A dark horse in this year's blue riband senior fare? Try Belturbet for starters. Former star player turned selector Barry Lawlor isn't promising anything but he reckons the club should at least make more of an impression than it did in 2001. A new year gathers pace and the prospect of a new dawn for the senior footballers of Belturbet beckons. Like every other club, bar none, hope springs eternal among the maroon and whites. It's been quite a while since the Rory O'Moores made their presence felt in the pantheon of all-conquering heroes in Cavan. Maybe 2002 will see the club's second coming on the adult front. Long-time servant and incoming selector Barry Lawlor certainly hopes so. It's not today or yesterday that the aforementioned Lawlor first kicked a ball in anger for his beloved club but while the nature of the game and players' attitudes to the game has changed over the course of the last 20 years and more, our man Lawlor has remained true to the faith. Obviously he's keen to help generate the type of success for Belturbet now as a selector that he once himself enjoyed as a player. Back in the mid-nineties, after all, the gamekeeper turned poacher manned the full-forward berth as Belturbet scooped the intermediate championship title at the expense of Denn. That was in 1996. A year earlier Lawlor and co. won the junior championship title. Heady times indeed. This year, Barry will, along with Declan Reilly, assist team-manager Stephen King in manning the Belturbet think-tank machine. A lot is expected locally of the trio, whatever about the players. "It would be great to get in among the cups again. You can't beat winning a cup or two in trying to create or maintain a good spirit at a club. "I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I think we'll be there or thereabouts if the lads put in the effort and we get a bit of luck along the way. "The structures are all in place at the club to allow us to go it our best shot and so we should make an impression this year, all things considered." For Barry, making a good impression translates into at least reaching the quarter-finals of this year's senior championship, nothing more, nothing less. The popular postman believes that the current crop of players has a lot going for itself and that the balance of youth and experience within the senior squad in Belturbet is near perfect. There may be concerns down Belturbet way that experienced men like Gordon Hands and Ronan Minogue may not be available to the team for the full duration of the year but Barry believes there are still grounds for optimism nevertheless. "The current squad is just about at its peak right now. Most of them are at the sort of age where they would be hoping to play their best football and maybe put some medals on the sideboard. Hopefully this will be their year," Barry enthuses. Certainly with talent like Jason Reilly, Rory Donohoe, Aaron Donohoe, Ronan Reilly, Brian Mulvanny and Gareth McDonald still prominent on the scene, who, in their right mind, could rule out a Belturbet renaissance in 2002? And with former county star Stephen King at the helm in the coming year, a new impetus could well be forthcoming. Obviously, expectations abound that an improvement on the club's fortunes in 2001 will be achieved this year. The former county under 16, minor and under 21 player is quick to admit that last year was a poor one by Belturbet's reckoning and that another one like it would be extremely damaging for club morale. In fairness, being grouped along with heavyweights Denn and Bailieboro in the qualifying section wasn't what was required for a team seemingly in need of an injection of self-belief. "We shape up well at various stages of both matches but I remember Dermot McCabe got in for a crucial goal ten minutes or so after half-time when there was nothing between us and then in the Bailieboro match it was nip and tuck in the first half but they pulled away too after the restart. "The league situation didn't help us though. It was a stop-start affair last year. After beating Killinkere and Cuchulainns in the early stages of the league, we then didn't have a game for something like six weeks and training was effected and it was hard for the players to maintain their interest," Barry recalls. Beavering away at the coalface of senior championship affairs for the last five years has given a hard edge to Belturbet's campaigns, year on year, and although Barry may not quite admit as much, there is a feeling countywide that Belturbet need to hit the high notes sooner rather than later. The panel, after all, isn't getting any younger. "We underperformed last year and everyone in Belturbet and probably elsewhere in the county expects the team to do a lot better this year. "We didn't make it out of our group and finished just in mid-table in the league which wasn't good enough considering the range of talent we have at the club right now. "Looking at the other clubs in the county, I don't think there's a big gap in class between the likes of us and the top teams like Cavan Gaels and Gowna. "I'd like to think that our lads can look at the achievement of the Gaels in particular and take some inspiration from what they have achieved - you have to hand it to them (the Gaels) the way they stuck at it down the years at underage level before finally coming good at senior level. "The way I see it at the present time in Cavan is that there are about five or six teams who are capable of winning the senior championship and although Gowna stood out for a number of years and were clearly a class apart but things have evened out over the last couple of years. "Gowna's days of domination may be over for a while and maybe Cavan Gaels will have high hopes of stringing a few titles together themselves over the next few years but I personally wouldn't like to see any one team dominating the senior championship for any length of time. I don't think that would be good for football in Cavan." As to the standard of football in Cavan right now, Barry says that standards in general terms have been maintained even if, in more recent times, players countywide don't seem as fully committed to Gaelic football or their clubs