Few clubs in the county can boast as good a track record at underage level in recent times as Carrick Emmets. And long-time juvenile club chairman Eugene Gannon is hopeful that the good times can continue to roll. In 1974, Newport's loss was Carrick's gain. The arrival of Borrishoole GFC stalwart Eugene Gannon to the bustling south Monaghan town had nothing to with any big-transfer money move. Neither had it anything to do with the man's innate desire to continue to be a winner on the playing field. If the truth be told, the man's relocation from way out west to the border county had more to do with his role as a law enforcer. Garda Eugene Gannon has been part of the landscape in his adopted town of Carrick ever since being posted to the town all of 27 years ago and while another couple of years will do him before he hangs up his uniform for good, it's doubtful whether his involvement in the local Emmets will grind to a halt, circa 2003. A couple of decades on from his arrival in Carrick, Eugene is a veritable mine of information on different aspects of his adopted club. For instance, if you want detailed information on the various players who have progressed up from juvenile ranks over the last seven years, Eugene's your man. "I became involved in the club's juvenile committee in 1994 and soon began compiling a data base of information on the players who were playing on the various underage teams in the club. "I used to record their dates of birth, the teams they played with and who was over the teams and what medals they managed to win and so forth. I put all the information on my computer and found it was very useful when the juvenile committee needed to find out something about different players or teams at times, for instance, when we would be registering panels at the start of the year. "The data base really just became a handy and quick reference point. By this stage, we could have the details of around 500 young fellas on the computer," adds Eugene who has the distinction of having won three minor and one under 21 championship medals with his native Borrishoole club plus two college medals with Westport CBS. Although not a computer buff, Eugene firmly welcomes the fact that the GAA, nationally, is getting to grips with the Information Technology age. "Back in '94 the GAA and computerisation were poles apart but a lot of clubs are getting to grips with the various pieces of technology which can make life so much easier. "We have our own website up and running and it is helpful in enlightening people who aren't aware of the facilities, training and other things that we provide. A quick glance at our website allows strangers to get to know the basic information about the club in Carrick in a few minutes." Whatever about the changes in the way GAA clubs now handle their correspondence, the recording of their finances etc, for his part Eugene has been consistent in his effort to help secure a promising future for the Emmets. He is honest enough to admit that he was attracted into the GAA fold in Carrick in '94 initially because his son Jonathan was showing a degree of interest in Gaelic games but it didn't take much cajoling or inveigling to see that he hung in there for the years that followed. Eugene has served as chairman of the Emmets' juvenile committee every year since 1996. One of the first things he tried to do on being elected to the top job was to try and widen the net so as to entice more 'helpers' onto the local juvenile scene. "I thought it was very important that we had enough people over each juvenile team and that it wasn't all down to just a couple of people. "Too often it's the same three or four people who run three or four different teams. It was my hope that we'd have two or three different people over each team so I canvassed the support of as many adults as I could so that we'd be able to have a good team of mentors on board. "I felt a greater division of labour was required at underage level. A system where you had the same people over a few teams wasn't fair on the mentors and wasn't fair to the players either." After encouraging and inveigling some new blood into the club, Eugene says he got a very good response to his approaches overall. "Most were only too willing to help out - once the commitment only stretched to around three months of the year," Eugene says. Over the years, Eugene has helped cement those mentor/club relationships and the proof of the pudding has been seen in the number of underage titles garnered by the club over the last seven years. For instance, Carrick won titles at under 13, 14, 15 and 16 (two) levels in 2000. The fact that some good fortune was on Carrick's side in that the necessary talent came together at the right time shouldn't demean the amount of hard work that the Emmets' juvenile mentors put into