Paddy Croarkin is noted for viewing the glass in a half-full rather than half-empty light. That said, he ain't afraid to call it as he sees it. Kevin Carney reports Paddy Croarkin reckons the tide has to turn sometime for Eire Og. The club's been out of luck, out of the shake-up for long enough, he suggests. 'Time for a change' could well be his personal and the club's motto going into '06. Right now his frustration at having to consistently swim against the tide is patently obvious. The chest of an Olympian swimmer is not something he's after but a stint on top of the winners' rostrum would be nice though. Though he's only 21, he's had his fill of being on the cusp of something good at adult level with the Smithboro-based crew only for ambitions to crash on the rocks of inconsistent team performances and "pure lack of effort." It's at times like these that a body's natural instinct is to fall back on one's innate enthusiasm and positive attitude. The totally commited Croarkin has got plenty of those ingredients, has enough of them to make for leadership material. Then that's just as well though as the past three years haven't been the kind which come cloaked with rosettes attached. Like many of his 'ilk, Paddy is pretty much success-starved but imbued with a will-to-win and a passion for the cause which drives him on to optimistic plains. It's that pride and passion which those who have played with 21-year old Croakin say makes him a winner. Meanwhile those who have played against him wish he was on their side. A good man to have at the coalface, they moot. However Eire Og's 2004 Player of the Year is all about the collective rather than the subjective and for him if the team ain't winning the war, soldiering through the close season becomes even harder. When you're idle, defeats just hot off the presses tend to burn in the first degree rather than the third. "We've had a disappointing last few years, there's no doubt about it and it wouldn't be right to say anything else. "It was a great honour to get the Player of the Year award last year but going out of the championship so quickly made it a bad year for the club and that's what really counts in the end. "Missing out on the league semi-finals on top of what happened in the championship helped make the year one to forget," the tigerish defender reflects. Are Eire Og up to the standard required to beat the best of the rest at intermediate level? "Definitely. We've a young team with the average age only about 25 and there's some good young talent are the way up the ranks too. "We've enough talent to hold our own with probably most of the teams at intermediate level but that hasn't showed in our results over the last couple of years." Those results have reflected Eire Og's capacity to under-achieve, to flatter to deceive and simply to fail to believe. Will things change with the emergence of young guns such as Mark McBride and Martin Gaffney? Looking at the big picture, one wonders is the current Eire Og team on a downward or upward curve? When you're someone like Paddy Croarkin who has a penchant for seeing the wood from the trees, it's pretty difficult not to see the elephant in the shop. "There's no big mystery as to why things haven't been happening for the intermediate team over the last three years or so. "As a squad there hasn't been enough effort put in and the commitment that is needed hasn't been put in by the players. "We've had Raymond Leonard over us for the last couple of years but you couldn't fault him; he's given 100 percent to the job. "It's the players who haven't come up to scratch and nobody else is to blame," former county under 16 player opines. It's been a difficult few years for Eire Og's premier team but that is partly understandable given that the make-up of the side has changed quite a bit in recent times. Former stalwarts such as Raymond and Joe Leonard plus Enda McCluskey have hung up their boots at the highest level and, in reality, the club has been in a transition period for the last couple of years. Ever since the club won the Junior league in 2001, it seems as if the locals have been struggling desperately to push on and crack open the IFC bubbly. "The players have to start pushing the boat out and giving it a bit more. "We've seven or eight players based in Dublin but that's no excuse because a lot of clubs have players based away from home. "It's a pity because we're not that far away from cracking it at intermediate level but we have to start fulfilling our potential," Paddy insists. That that potential exists in Smithboro brooks no debate. On paper, as they say, Eire Og boast as good a selection of players as there is in the middle tier of Monaghan football but paper never did translate into the hard coinage of championship medals. A lot of the current Eire Og side have experienced the buzz and competition associated with putting on the county jersey at whatever level. Fellas such as Paddy himself, Damien Mullen, Paraic McKenna, Colm Casey and Mark McCaffrey are names which anyone who is clued into the underage set-up in Monaghan would recognise and appreciate as proven operators. The aforementioned plus their array of lieutenants on Eire Og's first fifteen painted a pretty rosy picture at the outset of 2005 too. Ultimately though the championship season turned out to be a "total disaster". "We beat Cremartin first time out but in the quarter-final we got beaten by something like 16 points by Inniskeen. "After that we took on Donaghmoyne and lost by something like the same margin but that wasn't really surprising. "Our heads went down after the Inniskeen hammering; the heart wasn't in it among the players and just the whole attitude was wrong. "The whole bottom fell out of the season after the championship disaster because we had been in around second or third spot in the league before the championship but after it we had no wins and again lost out on getting into the league semi-final. "Any year you don't make the semi-finals of the league is a poor one and we've missed out there for the last two years even though they were by narrow margins." And yet, Paddy is optimistic and genuinely positive in his view of how things might pan out for Eire Og in 2005 and subsequent years. "As I say, we're a young team and I think it'll be another two or three years before we hit our peak, before the team's in its prime." Still, the same upbeat notes have richocheted around Smithboro way for