as players from times past. "I think the quality of football in the county has improved if anything in recent times because of the amount of coaching that has been done at every club. "Better management of players has helped complement all the good work being done at underage levels down the years. You see some clubs who were never in the running for honours years ago now winning underage titles which is good to see and which reflects the level of coaching being done right across the county. "There are so many more distractions for players and so many more organised sports from which to choose from which means that football is no longer the priority that it once was for players. "In fairness, I think most club players are fairly committed but they maybe keeping them keen and disciplined requires a bit more man-management skills nowadays," adds Barry who has junior and intermediate championship medals to his name plus a hat-trick of A.C.F.L medals. And how would he help encourage a greater commitment from players? "It's a difficult question but I think it doesn't make a lot of sense to be still playing all matches on Sundays. Very few players are willing to sit in on a Saturday night even if they have a game the following day. "I would like to see a lot more matches played on Saturday evenings. I know that arrangement possibly wouldn't suit those involved in farming but something needs to be done because playing so many matches on a Sunday is a joke." As someone who first played adult football back at the turn of the eighties, Barry has seen the game of Gaelic football evolve tremendously over the last 20 years. He recognises that the demands on players' time is incredible and fitness levels nowadays bear no comparison to what they were in the early eighties. Barry reckons players at every level have never been asked to do such much fitness training as the present day players are. He hopes that fitness levels and all other thins besides will be put right in Belturbet this year. "The lads have the potential and I'll be disappointed and surprised if they're not in the shake-up at the end of the year." Watch this space! O'Moores masters again There's one thing about ending barren periods with a heave and a push but blasting apart an unenviable 50 year-long drought in emphatic fashion is something else. Step forward the all-conquering Belturbet minor class of 2001! In truth, the O'Moores didn't simply ease their way past the winning post in last year's division three minor championship race, instead they virtually galloped into the winners' enclosure in #######with a thoroughly convincing 4-9 to 0-7 win over Templeport in the county decider at Killygarry in early October. In winning the club's first minor championship, in any grade, in over 50 years, the outgoing Belturbet minor squad proved themselves a class apart in the final against their hapless fellow west Cavan opponents. For once the final scoreline fairly reflected the winners' superiority on the day as they demonstrated a level of efficiency in the last third of the field which fully complemented the team's classy manoeuvres further afield. In specific terms, Belturbet were simply too good for Templeport in the art of finding one another and putting a polish on good spadework around the middle of the field. Belturbet held all the aces. In particular the ploy of feeding quick ball to pacy corner-forwards McDwyer and Fay worked a treat for the town team with both players grabbing two goals apiece. The winners-elect had the benefit of a stiffening breeze in the first half and by the interval the writing was most definitely on the wall for the green and whites as they trailed by 0-1 to 2-7. In fact, Belturbet's first half display all but sealed the issue as a goal each by the aforementioned attacking duo after two minutes and 28 minutes put the O'Moores well and truly on easy street. Defending the road goal in the second half, Belturbet did concede five points in the third quarter as Templeport refused to roll over and die. However, those scores had consolation written all over them as the goal the Saints so badly needed to rescue the tie never looked like materialising in the face of solid Belturbet defending. In contrast, Belturbet were to add two further goals to their tally with man of the match McDwyer and colleague Fay doing the necessary in some style. The all-conquering Belturbet players who featured in the win over Templeport were as follows; C. Drumm, F. Rudden, B. Fay, E. Corby, E. McGuigan, R. Corby, K. McConnell (0-1), J. Martin, D. Fitzpatrick (0-2), C. Rudden (0-2), D. Lynch, C. Fay (2-0), A. McDwyer (2-4). Sub used; D. Donohoe. Erne Gaels Ladies Football Club In their first year together, the ladies from either side of Kilconny Bridge came together and lifted three county titles. After the two clubs, Drumlane and Belturbet joined as one, expectations where high that the talent from the two clubs would bring some success back to West Cavan. With all credit going to their management this team went beyond expectations! Unfortunately a blow came to the camp when the junior team lost out by a single point to Knockbride in the first round of the championship. Although this was a major knock back to the team they came back in high spirits reaching the final of the division two league and narrowly beating Knockbride in the final replay. This was the first ever title lifted by the Erne Gaels team. Next was on to the minor championship. With more than half of their junior team playing with the minors, again hopes where high that the girls could lift the cup. After two wins they had it all ahead of them with a game against the holders, Lurgan. This, proved to be one of the toughest matches of the year and showed just what the Gaels had in them as they came out on top and went on to beat a strong Butlersbridge side in the final. With two titles already taken Erne Gaels had one more in them and went on to take the Junior Championship Shield overcoming Castlerahan/Denn. So with three major titles in the bag Erne Gaels have a lot to live up to this season but are sure to do well up in Division One. Tweet

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