the preparation of the various teams. "Those teams were well looked after and, as teams, were well balanced and disciplined which all added up to them being successful. It's important though that we don't become complacent about this success. "The next couple of years may see us going through a valley period as far as titles are concerned and it's then that we'll have to work even harder," the affable Mayoman opines. In terms of building towards an even more rewarding future for the juvenile section of the club, Eugene says that the continued help of the staff of local primary schools, St. Josephs and Scoil Rois, will be crucial in helping to foster interest and potential as far as the local youngsters are concerned. "The ideal scenario is where the 5-7 year olds are introduced to Gaelic games by the teachers in the playground and then we come in with proper coaching at 8-year old onwards. "As things stand, we do get very good assistance from the local teachers even though they probably haven't the time or the manpower to do as much as they'd like to with the younger kids." Eugene is convinced of the value of getting kids aware of the game from a very early age and seeing that they become acquainted with the basic skills soon after. He has seen at first hand for himself just how well youngsters can benefit from consistent and proper coaching. "Our current under 17s won the All-Ireland Community Games title when they were playing at under 10 level and I would hope that a lot of them will progress to form the backbone of a Carrick senior team which will do very well in the years ahead. "Our numbers were pretty good back then but we still managed to bring out the best in them. They have done well since also which is very satisfying." Indeed. Eugene was actually a member of the team-management pertaining to those aforementioned all-conquering under 10s. He was only too glad to assist Brother Gregory in the physical training of those group of youngsters who, incidentally, included his son Jonathon plus Owen Duffy and Declan Finnegan (all county under 16 players) and James Conlon and Stephen Gallogly (both members of the county minor team in 2001). Eugene was pleased to 'follow' that national title-winning under 10 team up through the ranks to under 15 level in conjunction with fellow trainer Noel McNally. He expects big things of them in the years ahead - shades of his senior championship winning theory: "I will be disappointed if those lads don't progress to the stage where they help Carrick win the county senior championship title in the next few years." Watch this space! Carrickmacross Hurling Club win U12 County Title Congratulations to our U12 squad who captured the county title with a tremendous victory over Castleblayney at a very well presented Toome venue. This was indeed a famous victory for the U12 team who defied all the odds and defeated Castleblayney who had gone through the league without defeat amassing huge winning margins in all their games. This was a close, nerve racking, exciting, low scoring encounter with a final scoreline of 2-0 to 1-01. This was a whole hearted team display with some excellent ground hurling, blocking, hooking and tight marking and two well taken goals by our young charges. Darren McCabe in goal brought off some excellent saves during the course of the game. The full back line of Alan Rooney, Shane McKenna and Barry Pettigrew gave sterling performances in defence as did the half back line of Ian Murphy, Conor Ward and Aonghus Mac Suibhne. The centre field duo of Barry O'Rourke and Eanna Mac Suibhne got through a tremendous work load throughout the game. Indeed, we had a man of the match performance from team captain Eanna MacSuibhne who displayed all the skills of our national game during the course of the game. A truly inspirational performance. What a great start Barry O'Rourke gave us with a goal from play after five minutes. Our half forwardline of Kyle Meegan, David Marron and Jason O'Rourke worked tirelessly with some great ground hurling from David Marron. The full forward line of Stephen Corrigan, Alan Brady and Dwayne Gartlan even though small in stature were not found wanting and gave the Castleblayney full back line their hardest test of the league campaign. The remainder of the panel were Thomas Brady, Stiofan McKenna, Damien Crosby, Shane Marron and Barry Woods. Alan Brady gave us a tremendous boost after the start of the second half when he connected on the sliothar and sent it flying to the corner of the net to give us a five point advantage. It was a tense final 15 minutes when Castleblayney went all out to reduce the deficit and were rewarded with a goal ten minutes from the end. However, our young squad held their nerve and with some breath taking stops and clearances emerged victorious when match official