Inniskeen's minors were simply magnificent in 2002. How they failed to garner the rewards their sterling efforts so richly deserved, nobody will ever know. The Grattans U18s reached the final of both league and championship, but were narrowly beaten in both. Manager Brian Meegan reflects on their wonderful season. Spare a thought for the minor footballers of Inniskeen Grattans, who rather lucklessly finished the season empty-handed. The most consistent minor side in the county over the duration of the '02 season, Inniskeen reached the county MFC and Division One minor league deciders, only to be edged out in both by agonisingly narrow margins. In the championship final, Clontibret emerged on the favourable end of a 0-10 to 0-8 scoreline, while Carrickmacross proved Inniskeen's nemesis in the league showcase, prevailing by the minimum differential, 1-7 to 1-6. All in all, it was decidedly tough luck on a club which collected its one and only minor championship title way back in 1964. While the '02 campaign ended on a disappointing note, Brian Meegan - who managed the team - offers ample praise to all associated with the stellar effort: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players for their tremendous efforts over the year, as well as my assistants Gerry Callan and Brendan Meegan who left no stone unturned." The 2002 Crosbie Butchers Minor Football Championship final was played in Carrickmacross on Sunday October 6th. Inniskeen were the better team for most of the exchanges but Clontibret seized the initiative towards the end of an entertaining match and hit five unanswered points in the closing eight minutes to snatch victory. The teams were level at the end of the first quarter but - spurred on by the inspirational Paul Meegan - Inniskeen got on top and dominated the rest of the first half. The Grattans hit a purple patch after Meegan's 18th-minute free restored their advantage and had compiled a four-point lead by the 25th minute thanks to further scores from Meegan (2) and Michael Fee. It was in the closing five minutes of the half that the game was effectively lost, though. Inniskeen passed over two good scoring opportunities, but Clontibret registered twice against the run of play. This left Inniskeen leading by two points at the break, 0-7 to 0-5, but it could (and should) have been more. The talismanic Meegan extended the lead six minutes into the second period but that was to be his side's last score. Inniskeen faded out of contention as Clontibret came with a grandstand finish. If that result was a bitter pill to swallow after the sheer industry that had been invested into the campaign, then worse was to follow. A few weeks later, on Saturday October 26th, salt was well and truly rubbed in the still-naked wound when Inniskeen suffered defeat in the minor league final. Once more, the lads put in a gallant effort. This time it was Carrickmacross Emmets who proved the rock upon which their aspirations perished. Like all derby matches, the final was keenly contested and there was never much between the teams. In the end, Carrick' only just about held out for victory. The lead changed hands on a number of occasions, with never more than a couple of points between the protagonists. The town side led by 1-2 to 0-4 at the interval but Inniskeen came at them with everything in the second half and David McGahon's goal brought them right back into it. With Carrick holding on by the skin of their teeth, Inniskeen were shattered when the referee turned down a strong penalty appeal ... the final action of a thrilling match Not only was it this particular team's second major final defeat of the month/season, it was the second year in a row that Inniskeen had been pipped in the league decider. Unfortunately, they had to play the entire 2001 final and part of the '02 one without Paul Meegan, arguably their most influential player. As Brian (who has been over the club's minors for the past three years) notes: "We got to the Division One league final last year as well and were beaten by Scotstown by a point. We had to play that game without [county minor star] Paul Meegan, who was put off in a hurling game a week before the final. We were dealt another blow this year when Paul had to go off injured in the second half of the league final." The management triumvirate in charge of the Inniskeen minors in 2002 consisted of Brian Meegan (manager), Brendan Meegan (selector) and Gerry Callan (trainer). No time was wasted as preparations for the season were quickly put into place: "We held a meeting in early February and started training in March," Brian recalls. "We had a good turn-out of players all year, even though we only had a small panel of about 21 altogether. It was a good, quality panel and the fringe players improved remarkably as the year went on. Some of the players were very young, but they all contributed." And management