practically every year since Eire Og were in the 1995 IFC final. And Paddy himself confides that the club has won just one championship game - against neighbours Sean McDermotts - in the interim. "The tide has to change sometime and hopefully it'll start to happen for us in 2006," Paddy avers. Part of a division three minor league and championship-winning Eire Og crew from times past, Paddy says that a lot of hard work is being done at every level of the club to put it on the winning track and, in this respect, he cites the success of recent under 15 and under 16 club teams. Interestingly, he reckons there isn't a great fall-off among the club's minor players as they hover within the twilight zone that separates the underage and senior scenes. But while the labourers may be many the harvest isn't exactly rich and the lack of depth at adult level is reflected in the travails invariably experienced by the Eire Og 'B' team in trying to keep its head above water. Still, Paddy insists that there isn't a lot of difference between the peleton at intermediate level and the chasing pack. "You hardly ever get a team that's in a class of its own at intermediate level but you have to be consistent. "We beat Aghabog twice in the league but I'd say if we played them in the championship we'd probably lose. "Intermediate is the toughest of all the grades and you'd only ever have about four or five points separating the teams around the middle and the top team. "We played Inniskeen in the league and lost to them both times by four points and they went onto prove that they were the best team of the year." Paddy says he'll be "surprised and disappointed" if Eire Og don't work the oracle at intermediate level inside the next four years. He re-iterates his belief that Eire Og has the talent to hit the jackpot sooner rather than later. As for the possibility of the team going down to junior ranks, well that's a complete no-no as far as Paddy is concerned even though it took a last-gasp goal for the man himself against Oram in a relegation play-off in 2003 to prevent the club from dropping down a grade. "The boys have enough in them to stay up intermediate with a bit of comfort over the next couple of years and build from there. "I think we've a better balanced side now than we had in 2003. "We've really everything in place on and off the field to make things work. "Hopefully next year will see us start and finish well." Our Year 2005 was one of the best year's on record for a long time in the history of football in Eire Og, Smithboro. At the beginning of the year it was decided to amalgamate for the U16 and minors, as our numbers were too small to field a team. Tyholland came on board with our minors to form Na Fianna and Tyholland, ourselves and two players from Aghabog formed The Shamrocks for the U16s. The Shamrocks showed wonderful form all through the league and despite stiff competition in the final, Brian McArdle, Shamrocks captain accepted the cup. Na Fianna has a great run in the league and reached the semi-finals. Unfortunately, a spell of indecision by officials put paid to another victory for this team, and the team did not get the chance to show their worth. The U12 team put together some wonderful display of football all through the season to coast into the final. Our opponents for this was Tyholland who had remained unbeaten in the league. Undaunted by the prospect, Eire Og won by an eight point margin and victoriously lifted the Magill Cup. The U14 reached the semi-finals but lost out to Cremartin by one point, with Cremartin going on to win the league. This same took part in The Eire Og Memorial Cup. This Cup was played in memory of all deceased players from the club. The U14 beat Donagh in a terrific final. U8 and U10 enjoyed some great challenges from all around the county and are teams to watch out for in the future. Every Sunday morning around 30 children descend on the training field. The emphasis is on learning through fun. All the children love it and without the hard work of coaches in the club we would not be in this position of such large numbers. We had players of the club called up for Development Squads and doing very well on them. Further work is being carried out for both the club and field development. You can even access the website for club information. November 25th in the Skule Inn wrapped up a very successful year for the club with presentations to the juvenile boys and girls winning teams. Without the dedication and commitment given by coaches and managers all through the year none of this success would be possible. These individuals give of their time, week after week, all during the football season to strive towards a better club for all. Eire Og ladies This year Eire Og enjoyed a lot of success, taking home two cups (U14, 11 a side and U16, 13 a side) and also being runners up in the U12 11 a side competition. Our U12s went unbeaten until their final day out against Latton. A physically stronger Latton team were better on the day, but we were very proud of the way our girls battled to the end. With a lot of these girls enjoying their first year of football, the club can expect to await a lot of success in the future with this talented bunch. The U14s finished their campaign unbeaten, winning the final against Latton on the second attempt. An outstanding second half performance by the whole team was enjoyed by a large crowd who attended the final in Aghabog. Captain Cathy McElroy picked up "Player of the Match" scoring a total of nine points on the day. Our U16 squad moved up the ranks this year to the 13 a side competition. This team played some excellent football all year and deservedly reached the final against Inniskeen. In a tough, hard fought game with only a three point lead at half time, the girls really turned on the style and showed how good they really were. Player of the match Fiona Leonard, with her strong solo-running took a lot of fine scoring opportunities every time they came her way. The victory finished of a great year for the Eire Og ladies club. Congratulations also to the following Eire Og girls who represented the club at county level: Niamh Tierney, Lisa McElvaney, Cathy McElroy, Carla Treanor, Laura Tierney and Shannon Guaire. All these girls had a very successful year at county level. Management: Gerard Treanor, Mary Croarkin, Sharon McAree Supplied by Eire Og GAC Tweet

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