It may be early days in his senior career but already Gary McEnaney can reflect on a successful innings to date. By Cian O'Raghallaigh The end of the year may have been disappointing for Carrick Emmets on the field after the drop from Division One but some bright sparks have shone through the ranks this season. One of those is their 2005 player of the year Gary McEnaney and at the age of 21 he has already achieved what some footballers only manage in their entire career. At U-10 level he had already played on the All-Ireland winning community games team. Along with fellow Carrickmacross Emmets player, Stephen Gollogoly (the two biggest men on the team, he says), formed a midfield partnership on the Carrick team which defeated Mayo in the final. However, there were though some barren years at club level to endure for Gary. "It wasn't until U-16 that we won anything. It was frustrating but we won the double in 2000 beating Inniskeen in the league and Scotstown in the championship under Peter Gollogoly. . I was centre-half back on that team," he says. By this stage he had become firmly established on the High School side and under the astute management of Paddy Martin and Eddie Walsh, made great strides in his football career. At U-16 level he won a Rannafast Cup medal which was followed, in 2002, by a great run in the MacRory Cup which ended only in the semi-final against St Pat's Maghera. "The football was always good at school under Paddy Martin and Eddie Walsh. When you played football you got away with a lot in the High School! "It was very professionally run for a school with no real facilities. We had great team spirit and the whole team was like a big family. We could've got a lot further but we lost fellows from the Rannafast team who didn't do transition year. There were five or six county minors involved," he says. A minor league medal followed with the club in 2002 and that year he was involved with the county minor team which reached the semi-final of the championship where they lost to Tyrone. In 2004 he played in the U-21 competition against Cavan as a half back. With a number of key players injured the team were unlucky to lose. Gary's brothers Christopher, Connor, Kian and Dillon, as well as his parents Pat and Rosemary are all involved in the GAA. Gaelic football is steeped in the family name with his uncle Seamus currently in charge of the Monaghan seniors. Not forgetting, too, in his own household, his father who is a well-established referee. It is something which Gary does not see himself getting involved in though. "No it is definitely not something I'd be interested in. He (Pat) really enjoys it even though there are no real perks in it and he is one of the best at it," he says. Having a referee in the household has its advantages though and he says he would, on occasion, ask Pat his opinion on a decision if he attended one of Gary's matches. Along with his uncles, Pat has been one of the major influences on his game over the years. At the moment Gary is serving his time with Michael McNevin, an Ardee-based electrician. In his third year, he has 16 months left before qualification and will attend Dundalk IT for three months in the new year. A lot of the work is based around Dundalk and Drogheda. His football days in school were memorable but does the current job beat the academic life at the High School? "It beats the books but I'd like to have gone and done the college thing I hear fellows telling me all the stories. I was very lazy in the High School; football was always my number one priority," he says. Player welfare is one area he would like to see improved in the GAA. At the time of the interview he was involved in the county senior trials. He cites the commitment required to succeed as "savage" and that players do not have a social life if they play with their county. Instead of that, it's watching all the latest DVDs that one can find in chartbusters and going to the cinema. But he believes that the dedication can pay off. "If you're successful it's worth it. If you weren't training what would you be at? There is no better feeling than winning. Your game does improve when you play with county players and all you can do is improve all the time," he says. "The county game is far quicker, far more intense. You'd have to be thinking all the time and have to be on the ball," he says. In 2006 he hopes that the Emmets will make a swift return to senior football ranks. Lack of experience cost the team in some of their vital matches this season and despite reaching the quarter-finals of the championship (losing to eventual finalists Magheracloone), he believes that the team is good enough to return. "There is so much talent in this team and it will probably show when the players get a bit older. You need the experienced heads and there is no reason why we cannot go back up if we can get everyone tuned in," he says. Apart from playing gaelic football, he still plays soccer with the local Carrick Rovers soccer team. Some time in the future he would like to do a coaching course. That, he hopes "will be a long time from now". At the moment he can continue to enjoy the early part of what looks to be a promising playing career. Corduff clubman benefits from chance meeting Having already excelled as a player, the need for a referee in a local club match proved a watershed for Patsy Connolly, writes Cian O'Raghallaigh. Whatever about player rewards in gaelic games, many of us would think that there is