Drumhowan and Monaghan star midfielder James McElroy isn't hoping for much in 2003. But an intermediate championship medal and his hands on the Anglo-Celt Cup would be nice though, he says! Words: Kevin Carney By now the Monaghan senior footballers are well into their stride. Colm Coyle's think-tank has them up and running at a fair gallop since last October. A plane load of training sessions have almost taken place at this juncture and a handful of challenge games contested. James McElroy, for one, is glad that things are progressing apace. "It's nice to get back into the swing of things and the spirit and morale in the camp is good which always helps when you're trying to regain the sort of fitness levels you had in the middle of the summer." Soon James will be celebrating his third season as a member of Monaghan football's elite squad. Before long maybe, he'll be counted as one of the panel's more experienced players. At 24, he's certainly nearing his peak - and that's good news for all gaels in Monaghan and not only those of a particular Drumhowan hue. James assures us that as regards the upcoming league and championship seasons "the players are up for it and the commitment from everyone is what it should be." He tells us that he's very impressed to date with the new management set-up. Words like professional, ambitious and hard-working decorate his description of the Colm Coyle regime and their approach to the job. But Coyle remains a managerial rookie though? "He's new to management at inter-county level alright but I don't think that will work against him. He has a lot of experience of the game itself having won a load of All-Ireland medals and his time with Sean Boylan as a member of his management team should stand to him in a big way. "He knows what it takes to be the best around and I think he has us on the right track. He has brought in a few new faces and just like them, he (Coyle) deserves a chance to show what he can do." It seems like James is genuinely happy to see more new faces being brought on board by Coyle even if that will mean that he himself will have to work harder to nail down his by now resident slot in midfield where he has struck up a very promising partnership with 'Blayney's Jason Hughes. "The way I look at it is that the more competition there is for places, the better it is for the team. There's plenty of talent in the county and if we can get everyone out and everyone stays injury-free for the important matches, I think we'll do very well in the coming year." James is keeping his fingers crossed that he will be just as lucky in 2003 in remaining injury-free as he was last year. He reckons that if the county squad also have luck in that regard they could be the dark horses for the Anglo-Celt Cup. "We're hoping to go as far as we can in the championship and I think we'll do okay because we're not that far off the pace. I suppose Armagh will be most people's favourites again in the coming year but there's not as big a gap between them and the likes of us as some people make out." Meanwhile in reflecting back on the county's disappointing championship campaign in 2002, James says that all the players who featured in the match against Fermanagh, for instance, have to accept responsibility. "Just because Rory Gallagher notched a record tally doesn't mean that our defeat all boiled down to how our full-back line played. Other Fermanagh men were given the time to pick him out and give him the right supply of the ball. It was the same in our match against Louth afterwards in the All-Ireland qualifiers. "Very few of us played up to scratch. The fact that they (Louth) got a dodgy penalty did mean a lot on the day but it was no excuse overall." And what of his club form? "I was happy enough with the way things went for me but disappointed obviously with the fact that we didn't win the intermediate championship because that was what we set out to do at the start of the year. "Seans and Carrick were always going to be tight games for us and that's the way it worked. Unfortunately I don't the necessary commitment was there; it didn't compare with the kind of effort, for instance, that we put in to win the intermediate championship in '97 or what we did to reach the semi-final of the Dr. Ward Cup in 1998." Nevertheless, the reality is that there's an unstinting belief among the gaels of Drumhowan that their's is a senior club by right. The description 'yo-yo' has been a cutting comment often directed their way over the course of the last ten years or thereabouts. To those ever-presents at the coalface of affairs in Drumhowan, such comments don't so much as come close to the bone as ricochet off it. The good and great involved with the proud mid-Monaghan club have proven they can take the slings and arrows on the chin and come out from the ropes fighting. In 2002, for instance, the club made a daring bid for intermediate championship honours and were only denied a place on the big stage at the penultimate hurdle. All on board the Good Ship Drumhowan believe though that it's not a matter of if the club can once re-claim its place in the premier competition but, rather, when! In