Cootehill Celtic don't quite boast the sort of winning underage pedigree that club stalwarts would like. However things are changing as evidenced by events in 2004. Kevin Carney reports. Cootehill Celtic's rejuvenation at underage level continues unabated. Deprived for so many years of nourishment at grass roots level, the proud Celts have, in recent years, begun to put together a string of underage title successes - the most recent being its Under 16 Roinn B Championship joy last September. Last Autumn saw some of Cootehill's finest young stars prove themselves to be the best of the bunch in what was a hotly contested division two competition. The town lads produced some of the best football of their young lives to further embellish their club's growing pedigree at underage level with a fully deserved 0-15 to 0-10 victory in the final over a vaunted Drumlane crew. The win over the west Cavan side marked the culmination of a demanding season but a thoroughly unforgettable one nonetheless as joint-manager of the Cootehill under 16s Kieran McCarville admits. "The club has been doing well at underage level over the last few years and winning the under 16s was a great boost for morale. "We had great support in Stradone for the final and the lads did the club proud. "It was brilliant to head back to the town afterwards and parade the cup with the players up the Main Street. "That sort of experience gives you an appetite to come back for more of the same," Kieran enthuses. Certainly 2005 served to highlight the inherent football talent within the underage ranks of the Celts. But winning titles is never easy and Kieran plus fellow joint-manager Ray McMullen and team selector Paul Hayes would be the first to concede that 2005 tested their charges to the full. However Cootehill's Class of 2004 was a totally focussed bunch. The players were still smarting from their defeat to Swanlinbar in the 2002 Under 14 Roinn B League final and were utterly determined to make amends and get their hands on prized county medals. "We were optimistic at the start of the year that the lads would do well. "We felt that they had come on a lot over the last couple of years but we knew too that the likes of Ballinagh would be strong and Drumlane as well," confesses the Newbliss native. But from early February when the Cootehill think-tank set in train two training sessions per week plus a Sunday outing, everyone belonging to the Celts' camp gave it their all in search of the Holy Grail. Right from the off, the players were clear in what they had to do. The mantra from the sideline was hammered into the players' psyche - keep possession at all costs, find your man, support one another and move the ball on fast. Total commitment was expected from the management triumvirate and the players responded in kind. Backboned by Fr. Manning Cup players Stevie McMullen and Colm Smith and bolstered by the recruitment of former Latton starlet Stephen Dempsey, the Cootehill crew set about making their mark in the league first of all. A good run was only halted at the end of August by Ballinagh in the semi-final, after a replay. One wonders how much of a body blow was losing out at that stage of the competition to the Cootehill players? "Even though we missed the boat the first day against Ballinagh by letting them back in to draw the game, we knew that there was more to come from the lads," Kieran insists. "Given how well the team played on the day and the fact that Ballinagh went onto win the competition, the lads' confidence wasn't effected that much. "Losing out in the league didn't damage the players' self-belief but it did make them more determined to do even better in the championship. "It wasn't hard to pick them up after going out in the league." As such morale on the Good Ship Cootehill remained pretty high as the team set sail for Kilnaleck to take on Crosserlough in the first round of the championship. A good all-round display, laced by liberal doses of hunger and grit, helped Cootehill career to a four point win. "It was a gutsy performance. We led from start to finish but Crosserlough were never out of sight. "We were sound at the back though, got control at midfield and managed to keep a couple of their key men fairly quiet," Kieran recalls. Thereafter a semi-final clash with Belturbet in Ballyconnell beckoned. Semi-finals are notorious for draining youngsters of energy and conspiring to smother their natural abilities and so McCarville and co were careful to keep their charges well grounded in the run-up to the game. They needn't have worried though as mentor McCarville acknowledges: "I couldn't believe how cool the lads were in the dressing-room before the match. "They were totally focussed and went onto produce probably their best display of the year that day against Belturbet. "The midfield battle was crucial but we managed to win a lot of breaking ball around the middle and our central defenders stood out too. "Belturbet beat us well in the league but we were short four or five players then and were far better able to do the business in the championship." And so to the final in Stradone. A sticky pitch, some sticky moments but Cootehill's finest duly stuck to their task to come good when it mattered most. In the end it took a turbo-charged final five minutes by the Celts during which time they recorded five unanswered points to finally quench the Drumlane challenge after the Sons of O'Connell had reduced their opponents' lead to the minimum. "Having lost the league semi-final, I don't think anything was going to stop the lads," Kieran suggests. And sure enough Cootehill went to the well time after time to keep their noses in front. The winners-elect got up and running quickly to lead by the odd point in three after just six minutes. "We had hoped for a good start and got it so confidence was fairly high right from the start of the game," the former Killeevan clubman confirmed. Defending the dressing-room end of the field, Cootehill laid the foundations for their eventual victory inside the first 12 minutes when they stormed into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead. Cootehill appeared to be the hungrier, better balanced crew and looking the more secure at the back, workmanlike in the middle and potent in front of goal Cootehill's momentum was added to with some well-taken points from various quarters to help ease them to a 0-8 to 0-4 interval lead. And the pep-talk at half-time? "We basically told them that they still hadn't won anything, that the medals weren't theirs yet. "Drumlane still looked dangerous but we felt that the lads had more in the tank," Kieran comments. True to form, Drumlane produced a resurgent performance to make sure Cootehill had to work overtime to retain their cushioned lead. Indeed by the 22nd minute, Cootehill's lead was reduced to a single point, 0-10 to 0-9. However two points from impressive substitute Ciaran Ryan helped to re-install Cootehill's sense of self-assuredness and peg back Drumlane's growing momentum. Ryan's second point launched Cootehill into a 0-14 to 0-9 lead with just three minutes remaining. It was obvious at this juncture that Drumlane needed a goal to get out of jail. The losers-elect threw everything forward in a bid to save the day but the penetration and invention in front of goal they needed to wreak Cootehill's plans were to elude them, leaving Cootehill captain Neil McCluskey to prepare his victory speech. "Drumlane definitely asked some more questions off our lads in the second half. "We came under more pressure in midfield especially but the lads dug deep. "Our full back line came into its own, we got back on top in the last seven minutes or so at midfield and we converted most of our chances up front," Kieran reflects. So we can expect Cootehill's senior squad to be suitably replenished in the next four years or thereabouts? "Definitely. I'd be surprised if seven or eight of the lads aren't seriously competing for places. "Half of them will be looking to win the under 16 again next year too," Kieran concludes. The following is the Cootehill Celtic team, and subs, that featured in the Under 16 final against Drumlane: Liam Walsh; Kevin McCluskey, Stephen Dempsey, Neil McCluskey; Thomas McDermott, JP Mooney, Dermot Grogan; Colm Smith (0-6), Joshua Hayes (0-2); Louis Maguire (0-1), Stephen McMullen (0-3), Cathal McCabe (0-1); Mark Mullen, Gary Clegg, Dean Smith. Subs; Ciaran Ryan (0-2) for Mark Mullen; Niall McMullen for Dean Smith. Tweet

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