As team-manager of Toome in 2002, Enda Quinn suffered all the slings and arrows of fortune a body could suffer. Yet his commitment to the cause has been undiluted. Let's not beat about the bush. Toome had a poor year in 2002 at adult level - the showcase grade of football by which a club's state of health is invariably judged from afar. In the past year, the hard-pressed club saw its premier team fail to win a single match in the league and, equally disappointingly, was beaten in its only two championship matches. In almost every respect, Toome's junior campaigns were not what the locals had anticipated or hoped for. Outgoing team-manager Enda Quinn can't make up his mind whether he's still prepared to work away at the coalface because he's afflicted by a touch of madness or enraptured by a labour of love. Either way, he admits that 2002 was a year to forget for the Toome juniors."Things didn't go well for us. It was an uphill struggle most of the way in 2002 even though, more often than not, seventeen or eighteen players turning up for the training sessions right through January, February, March and after that too. It's difficult to put your finger on what exactly was missing during the year because I'm fairly sure it wasn't fitness. Maybe the squad we have at the present time just isn't strong enough. We just don't seem to have the necessary strength in depth to compete with most of the other teams in the division." And even with the assistance of former Antrim footballer Eamon Prenter, Toome couldn't cut it in 2002. Enda feels that without the required physique and experience, the squad's youthful exhuberance isn't enough on it's own to get them by. So what possessed Enda to become involved in trying to work the oracle down by the Armagh border? "I got the job by accident really. Tony Loughman had been with us as manager in 2000 for a while but then he packed it in partly because he felt he hadn't the time to give the job. He said he was packing it in but asked the lads to do their best under me, probably because I was the oldest member of the team. We played Eire Og later on in the championship and actually drew with them but lost by about four or five points in the replay. Then last year, we met Eire Og again. We thought we'd give them another good game but they had their homework done and had learned from our last encounter and they won fairly handy. We then played Blackhill and lost that one too so the championship wasn't a happy hunting ground for us as we prepared for this year's competition. Toome's championship campaign in 2002 began in May when they met Currin. Both teams had failed to win a game in the 2001 championship so one of the teams had to break their losing run. In the end, it was Currin's day at the Clontibret venue on the back of a 1-13 to 1-9 result. A goal by Currin's senior county player Dick Clerkin just before half-time proved to be just the leg-up the Scotshouse-based side neede to make Toome tumble to a 0-4 to 1-7 deficit by half-time. Clerkin did most to break Toome hearts at Clontibret with his 1-8 tally a veritable stake. That said, after the interval, it looked for a period of time as if Toome were going to at least get on level terms as two points in quick succession by Enda's son Cormac helped cut Currin's lead. However a hat-trick of unanswered points immediately afterwards by the aforementioned Clerkin seemed to put a stop to Toome's gallop. Not so. With great gusto and determination, Toome fought to the end and a fine goal by Noel Lawlor left just two points between the sides entering the final quarter. And while Currin hit back with another couple of points, similar efforts by Cormac Quinn (two) and goalscorer Lawlor left just one point separating the sides with just under five minutes of the match remaining. Sadly for Toome, that was as good as it got for them as Currin produced a strong rally to fire over three unanswered points to seal Toome's fate. Team-manager Quinn suggests that the game was there for the taking." At the start of the year, we were hoping to at least win one match in the championship and we thought we got a favourable draw although Currin, no doubt, had the same view. Our first half performance was disastrous though and we fell well behind at half-time but we pulled it back to just one point and I honestly thought we were going to go on and eventually win the game. Unfortunately I think they (Currin) used the ball better than us when it counted and they brought their better players into the game more than we managed with our best players. I thought the Clontibret pitch would have suited us and going into the game as the underdog wasn't going to do us any harm either," reflects Enda whose sons Cormac, Stephen and Francis are all key players on the Toome side. Enda maintains that "it wasn't hard to pick the fellas up for the second round clash with Killanny in Donaghmoyne in mid- July. Sadly though, for all of Enda's man-managment and motivational skills, Toome slumped to a 1-11 to 2-12 defeat to the Geraldines. In essence, the game was decided by the fact that Toome failed to match Killanny's greater efficiency in front of goal. Toome's concession of two goals in the first half left them facing a 0-7 to 2-6 deficit at the break. Despite Edward Ruddy's expertise from the dead ball situation, Toome had a mountain to climb after the break and never quite convinced anyone that they had the wherewithal to succeed. Even though substitute Stephen Quinn banged in a goal for Toome in the latter stages of the game, it was a case of too little too late for the rank outsiders. "We were beaten by the better team on the day but I thought we probably played our best football of the year against Killanny in the championship. We showed the type of football we were capable of playing but we just couldn't get the scores we needed. I think the fact that they got the two goals when they did made the whole difference plus the fact in terms of physique and experience, they had the upper hand too. Most of the disappointment we felt after the game was because once again we hadn't managed to win a game in the championship," adds Enda, a Crawley Cup winner (over Blackhill) in 1998 on a Toome team which also included his son Cormac. Meanwhile, Toome's league campaign was no more joyous than their championship sortie. All told, the Armagh-border side clocked up three points over the campaign with two drawn matches with Blackhill and a draw also against Currin. "Over the year, I lost count of how many matches we managed to build up a good lead only to let it slip. We went ten points in front against Currin but ended up just drawing. Maybe it's because we have so many young fellas playing that we seem to lack the staying power or experience to hold onto our leads. The average age of the team in 2002 was only about 23. With no church, school or graveyard within its non-descript 'catchment' area, Toome has indeed to make the very best of its limited pool of players to succeed. Its neck of the woods in the parish of Donaghmoyne sees its surrounded by the Fontenoys, 'Blayney plus Culloville and Crossmaglen on the other side of the border. "Up until a few years ago, we didn't do too badly for numbers 'cause we used to get the overflow from the Faughs but since they (Castleblayney) began to field junior teams, our supply of players has dried up a lot. It is fair to say we have the smallest 'pick' in the county and we have a problem in getting the teenagers to play with us because they see us ending up near the bottom of the pile all the time. If we could pick up a few worthwhile victories, then the youngsters in the area might be more inclined to stick with us," the member of Monaghan's 2000 All-Ireland winning Masters panel explains. But there is hope in Toome. With clans such as the Ruddys, Kellys, McDonnells, McBrides, Donaghys, Reillys, Wilsons and, of course, the Quinns contributing whole-heartedly to the Toome GFC cause, there is something there to build upon. "There's a good spirit in the club but it's a vicious circle in terms of the fact that we need to increase our pool of players yet we need to achieve success to attract more fellas to tog out for us. If we could just make some steady progress, I think the self-belief and conviction that we seemed to lack right now would come flooding into the team. Winning a game in the championship and finishing at least three or four places off the bottom of the league would do just that. That's our target for next year and hopefully things will go right for us on that score." Tweet

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