Sean Hahessy blew for full time. A word of congratulations to team coach Jimmy Hayes who had earlier in the season nurtured the U14 squad to a county final victory. Well done, Jim. Patsy Moore, assistant secretary of Bord na nÓg presented the cup to team captain, Eanna MacSuibhne among scenes of great jubilation. Carrickmacross win U14 Feile na nGael Final Congratulations to our U14 squad on winning the final of the Feile na nGael competition at Latton on Friday evening last when overcoming the challenge of Clones in an evenly contested and sporting game of hurling. This was a great achievement for this outfit who had suffered defeat in the U12 final two years ago to Castleblayney when coached by Micheal and Noeleen. Jimmy Hayes took over as coach from the former two and continued their good work culminating in a county title on Friday evening last. Eanna McSuibhne opened the scoring for Carrick with a point from play in the third minute a lead they were retain to the finish. Further scores were added by Barry Lambe (2.1), Gerard Rooney (1.0) and David Crosby (0.1) in the first half to leave Carrick leading at half time 3.03 to 0.02. Playing with the breeze in the second half Clones took the game to Carrick and put immense pressure on the defence in the opening period of the second half. Their only reward was a goal which lifted their spirits for a while. However two quick goals midway through the second half by Barry Lambe and Gerard McGeown who had replaced Gerard Rooney at half time proved decisive and ended any chance of a revival for Clones. It was a great team performance with Brian Magee solid in goals and he was unlucky with the goal that beat him. The full back line of John Malone, Patrick Winters and Mark Sheridan played soundly with able support from the half back line of James Courtney, Lee Conlon and Christopher McEneaney. Our midfield duo of David Crosby and Stephen Murnaghan were always in control and delivered an ample supply of ball to the forward line. Our half forward line gave an outstanding performance with man of the match Barry Lambe accounting for 3.05 of our final total ably assisted by Patrick McMahon and Gary McCarthy. Our small full forward trio of Shane O'Farrell, Gerard Rooney and Eanna McSuibhne were prevented from adding more to the final total by some superb saves by the Clones goalkeeper. Peter Pettigrew and Padraig Marron were introduced late in the second replacing Shane O'Farrell and Patrick McMahon. Caoilan Cunningham missed the game due to his presence in the gaeltacht. Final score was 5.07 to 1-02. The presentation of the trophy was made by the Vice Chairman of Bord na nÓg, Jimmy Finnegan to the winning captain, Lee Conlon. Carrickmacross Emmets win U14 Mason Cup Division One Final Congratulations to our U14 squad on winning the Mason Cup Final on Thursday evening last in Castleblayney when defeating Scotstown on a scoreline of 2-10 to 2-07. This was an excellent team performance from our boys and they were deserving winners on the night. Carrick were overall the better team and went in at half time with a ten point lead. Scotstown came back strongly in the second half and came within a single point of Carrick with six minutes remaining. Some brilliant saves from Thomas O'Sullivan in the Carrick goal and excellent defensive work by David Crosby, Ciaran Cumiskey, Mark Coughlan and Gerard McGeown kept Scotstown at bay in the closing stages. Points from Patrick Lonergan and Mark Downey in the final minutes secured victory for Carrick in a very exciting and close finish. This was always going to be a close encounter as both teams had met over the past two years with honours shared . Scotstown winning the U12 final while last year Carrick were victorious over Scotstown in the semi final of the U13 league which they went on to win. Scotstown started the better with Paul Grant opening the scoring with a point from play in the third minute with both sides having kicked a wide apiece at this stage. Darren Hughes added a second from play in the seventh minute. Carrick missed two chances one from a free the other from a 45 prior to Darren Hughes adding a third point from play on ten minutes for Scotstown. Carrick began to settle and in the 12th minute a great move from the half back line involving Mark Coughlan, Barry Lambe and Patrick Lonergan before passing to Padraig Donaghy who's shot was well saved by Mark Beggan in the Scotstown goal and saw Carrick come to life. Carrick began to regain control at this stage at midfield and with a plentiful supply of ball into the forward line scores began to come. While their first score did not come until the 14th minute with a point from play from Patrick Lonergan. Carrick dominated the final 15 minutes of the first half and they added a further 2.06 to their tally without reply from