worked hard with the players to get the best possible performance from them. Training took place religiously twice a week ... three times a week leading up to championship games. In the league, Inniskeen lost only one match - to Scotstown - and finished joint-second behind their conquerors, whom they subsequently defeated at the semi-final stage. The manager's abiding memory of the final is the controversial late decision that went against his young side: "Right at the end, we had a man clearly hauled down inside the square as he was going through for a goal. The referee didn't give it and I thought that was a very harsh decision. "We played some mediocre football in the first half, but rallied in the second half. Carrick's first score was a goal, which was a big blow, but we clawed our way back into it and were only a point down at half time. We took the lead but the loss of Paul Meegan after 40 minutes hit us for six." Defeat left Inniskeen visibly shattered: "It was devastating," the manager confirms. "I have to say I never saw so many tears in a dressing room and I was hurting for the lads. They deserved to win something for their efforts, but that second blow was a real killer." In reaching the final of the minor championship, Inniskeen accounted for Castleblayney (by one point despite being reduced to 13 men), Truagh (again by a single point) and Monaghan Harps in the semi-final. They demonstrated incredible reserves of spirit and resilience, qualities they had worked hard on nurturing. The final was played as curtain-raiser to the JFC final meeting of Corduff and Aughnamullen ... by far the biggest crowd the Inniskeen boys had played in front of. "We had beaten Clontibret by a point in the league and knew they were a good team. There was a mutual respect. We led at half time but they got the last five points..." Would Brian have been happy if someone had told him at the start of the year that Inniskeen would contest both finals? "To be honest, I always felt that we were capable of making the latter stages and our objective was to win something. That's what we set our stall out to achieve. "I went down to Kildare at the start of the season and asked Gerry Callan to coach us. He really put in one hell of an effort. He came up twice a week and never asked for a single penny for his troubles." The team was oozing talent. Paul, Ronan and Trevor Meegan were the outstanding players and new county boss Colm Coyle recognised their growing reputations when he called Paul and Trevor in for trials. Raymond Steele (the team's most improved player), Neil Lennon and Stephen Callan are three more footballers with big senior club careers ahead of them. Other players Inniskeen will be very anxious to hold onto if they're to thrive include Trevor Tavey, David McGahon, Mickey Fee, Eugene and Christopher McHugh, and John Crawley. Meanwhile, Pat Meegan, Michael Lennon and Bernard McSkeane all acquited themselves extremely well despite their relatively tender years. Other particularly young players who can go on to do well are Gavin Dooley, Thomas Og Daly, Keith Shevlin and Caoimhin O'Callaghan. "All those players can go on to make a name for themselves. My advice to them would be to listen to their mentors at all times and stick together," their 2002 manager notes. Looking at how the club performed in general during the year ended, Brian adds: "If these lads don't come through, we could be in trouble. Not winning the finals will be very disappo-inting to them but they're only young lads, with their whole careers ahead of them. I have no doubt that some of these players are stars of the future, so hopefully they'll keep going. "The seniors had a few unlucky results in 2002. They were relying on some of the younger players to prop up the team and that left them a bit vulnerable. However, once these young lads come through, we should be back up senior." As a player, Brian Meegan won a Ward Cup with Inniskeen in 1983. The Grattans went senior in '84 and reached the county final against Scotstown, a game he missed through injury. He went to America in 1985 and stayed there until 1998, playing for Michael Cusacks and Ulster Club in San Francisco, winning a North American championship with the former. Since returning home, he has been totally committed to working with the Inniskeen minors and helping sow the seeds for the future. On the evidence of what we witnessed in 2002, somebody somewhere is doing something right! Inniskeen, 2002 Monaghan Minor Football Championship Finalists: Pauric Dowdall; Gavin Dooley, Stephen Callan, Raymond Steele; Keith Shevlin, Trevor Meegan, Michael Lennon; David McGahon, Michael Fee (0-1); Trevor Tavey, Neil Lennon, Paul Meegan (0-5); Pat Meegan (0-1), Ronan Meegan, John Crawley (0-1). Sub: Bernard McSkeane. Eugene McHugh replaced John Crawley for the league final. Tweet

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