Ben Quinn is new to the post of secretary of Clones GFC. However, he boasts a wealth of experience in the job from his time spent with his native club in Fermanagh. Kevin Carney reports There was no mention of any Bosman-like transfer deal when Ben Quinn switched allegiances. The move from Aghadrumsee to Clones didn't catch the eye of the tabloids either. But there's no doubt but that the Fermanagh club's loss was indeed Clones' gain. Not that Ben's belated elevation in 2001 to the St. Tighernach club's front bench was an overnight thing. Fact is the hard-working club secretary has been living in the Monaghan town since 1968. There is no point in rushing into a hot chair, after all, if you're not convinced you can stick the heat! That said, Ben Quinn knew all about the demands that come with the job of a GAA club secretary. Those in Clones and his native Aghadrumsee would be wise to the fact that for nearly ten years back in the fifties/sixties, he acted out the role of secretary at Aghadrumsee GFC. And what's more, Ben dovetailed as a no-mean footballer too while reading out the minutes and doing a lot more besides at Aghadrumsee. Indeed, he helped the small Fermanagh club win the Senior Football Championship title in 1961. But how has the role of secretary changed over the years? "It has changed an awful lot. There really is no comparison in the workload that a secretary has now with what it was 30 or 40 years ago. "The amount of paperwork that has to be done nowadays is unbelievable. A lot of the work done by a secretary years ago concerned registrations and making out the team at the time of a game. Now that's only a very small part of the job. "You'd hardly believe the amount of literature that I get coming through our letterbox - especially during the peak months - each week concerning GAA matters. It's open to question whether all this literature and paperwork is really necessary." Whatever about the man-hours spent by Ben in doing his job for the good of Clones GAA, there's little doubt about the man's ability to do the necessary. In everyway, he's an old hand at it, you see. A former Fermanagh senior footballer, Ben is very much a true blue Clones football supporter these days. Also, two of his sons, Brian and Manus are current stalwarts of the local team. After one year in the hot seat, Ben is pleased to report to that he quite enjoyed his involvement in the club in 2001. He says that everyone connected to the club can feel happy that the club continued to move forward, even if it was at a slower pace than most would have hoped for. In reviewing the club's activities on the field of play over the past year, the popular retired schoolteacher says the success achieved by the club's under 16 squad in beating Emyvale in the final of the McCormick Cup was arguably the highlight for the club on the playing front. It was a win which gave everyone at St. Tighernach's a lift. "You can't beat winning to create enthusiasm and generate optimism so the under 16 win was important and most welcome in that respect. "Winning the McCormick Cup also helped to highlight the good, young talent that's coming up through the ranks and also reflects very well on the amount of work which has been done over the years by a lot of people at underage level. "As I don't intend to mention any managers by name, I would like to pay tribute to all our current managers in both hurling and football and our many helpers including team physios. They are all completely dedicated people who take on very onerous jobs for the good of the club and the community and often get little thanks for doing so. They are the real unsung heroes of the GAA." Working within a relatively small catchment area which broadly stretches from Stonebridge in one direction to Annalore Bridge at the other end and out the Cavan road a short distance, Clones GAA personnel have to make the most of the talent they can legitimately call upon. It may go largely unnoticed by gaels from elsewhere in the county that Clones share parish with neighbouring clubs Currin and Aghadrumsee. Indeed, it is thought that the Fermanagh club's 'pick', geographically at least, forms the most part of the parochial landscape. Picks, population, players or no, Clones had an indifferent year at adult level in 2001 and Ben doesn't begin to hide that fact. Nevertheless, he says that morale in the club is "quite good" but while the reserve team did well and the under 21 team had some good wins, the intermediate squad had a disappointing year. But it could have been worse, as Ben acknowledges. "The intermediate team were slow to get into their stride in the early part of the league campaign but then proceeded to pick things up in mid-season by which stage they were well positioned to qualify for the play-off stages of the league only to falter thereafter. "In the end, injuries and a few narrow defeats combined to leave the lads having to work hard to avoid relegation which, thankfully, they managed to do. The league was probably the most disappointing aspect of the year because last spring, we would have been aiming to secure promotion even though the club was only back in intermediate ranks in 2000." And then there was the club's practice of flattering to deceive in the intermediate championship. Another disappointing campaign. A good, emphatic opening round win over Oram heightened innate expectations among Clones supporters. The victory was the club's first victory in intermediate championship for some years and it was genuinely felt that the win could be consolidate in traditional fashion. Not so. "Things still looked good when we drew with Ballybay, a team many fancied would be in the running for the championship title. With a bit of luck, we could actually have won the match too. Unfortunately, it all counted for nothing as we proceeded to lose the replay. "Because of the back-door system we had another chance of progressing but after drawing with another top team, Aghabog, we lost the replay." Hampered by the absence, at various times, of such key players as Declan McKiernan, Ross McDonald, Brian Lynch, Manus Quinn, James McKiernan and Paul Shiels, Clones' premier football side ended up well wide of their goals for 2001. Ben doesn't disagree with the proposal that the team underperformed during the past year but does emphasise the severity of the blow suffered by