Anthony Murray has been one of Shannon Gaels' most faithful servants in recent times. Nobody said it was going to be easy. And in and around the cockpit of affairs at Shannon Gaels GFC that mantra is almost sculptured into the local rugged landscape. The Gaels nestle in west Cavan and trophies, like regular employment, have never been on tap. What you get up by the Shannon pot is hard-earned and well-deserved. But are the self-same Gaels in the business of looking for sympathy votes? Not a bit of it. They simply take their injuries, unavoidable absenteeism and ill-luck on board and get on with it. That said, it does, and understandably so, grate on the Gaels that the ball seems to run less kindly for them than a lot of other units around the county. "We lost a lot of players at the beginning of 2004 and that set the tone for the rest of the year," Shannon Gaels team-selector Anthony Murray points out. Four players in England, another three in Australia and injuries galore. The past season wasn't what was asked of the gods up Blacklion, Glangevlin, Dowra way. And yet the under-pressure gaels from way out west managed to field an all-too rare second adult team last year. On the face of it the loss of such luminaries as Frankie Rafferty and Grant Butler might have been enough in its own right to have the yellow and blacks swimming in their own tears. The Gaels are a more stoical lot though. "We got a lot of young fellas to line out for us and persuaded a few fellas that hadn't played in years to come back so that we could put out a second team," Anthony confirms. But it was a struggle. With players ensconced in far off places like Limerick, Galway and Dublin the difficulties involved in having collective training was sometimes unreal. The one-time forty strong panel was continuously stretched to make sure that two teams were fielded at all times. That stretch almost came to breaking point too during the year, especially with the premier team's exit from the Junior Football Championship. The system operating in division three of the All County Football League didn't help incentivise the Gaels players either. When the club found itself out of the running for the top two positions in the league, interest naturally dwindled among the players as there was no relegation trap door to be feared either. In this regard, a similarly unsatisfactory situation arose in the championship. The club had its first JFC clash on May 1st when a draw was secured against Maghera. Amazingly, the Gaels weren't out again in the championship 'til June 26th when defeat to Kildallan (1-10 to 1-13) was the order of the day. It was to be a further month before they were fairly well beaten by Shercock (July 24th) before their campaign was concluded with another defeat, this time at the hands of would-be title winners Butlersbridge, one week later. "The championship was far too long drawn out. Some of our players went abroad for summer work and the ones that were at home found it hard to keep the commitment going and the interest up," confesses the popular painter and decorator. Ironically, for all their problems and erratic form during the summer months, Shannon Gaels were very close to finding their way through to the play-offs. Anthony takes up the story: "It was an up and down championship for us. We started off badly in Ballyhaise, only getting a draw against Maghera in a match we expected to win. We went into that game understrength though and a first half injury to midfielder Alan Fee made things worse. It wasn't the best of starts to the championship. We lost our next three matches but we gave the 'Bridge a brilliant game in Ballyconnell and only lost by about five points or so. We missed a penalty in that game and gave away one as well. We had ourselves to blame a lot of the time in that match. We missed four or five scorable frees too. We probably gave them (Butlersbridge) one of the hardest games they had on the way to winning the championship last year. The way things worked out is that if we had beaten Templeport we would have gone through to the quarter-finals. They only needed a draw and ended up getting it." But as Anthony points out, the Shannon Gaels line-out that day against their near-neighbours was shorn of such talents of Ollie Nolan, Eugene Walsh, Michael Keaney, Frankie Rafferty, Grant Butler, Anthony Keaney and Declan McCaffrey. Despite the premier team's shortcomings in the league and championship, Anthony insists that the commitment from the players in 2004 was good and he recognises that a lot of effort was put in by away-based players in particular. "It would be great if we could have everyone available, everyone injury free so then we'd see exactly what we were capable of doing. It was interesting that we played Butlersbridge in the league about three weeks before they were due to play in the championship final and we gave as good as we got before losing out by 1-11 to 4-15. Who knows how we'd have done against them with a full team," explains Anthony who played with Belcoo in the early 'seventies before the Shannon Gaels club came into existence. Certainly the absence of nine first-teamers from the Shannon Gaels camp last year was a hefty handicap. But when there's the likes of young guns like Eamon Reilly (scorer of 1-9 of that aforementioned 1-11 against the 'Bridge) around to fuel a renaissance there's a fair bit of blue sky on view. And there alongside the vaunted Reilly are other starlets such as Enda McHugh, James McGovern, Enda McCaffrey and Daniel O'Hara. Add in the experience of fellas such as Ollie Nolan and Eugene Walsh and a potent mix is on hand. But consistency of numbers at training and at matches has been the bane of the Gaels for a long, long time now. Anthony is fulsome in his praise for the work put in by outgoing team-manager Tom Reilly and fellow selectors Ciaran Fitzpatrick and Padraig Dolan and believes that they will leave no stone unturned once again in the coming year to work the oracle, however scarce the resources. All the incoming management team is hoping for is that they get the chance to get a settled team together. "We've basically the same panel now that we had when we won the division three title about five years ago apart from the young lads that have come on stream over the last couple of years. But in 2004 we never got the chance to field the same fifteen players from one game to another." Anthony's voice portrays a fountain of hope though and he is fulsome in his praise of the work put in by Tom Reilly and Eugene Walsh in particular. Their nurturing of the club's talent should ensure that times at adult level get better and better, Anthony suggests. And certainly given the success of the under 12, under 14 and under 16 teams last year, one can understand just where Anthony derives his confidence from. In addition, he says the effort made last year by his fellow selectors Ciaran Fitzpatrick and Padraig Dolan can't be over-estimated either. Anthony is mindful too of the contribution made to the club's welfare by its generous sponsors. In this respect, Anthony mentions the largesse of Myles Feeley, Damien Thornton, Seamus Dolan, Seamus McGovern, and McFaddens. Now in his sixth year as a selector, Anthony acknowledges that fulfilling his duty as a selector requires quite a degree of commitment and effort but "when you love the game, it's not that hard to be involved. "It's the next best thing to actually playing." Looking ahead to the coming season, Anthony says the club has every right to believe that it has the potential to at least reach the quarter-finals of the junior championship. A place in the top eight of the league is also well within reach, he confirms. "With a full complement of players, we're capable of beating any team. Hopefully we'll have a lot of fellas back next year, at least for the championship. Ciaran Fitzpatrick is getting married this year and it would be great to have the Sean Leddy Memorial Cup up at the top table that day!" Tweet

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