Scotstown. The two goals coming from full forward Patrick Lonergan, the first when he beat his market to a high ball at the edge of the square, turned and shot to the roof of the net. The second was an excellent goal, struck as he raced in from the left hand side giving Mark Beggan no chance in the Scotstown goal. He added four points, two from play and two from frees along with two from play by Barry Lambe to leave the half time score at 2.07 to 0-03. Rory McKenna and James Turley were introduced by Scotstown for Matthew McCrudden and Daniel McNally while Carrick introduced Ronan McMahon for Colm Kiernan at the start of the second half. Darren Hughes, Scotstowns most dangerous forward was moved out to the 40 also at the commencement of the second half and he was quickly off the mark with a point from play in the second minute. He missed a scoring chance a minute later while Mark Downey restored Carricks 10 point advantage in the sixth minute with a point from play. Emmet Caulfield was introduced by Scotstown to replace Dara Stirrat. Scotstown took control again at midfield and Thomas O'Sullivan was called upon in the ninth minute to make one of his many saves when Darren Hughes received a great pass from Kieran McKenna but saw his shot deflected wide when a goal looked a certainty. Carrick had two chances of scores through Patrick Lonergan and Mark Downey but failed to take them. Wayne Kerley came on for Nial McCarthy in the 12th minute for Carrick. The game was evenly matched at this stage with scores hard to come by with Carrick retaining their 10 point advantage. However, Scotstown hit a purple patch between the 16th and 24th minutes when they added 2.03 to their tally without reply. The goals from Paul Grant in the 16th minute and Rory McKenna in the 17th minute with Darren Hughes adding two points and Kieran McKenna adding one point all from play to leave just a single point between the sides and six minutes remaining. Things looked onimous for Carrick at this stage and their defence were under severe pressure but for the brilliance of Thomas O'Sullivan in the Carrick goal when he brought off two point blank saves with goal written all over them from Paul Grant and Mark McDevitte to restrict Scotstown to 2-03 during their purple patch. The Carrick backs realised they had a fight on their hands and responded with some excellent defensive work from David Crosby, Ciaran Cumiskey, Mark Coughlan and Gerard McGeown. Their clearances finding the always available Ronan McMahon who tormented his marker with his gutsy runs up the field. Barry Lambe and Mark Downey respond to their back lines trojan work and came back to life for the final minutes of the game. Patrick Lonergan pointed a free in the 24th minute to stop Scotstowns gallop. Wides from Barry Lambe and Patrick Lonergan with time running out still left Carrick a precarious two point lead. However, Mark Downey made amends for his earlier misses when he slotted over a point from play to give Carrick a three point cushion which they retained until the final whistle. Carrick had some excellent performances throughout the field with Thomas O'Sullivan their saviour on numerous occasions. The full backline of Brian McGee, David Crosby and Ciaran Cumiskey while under severe pressure in the second half played well as a unit. The half back line saw some great defensive work from Mark Coughlan in the centre, who had been moved from his customary midfield spot due to absence of Darren Martin who was away on holiday, and Christopher McEneaney and Gerard McGeown on the wings. Barry Lambe and Mark Downey did not get it all their own way at midfield but came back into the game with it mattered most. Gary McCarthy, Paraig Donaghy and Stephen Cunningham while not getting on the scoresheet combined very well with both midfield and the full forward line and distributed the ball very well. The full forward line was dominated by Patrick Lonergan who scored an impressive 2.06 of our total with good support from Niall McCarthy and Colm Kiernan. Ronan McMahon displayed his usual aggressive approach and was a constant menace to the Scotstown backline. Wayne Kerley showed some neat touches when introduced. Subs not used - Cathal Dolan and JP McNally It was a special occasion for six of the winning team as they had earlier in the season collected an U14 hurling medal in the Feile na nGael final namely Brian McGee, David Crosby, Christopher McEneaney, Gerard McGeown, Barry Lambe and Gary McCarthy. The Mason Cup was presented to Barry Lambe captain of the victorious Carrick team by Vice Chairman of the Juvenile County Board Jimmy Finnegan. A word of thanks to the team mentors Fergus McCarthy and Andrew O'Sullivan for their efforts, dedication and commitment throughout the season. Tweet

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