the overall scheme of things down Ballybay direction, James McElroy can be guaranteed to play a pivotal role in shaping Drumhowan's short to medium term future at adult level. The county star is a big player for Drumhowan these days, much more mature, skilled and competitive than he was as a 19-year old championship rookie back in 1997 when his beloved club turned over Aughnamullen by 1-8 to 1-6 in a cracking Fr. Pat McCormick Cup decider. Back then James was learning the ropes among established players such as Stephen McGinnity. For years ace marksman McGinnity was the main man in Drumhowan. Now, with all due respect to the same player and others such as Dermot McDermott, Stephen Brennan, Martin McElearney and Mark Daly, the constantly improving McElroy is rapidly becoming the most influential player on the still-maturing Drumhowan first XV. And things looked pretty rosy for McElroy and co. at the commencement of the intermediate championship last summer when the team engineered a spirited 1-11 to 1-10 victory over an ambitious Rockcorry outfit. In a cracking game at Scotstown, the green and whites were edged out by a Drumhowan team which fully deserved the spoils even if they made their fans sweat it out in the dying minutes of the game. "They say a good start is half the battle and we were just glad to have gotten the first game out of the way. We always knew Rockcorry were going to be tough to beat because they rise their game for the championship and although we only won by a single point, I thought we were the better team on the day," James reflects. But while Drumhowan had the springboard of an early round victory so too did champions-elect Sean McDermotts, their next opponents. And while it is also said that goals win championship matches, it wasn't the case in mid-August at Carrickmacross when Drumhowan's 3-6 failed to outgun Seans' 0-17 tally. In truth, Drumhowan never managed to impose themselves on the game for any significant length of time over the hour and the margin of victory didn't flatter the north Monaghan side. And yet even though Drumhowan trailed by seven points entering the final ten minutes, a semi-final place could well have been secured. Indeed, Seans were hanging onto their tenuous lead by their fingertips. Sadly Drumhowan's two late goals, one from a penalty, came too late to bag them a last-four spot. Earlier Drumhowan had fallen four points behind by the 22nd minute but a tremendous point by our man McElroy after a surging run kept his side very much in touch and then a goal by Anthony Brennan three minutes later and points by Stephen McGinnity and Mark Daly helped catapult Drumhowan into a one point lead at the interval, 0-7 to 1-5. Things seemed set to get even better for Drumhowan after the restart. "We got the first point of the second half but for the next 20 minutes we lost our way and they really got on top in a big way. They just seemed to be able to point at will which left us facing into an eight or nine point deficit inside the last ten minutes," explains the outstanding midfielder. It could have been oh so different at the death though had James had been afforded a helping hand from Dame Fortune when he powered forward and let fly only to see his shot graze the outside of the post. "Ah sure we might still have missed out had it gone into the net," James quips ruefully. Though there was still time for Stephen McGinnity to knock in third goal for Drumhowan in injury time, the back-door system came knocking for Drumhowan. All eyes turned to the qualifiers and a quarter-final clash with neighbours Doohamlet, a team struggling in the league and not at all displaying the type of form which suggested that they had the wherewithal to block Drumhowan's path into the semi-finals. And as things panned out, the script held good. Drumhowan triumphed by 1-5 to 0-10, an impressive win even if the winners-elect were slow to get into their stride and missed a penalty early in the first half. But once Stephen McGinnity found the net for Drumhowan ten minutes before the interval to put his side 1-5 to 0-4 in front, the game always seemed thereafter to be going away from Doohamlet. "It wasn't a great game but at that time we took the view that a win was a win and all we were concentrating on before the game was getting into the semi-finals and that's what we managed to do," James explains. A 0-12 to 1-11 defeat thereafter to Carrickmarcross in Aughnamullen on a balmy September afternoon finally ended Drumhowan's hopes. The story of a penalty conversion by Carrick and a point garnered by Drumhowan from another served to carve the pair apart on the scoreboard on the day. "That was a game I'd prefer to forget about. We had the winning of it but let them off the hook. We led by three points but then their penalty proved crucial in giving them a great lift. We had nobody to blame but ourselves for not making the final but hopefully we'll come back stronger and better by the time next summer's comes around." So perhaps we can pencil in a review of Drumhowan's cup success this time next year and a McElroy-inspired Anglo-Cup success for Monaghan? "I don't know about that. It