The hand-me-down tradition that forms one of the major planks of the GAA at grass roots level nationally is alive and well in Knockbride. Finger any Knockbride team-sheet any time of the year at any grade these days and the surnames that pock-marked distuinished Knockbride teams of yore still grace the pages. The line-up of the all-conquering Knockbride minor team of 2008 fairly reflected the trickle-down presence of generations of the same families wearing the famed red and green. No wonder then that last year's Div 3 league-winning troupe displayed degrees of team-work, cohesion and camaraderie that gave them a decided edge over their opponents. Similarily, the management-team of Hugo O'Reilly, Mickey Sheanon, Jimmy Maguire and Terence McCabe were wont to sing off the same hymn sheet and in great unison. And yet, according to the aforementioned O'Reilly, Knockbride's winning formula had, at its core, the most simple of threads common to champions: "The lads worked very hard in training, simple as that," the former star player explained. "They were very committed all year, right from the end of February when we first got together. "In fairness, all of them bar three had the experience of playing minor together in 2007. Having said that, we weren't at the races in 2007 so they had a bit of improving to do." And improve they did. Improved so much that they lost just one game - to Gowna - over the course of the entire league campaign before, you've guessed it, beating Gowna in the final. The Class of 2008 had a fine pedigree of course. Sons of former JFC winners but winners in their own right too - count the under 14 medals decorating the youngsters' sideboards. But what was Hugo's take on the squad's prospects for 2008 before a ball was kicked in anger last year? "I felt at the start of the year that there was good potential there, that they were a good bunch of players; more of a team than any real collection of individual stars. "I thought we'd have a good run in the league but we didn't know what we'd be coming up against. We didn't know a lot about the opposition because we hadn't me them previously. "But in the panel of 25 or so we felt we had a lot of good ball players; fellas who were comfortable on the ball, in every area of the field who were a good unit and trained hard." February '08 marked the genesis of Knockbride's odyssey to the league title. Game after game was played in training to sharpen the players' passing skills and positional sense. Hours were spent on perfecting the art of tackling and how-not-to-foul. The eight-game league campaign would highlight just how key hard graft is to producing a winning formula. Knockbride's defeat to Gowna was their solitary setback among the raft of 13-aside games played. "We were unfortunate in the first game against Gowna in that we had two players sent off and ended up losing by six points or so," Hugo recalls. "We were behind by two points when we lost our first player and we had been going well at that stage but Gowna were a good team and deserved to win that day. "Most of the games were very competitive. The games against Mountnugent, Kildallan and Belturbet stand out for me. I think the win over Mountnugent stood out the most. "Mountnugent really needed the win against us to stay in with a chance of making the semi-finals but we played above ourselves that day and won with a bit to spare." Like every team that goes the distance, Knockbride did enjoy their fair share of good fortune at an opportune time. Their time came in their semi-final duel with Lacken in Stradone. "We had a wee bit of luck that day," Hugo admits. "Lacken had their chances but luckily they didn't take them whereas we got a goal near the end which got us through by a point." Gowna made the short journey to Mullahoran to go toe-to-toe with Knockbride, under lights, on September 12th. Knockbride made the long journey in expectation. The east Cavan side played with no fear in the final and although chances went abegging over the hour, the final scoreline of Knockbride 3-8; Gowna 1-11 was all that counted. As things panned out, two goals in just under three second-half minutes proved pivotal as Knockbride edged past their opponents in what was a real rollercoaster of a final. Knockbride went one point behind early on before flashing over four unanswered points courtesy of Adam Traynor (two), David Clarke and Niall McCabe with ten minutes gone. The winners-elect engineered a goal chance in the 11th minute but the Gowna 'keeper brought off a magnificent save which spurred his side onto close the gap to two points. Knockbride maintainted their focus though and they restored their three point lead when David Clarke met a high delivery from Liam McCabe to palm the ball over the line. "It was a real nip and tuck final," Hugo recalls. "We had a lot of possession in the first half but didn't take our goal chances and it was much the same for them in the second half." Knockbride eased their way into a 0-6 to 0-3 lead by the 22nd minute but Gowna came back to leave just two between the sides with four minutes left in the first half. True to form, Knockbride replied by firing over two of the best points of the game with Niall McCabe making space with a clever dummy before splitting the posts. Then just seconds later, Adrian Carroll tore through the heart of the Gowna defence to add a similarly fine point to put Gowna under the cosh once more. Back came the Longford-border side in the run up to the half-time break and two quickfire points meant that Knockbride led by just two points, 0-8 to 0-6, at the interval. Knockbride found themselves up against the ropes as the second half got underway and soon the sides were deadlocked but the champions-elect would not be denied. Adam Traynor lifted Knockbride spirits by latching onto a loose ball before driving it to the top right corner of the Gowna net to put his side two points in front again. "I thought our first goal was crucial," Hugo opines. "It was a bit against the run of play but it gave us a great lift because at that stage it was stalemate and in the balance. "You always feel in an evenly matched game that there could be a chance of losing it but our first goal put us in the driving seat and allowed us to relax a bit. "The important thing was that we didn't concede a goal before we got ours. After that I thought we were in the driving seat for the last ten minutes or so." Indeed. From the 52nd minute onwards, it was clear there was only going to be one winner with the introduction of sub Nigel Farrelly key to Knockbride's march to victory. Young Farrelly cracked home Knockbride's second goal in the 54th minute and then 60 seconds later he poked home his side's third goal of the game after a goalmouth scramble. Now seven points in front, Knockbride looked secure but Gowna, to their credit, kept fighting and a penalty conversion had Knockbride looking to their laurels once more. It was all hands to the pumps in the dying minutes but Knockbride refused to push the panic button and deservedly hung on to get their hands on the silverware. "It was a very even match and it's hard to know if Gowna deserved a draw but the scoreboard at the end of the day doesn't lie and it's nice for the club to pick up some silverware especially in a year when we lost the reserve league final and the Junior 'B' league final too." And the future for the Class of 2008? "I think they'll continue to get better. They enjoy training. There was no whip needed to get them to train. In fact it was the opposite. They love their football and hopefully in a few years they'll be well able to hold their own at senior level." The all-conquering Knockbride side that did duty against Gowna in the Div. 3 Minor League final was as follows: Christopher McGuinness; Enda Nulty, Gary Kiernan, Brian O'Reilly, Aaron Farrelly, Kevin Traynor, Liam McCabe, Adrian Carroll (0-1), Larry Maguire, Niall McCabe (0-1), Hugo O'Reilly, David Clarke (0-2), Adam Traynor (1-3). Subs used; Nigel Farrelly (2-0); Sean Rogers. Tweet

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