the above personnel losses. Ben goes on to say: "We must congratulate all concerned both players and managers on retaining intermediate status and we hope to go one better in 2002. "In fact, this is the first time the team has had a three year run in intermediate football in recent times and this achievement should be a big boost to them for the coming season." So, one wonders, what are the missing pieces in the jigsaw right now? "There's not a lot missing, especially when you consider that we should have beaten Ballybay in our second match and yet they went onto lift the cup. "Perhaps we could do with a few more quality players. Maybe we haven't got enough quality players right now but with players like Eugene Holland, Paul Connolly, Michael Treanor and Ross Adamson gaining more and more experience, I think the intermediate team will improve a lot over the next couple of years." Ironically, the system which allowed Clones to nip back into contention after losing out to Ballybay isn't one which Ben is keen to talk-up. In fact, Ben is not enamoured at all by the so-called back-door system which was introduced in 2001. In this respect, he believes that while it provided more games for more clubs, it propagated a rash of games at inopportune times, in his view. "I think the idea of having midweek games can present huge problems with getting players to matches, especially when they're working and living a long way from the club. "I think the idea where the likes of ourselves, Killeevan and Currin were able to come together and compete in the senior championship was the most satisfying arrangement for the players and the clubs involved. "I think the back door system tends to favour the stronger teams. For instance, if there hadn't been a back door system in place in 2001, 'Blayney wouldn't have won the championship because they had been beaten by Latton in the early stages of the competition." Opinions certainly worth chewing over. Powers-that-be please note! The other Clones Cyclone Potential is an appendage which is commonly linked to the premier footballers in Clones and, in erstwhile countyman, Declan McKernan, the town team has one of the most naturally gifted footballers in Monaghan. Success for him personally though is a winning Clones team. In football parlance, stability is the buzzword around Clones these days. Those at the heart of matters at Clones GFC are hoping and praying that the club's latterday yo-yo existence will be as redundant as the Dodo in the coming seasons. It's intermediate or higher for the local gaels, nothing more, nothing less, they aver. With no disrespect to those clubs ploughing difficult furrows at junior level, Declan McKernan believes that the current Clones crew has enough talent not to slip back down from intermediate ranks. His club's horizons have the lush green pastures of senior ranks as their backdrop, not junior. "Reaching the top four in division two has to be our aim for the coming year. We can't be looking over our shoulders at those in a mid-table or bottom-of-the-table position. "While being back in the intermediate ranks in 2000 was a learning experience, we really should have done much better over the course of the 2001 season last year. Hopefully, we can make up for our indifferent displays in 2001 by securing a place in the top four in the coming year. "We have the talent to make it up to senior level - I'm sure about that. When we have everyone fit and we hit form, we're as good as any other team at intermediate level and there's no doubt in mind but that the top four or five teams at intermediate level as as good as most of the teams in the bottom half of division one. "Getting out of intermediate ranks in Monaghan is notoriously hard though. But our biggest problem last year was our inconsistency and our inability to rise our game when we came up against some of the top guns like Drumhowan and Tyholland." Certainly Clones started last season in impressive fashion. They looked to have the bit between their teeth as the opening rounds of the league began to unfold. That said there were early signs of inconsistency. For instance, McKernan and co. were well up at half-time in their clash with Aghabog but allowed their opponents to come back at them and eventually edge home victors by the narrowest of margins. It was a similar story when Clones met Drumhowan. From there on though things picked up and the St. Tiernach's outfit went on a decent unbeaten run as the championship series approached. The effects of the foot and mouth crisis were to help unhinge Clones's pre-championship preparations though. Games were postponed and training was curtailed and, accordingly, fitness levels suffered. Still, Clones ended up playing more championship games (five) in 2001 than they had in years. An impressive opening win against Oram was just the ticket, apparently, for a Clones team that thrives on an injection of confidence. "Beating Oram was a good boost to us because they had beaten us earlier on in the league. They're a big and strong team and we knew that it wasn't going to be easy to beat them but we managed to overcome them and we then looked to achieve bigger and better things. "The Oram game saw us play to something near our full-potential and after beating them there was a genuine feeling in the club that we were capable of at least making it to the semi-finals," Declan recalls. Thereafter their displays against eventual champions Ballybay were arguably Clones's best. In young McKernan, Clones had a star performer for those duels too. "The draw between us the first day in Clontibret was probably a fair result but we shouldn't have lost the next day in Aghabog - Clones scoring 4-12 and still beaten is a hard pill to swallow . "It was the same story against Aghabog. We should have beaten them the first day and, instead, allowed them off the hook to go on and get a levelling point in the last couple of minutes. We had been two goals ahead in the first half. "After that though we were very poor in the replay and they ended up with ten points to spare in Rockcorry although they did make their win look a lot more emphatic than it was by adding a goal and a couple of points in the last few minutes. We faded badly though in the second half overall," explains Declan who had the distinction of scoring a personal tally of 2-2 in the win over Oram