would be a dream come through to get my hands on one of those cups never mind both!" Juveniles' unprecedented success If judged by trophies alone, 2002 must be deemed a success for Drumhowan at juvenile and junior B level with a series of trophies entering the homes of a number of Drumhowan footballers. Joe Kernan was on hand in November for a presentation to the juvenile teams and he acknowledged the silverware on show, won by a number of teams from U-12 upwards. It was a fitting tribute to many of these young footballers who went unbeaten at a number of age groups for most of the year. The most positive aspect from Drumhowan's perspective-and the difference between this and other years- was that so many footballers delivered on their potential. Teams which had previously been there or thereabouts emerged as genuine contenders, players at all levels pushed to get their places at a higher age group because they could see the potential for success. They can look back on the year with considerable pride. It was the U-15s who started the ball rolling in May, seeing off Toome in the league final after a campaign in which captain David Caulfield, Paul and Liam McGuirk, Shane Moffett and Liam Millar were outstanding. This was only the start. Later in the year, they came together to participate in an U15 County blitz and against all the odds took the spoils over the heads of some bigger clubs, defeating Clones, Inniskeen and Eire Og on their way to the final. In the final, they met Cremartin and after a draw in normal time, they won a free flowing contest by a single point after extra time. In Summer it was the turn of the U-14s when they came through a good qualifying campaign unbeaten to withstand a spirited Blackhill in the final. Drumhowan had qualified strongly but knew that Blackhill had outsmarted them on many previous occasions. On the day, it was the ability to secure scores when under pressure which was key to the success of this 13 a side team with Darren Duffy providing excellent leadership throughout and Gerard Duffy providing much of the flair. The final score of 3-12 to 1-05 might suggest an easy victory but half time saw them leading only by a couple of points having struggled to cope with Blackhill's pace. Reorganising themselves at half time, the second half saw Drumhowan emerge as the stronger outfit, putting away some fine scores along the way. Another trophy for the cabinet! Finally September brought the emergence of the U-16 team. Summer evenings saw a series of excellent performances from this side as they overcame neighbours Doohamlet, Cremartin and Killeevan amongst others to reach the final of both league and championship in this 13 a side competition. Their opponents in both finals were Cremartin, strong, tough and motivated but if any team demonstrated their character during the year, it had to be this Drumhowan team. The two finals were played within a week with one Drumhowan team captained by the promising Jonathon McKenna, the second by the equally committed Paddy Mulligan. Drumhowan went in at half time losing in both against an excellent Cremartin side. Indeed, in the second match, they were down by eight points at one stage. Yet they rallied and produced two huge second half performances to emerge as double winners. A team which had come so close on previous occasions finally delivered on its promise! Ultimately, it was the depth of talent across the whole squad which made the difference. Strong and robust defenders, a tireless midfield and some excellent attackers, there was always somebody looking for the ball or chasing back to cover. When certain players were struggling during these matches, others stepped up to take their place. The distribution of scores amongst the team testifies that this was no one man team. Drumhowan will certainly look forward to seeing the development of this team in the coming years. For many within the club, securing the second leg of this double- the Curley Cup- has added significance. Named after brothers Frank and Kieran Curley who were tragically killed in an accident some years ago, its capture has a significance beyond merely winning a trophy. Memories of the Curleys remains strong within the club and for many, the manner of a victory against the odds is indicative of the spirit for which the two brothers themselves were noted. The achievements of these juvenile teams is indicative of the efforts being put in by so many people within the club to develop a sound coaching structure at all levels. One of the most positive aspects of this is the fact that many of these teams were managed by players who are currently on the senior panel. In many cases, they set an example to the youngsters of the heights to which they can aspire. Drumhowan look forward to seeing the continued emergence and development of many of these young footballers in the coming years. As they enter their golden jubilee year in 2003, they can look confidently on the current crop of young players coming through feel reassured that there's plenty of potential further down the line as well. Drumhowan GFC Tweet

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