus succeeded in adding and inaugural provincial and All-Ireland title to their inaugural county title win, garnered way back in September 2001. But, in truth, there were no losers. The Cremartin All-Ireland Junior Football Championship tournament was an unqualified success as club chairman Emmet Flanagan is pleased to acknowledge: "Yes, we couldn't have hoped for it to have gone any better than it did. There were no hiccups, no problems and even the weather for the final between Drumgoon and Belmullet held up brilliantly for us. Everything went extremely well for us all through," Emmet enthused. Emmet Flanagan and his hard-working tournament committee deserved their fair day for the final and the kudos which has since landed at their door. Cremartin Shamrocks deserved the bit of luck that goes with being able to deliver a trouble-free tournament. The Shamrocks' decision to launch such a novel, ambitious and all-encompassing tournament was redolent of the type of workload normally taken on by a county board rather than a small provincial club. Then again, given the historic sleeves-rolled-up type of mentality inherent in the Cremartin club, their successful running of the well-lauded tournament shouldn't come as that big a surprise. While the All-Ireland junior tournament has since been etched in gold, Cremartin Shamrocks boast an illustrious history of the stand-alone type in any regard. Cremartin Shamrocks came into being in 1934 and ever since its foundation has grown and developed in consistent stages. The annexation of the Dr. Ward Cup in 1938 was followed up a Junior Championship win in 1951. Later in 1956 and '57, the Dr. Ward Cup was won again, the former being accompanied once more by victory in the championship. In 1975, Cremartin were once again on the top of the pile at junior level but it wasn't until 1991 that the Dr. Ward Cup was on the Shamrocks' sideboard again. Meanwhile, the club showed the extent of their ambition in the years previously in 1978 when they developed their own playing pitch which was officially opened in August '78. In 1999, the club put in place plans to upgrade the club's existing dressing-rooms and adjoining complex at a cost of over one quarter of a million pounds. The project was duly completed on time and officially opened by GAA President Sean McCague on May 1st 2000. Earlier, the club rebounded to grab a place in the winners' enclosure yet again with another Dr. Ward triumph in 1997. It is against that backdrop of sterling effort, both on and off the field of play, that Cremartin Shamrocks succeeded in making the Paul Kerr tournament such a success. Emmet Flanagan explains the background to the naming of the tournament: "The tournament was organised in honour of a local lad called Paul Kerr who was tragically killed in a road accident at just 19 years of age. "Paul was special to his family but also to a whole lot of people in Cremartin and further afield. "He had a unique personality and over the course of his unfortunately much too short life, made a significant contribution to the Cremartin Shamrocks club. He had few equals among his peers. "Paul represented our club with great distinction from underage ranks right up to adult level and he was extremely popular with everyone involved in the club. "He had a magnetic personality and his sudden and untimely passing marked a great loss to his family, the club and all those who knew him. "Although Paul is no longer with us, he won't be forgotten and he will be spoken of fondly for many years to come." The Paul Kerr Junior Football tournament turned out to be a fitting tribute to the sadly missed Paul. But Emmet could hardly have imagined in September 2001 when some 12 members of the club got together to form an organising sub-committee that the tournament would be so successful. "Thanks to the efforts of a small hard-working committee, things worked out well. "We felt that it would be a good idea to give clubs who had won their respective county junior championship titles the opportunity to go on and try and win an equivalent provincial title. Why stop at a county title, we asked. "There already was a junior provincial championship tournament in Connacht, Leinster and Munster, so we felt there was one needed in Ulster as well. "Thankfully we got great co-operation from the various club secretaries, county boards and the Ulster council from the first week of September 2002 onwards. "We felt that the tournament would attract quite a sizeable interest because it was planned to run it off during the close season when there would be no county matches because of the rescheduling of the national football league. "In a very short space of time, we had positive responses from Tyrone champions Dregish, Ogra Colmcille from Derry, Armagh's Belleeks, Monaghan champions Doohamlet, John Mitchells from Newry, Antrim champions Eire Og, Castlefin from Donegal and Drumgoon from Cavan. For the moment, Fermanagh don't have a junior championship so, all told, we had nine county champions competing for the Ulster Championship," Emmet explained. Drumgoon were to come out on top in the provincial series, beating Armagh's Belleeks and thereafter Monaghan's own Doohamlet in the decider to lift the Paul Kerr Cup. And by the end of April, there were just four teams left in the All-Ireland tournament with Mayo and Connacht champions Belmullet progressing to the decider at the expense of St. Michael's, Foilmore (Co. Kerry) and Drumgoon overcoming An Tochar by the narrowest of margins. "Tremendous crowds turned up for each of the games, the sportsmanship was great throughout the tournament with not a single player being sent off. "Off the field meanwhile, the social element of the tournament was great too with all the players from the various teams mixing in the complex afterwards. "And the tournament proved to be a good fundraising venture also which always helps." And the plans for next year? "We'll be doing our best to even improve on 2002. We had very good support from our match sponsors and with their continued support and the goodwill of the county championship winning clubs, I'm confident that next year's tournament will be even better," Emmet concludes. Now that's saying something! Tweet

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