and 2-7 in the aforementioned second clash with Ballybay and an overall total of 4-18 in the 2001 championship campaign. Needless to say, talk of 2001 and the championship season conjures up very mixed emotions for the popular civil engineer. The back-door system is at the knub of this maelstrom: "The jury's out as far as I'm concerned when it comes to the back-door system. When you consider that in past years, you'd be at least in the semi-finals if you came through five games in the way we did last summer but we were really no further on than a team that lost their opening game. "I think it'll take quite a while for everyone to get used to the new system. It's different now for the county teams because they are now gearing themselves up for at least another bite of the cherry, which is welcome, whereas it was always knock-out when I was involved. "I personally feel the club championship should be still run on a knock-out basis, it should be a one-off, although I can see both sides of the argument, for and against, concerning the back-door," the ace freetaker adds. Either way, Declan is convinced that a stroke of luck, a bit more consistency etc is all that separates the winners and also rans (most of them) at intermediate league and championship levels in Monaghan. "Anyone of five clubs could win the intermediate championship in any given year. And the same goes for the league. A team could be pushing for a play-off place at one time in the year and within a matter of weeks be staring relegation in the face if they lose two or three matches on the trot. "There are lot of very good footballers playing at intermediate level. A lot of the fellas on the senior county team are from intermediate clubs. No one could say that the Ronaghans and McQuaids from Tyholland, Paul Finlay from Ballybay, Dermot McDermott and James McElroy of Drumhowan aren't as good as you'd see in the senior championship." Brother of co-Clones stalwarts James and Colm, and a member of the Clones team which won out to Ballybay in the 1999 league decider, the 29-year old puts the onus for possible future success for Clones down fairly and squarely with the current panel of players. "Things have been very close at intermediate level for as long as I remember. Corduff were lodged at the bottom of the league the year they won the championship and similarly with Monaghan Harps who were mid-table in the year of their success while Ballybay were inconsistent in the league this year but won the championship." There's no doubting Declan's ambition though. Grandson of the Late Paddy Rooney, a member of the last Clones team (1943) to annex the Mick Duffy Cup, young McKernan is obviously Clones through and through. And he feels Clones aren't far off the mark now either. "There's no reason why we can't do well in both the league and championship though in the coming year. But it's all down to the players and the commitment they are prepared to give. Another couple of scoring forwards would help too of course. "In fairness to the panel, it can be difficult to get everyone together for training because around 70% of the senior players are based away from home during the week," opines Declan who himself missed out on the last three games of the year due to broken ribs. And what of the county scene? Any ambitions in that direction? "If I was to be invited to re-join the senior panel, I'd have to give it a lot of serious consideration because of the time factor. Being married and the father of a couple of kids puts my spare time at a premium and the demands on your time as a county player have gotten to the stage where it's practically gone professional." We wonder though can the Monaghan senior team-management afford to do without such a proven scoregetter? Clones career to U16 triumph In an otherwise difficult year for Clones on the football field, the promise and rich talent displayed by the club's under 16 squad in 2001 proved to be the real silver lining as they careered to an impressive win over Emyvale in the Division Two McCormick Cup decider. # Under the astute management of Donald McDonald and Jim Cleary, the Clones lads demonstrated a level of ambition and enthusiasm over the course of the campaign which augurs well for themselves as footballers and the club too. There was plenty of determination in evidence too among the winning crew as their opponents made them fight all the way for the silverware. With the aid of a stiffening breeze in the first half, Clones forced the pace right from the throw-in but met some stiff resistance from their willing opponents. Both teams were very evenly matched and the see-saw nature of the play fairly reflected the closeness of the exchanges over the hour. That said, the big occasion seemed to get to both teams somewhat and the football in the early stages of the match at least was of the tentative variety. The quality of football over the hour though had still much to recommend itself. Clones had the better of the exchanges in the first half but their supporters must have been wondering whether their favourites had done enough in building up a 2-3 to 1-2 ##########in the opening half to withstand the anticipated pressure from Emyvale. Indeed when Emyvale flew out of the blocks on the restart to score four points on the trot and so level the scores, serious questions began to be asked of the would-be cup winners. Like true champions though, Clones held firm and came back with gusto, pointing on the double to leap into a clear lead once again. It was to be a nip and tuck affair right to the end though and within a minute Emyvale responded with another point. In a lightning-quick attack though, Clones demonstrated both their potency and their determination by bagging a crucial goal to go four points up once again. Clones were already eyeing the winning post at this stage and a point after a fine movement seemed to edge them into clear water. Back came Emyvale though and in one of their best attacks of the game, they pointed to remind Clones of their determination to steal the spoils. However time was not on Emyvale's side and although they did threaten on several occasions, stout defending by the Clones lads kept them at bay until the dying minutes when Emyvale bagged a late, consolation goal. Clones were not to be denied however. Tweet

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