little to be gained by running around a field as a referee for 60 minutes. The constant spectator shouting, the endless player protests and the hurling of abuse makes it a challenging job for anybody. But for Patsy Connolly, his journey of almost 30 years officiating at both club level and inter-county level have been immensely fulfilling. This year Carrickmacross Emmets acknowledged his contribution by presenting him with a Hall of Fame award. Rather than focus on the negatives attached to refereeing, Patsy Connolly sees light in wearing the refereeís jersey at what would appear, to many spectators, a dark tunnel. Perhaps Patsyís knowledge of the game was a factor in his success for so long. It certainly helped. He had been playing for Corduff minors in the early 1950s and when the club disbanded he joined the Carrick minors. He won a minor championship with them in 1953 and the following year won the minor double. Throughout his playing career, he was, he says, "in and out" as a goalkepper and won a junior championship medal with Corduff in 1964. He proved a versatile player, playing in other positions such as half back and corner forward. "The football was terrific - I played for about 12 years at junior and intermediate level though not senior. Ballybay, Castleblayney and Scotstown were among the good teams at the time," he says. In the early 1960s his versatility as a person developed. Rather than being able to influence events as a player, he started making his mark as a referee. Br Camillus (a native of Cahir, Co. Tipperary), was heavily involved in Carrickmacross juvenile teams at the time and needed a referee for a match between Carrickmacross and Donaghmoyne. Not wishing to disappoint, Patsy agreed. This was the start of a long and distinguished career as the man-in the-middle. One of his biggest days was when he took charge of the junior championship final in 1973. This gave the local postman his first big break in the club scene. By 1974 he had taken charge of the minor championship final between Castleblayney and Clontibret. Other big games followed. "I refereed the Dr Ward Cup, the Eoin Ward Cup and the Hackett Cup finals and my big occasion was in 1978 when I refereed the senior final between Scotstown and Castleblayney. I also refereed county minor league matches at national level - games between Down and Armagh, Tyrone and Antrim and Wicklow against Louth," he says. When the Corduff club was reformed, they proved to have some excellent players at the time and playing the game proved an excellent way for Patsy to maintain his fitness. On field there were many close battles with teams such as Ballybay and Castleblayney to the forefront of football in Monaghan at the time but despite loving the honour of playing for his club, he preferred the responsibility of being the man with the whistle. Rewards followed. Referees in Monaghan travelled to places like London and the Isle of Man on holidays and he made "wonderful friends" from the association. The commitment proved worthwhile. Other contemporaries, he believes, were unfortunate not to have refereed the big games. "Referees are out the whole year around - hail, rain or shine. Some referees are entitled to it (the big games) and it would be nice to see it (refereeing) spread around a bit for the finals. A few of the referees got the semi-finals but never got the big day," he says. In later years he officiated as an umpire. So having analysed the Gaelic games scene as a player, referee and umpire, there are few better able to judge the standard of football in the country. He appreciates the quality of football at the moment but improvements, he believes, could still be made. "I think at the present time it is strong but there is too much training involved. The standard has risen, facilities have changed and he (the player) is training the whole week. "Less training would do. There also too many competitions and too much short passing. It is more handball than football with four or five hand passes not covering the area of the field," he says. Like any referee, he dismissed a number of players during his time and admits that maybe he was lucky to leave the pitch unscathed himself on occasion! His working life began in the post office in Carrickmacross on June 8 1959 and ended when he retired on June 22nd 2001. Having cycled around the town to deliver the letters, he later used a motorvan in his work to deliver all letters to his local community. Now that both his working career and postal career are over, he continues to serve his county as an umpire. And, having accepted the request to take charge all those years ago, he can reflect on wonderful service to the GAA. Patsy Connolly would like to pay tribute to the following people who have been involved in county Monaghan football over the years. (He regrets any names omitted) Michael Marron, Peter Gollogly, Paddy Callan, James McNally, John McHugh, Sean and Brendan Rafferty, Gene Marron, Jim Fox, PJ O Reilly, Brian Logan, Benny Mone, Francie Murphy, Pat Brannigan, Gene McGinn, Bro Gregory, Bro Camillus, Fr Tom Marron, John Joe Cunningham, Martin McNally, Tom Fox, Tom Ward, Jimmy McKeown, John Scully, Paul Martin junior, Jim Shannon, Sean O Raghallaigh, Tony O'Reilly, Terry Kiernan, Michael McElkenney. He would also like to thank the following postmasters: Joe Gallagher, Sean Hegarty, Billy Scotson, Sean Hall and current postmistress Eileen O Hanlon. Tweet

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