Shane Maguire was an integral player as Templeport blazed their way to the penultimate round of the 2002 Cavan junior football championship. The free-scoring forward reflects on an eventful year. While a great part of Templeport's energies were invested in off-the-field activities during the 2002 season (with the ambition development work on their well-appointed home ongoing), the west Cavan club did still manage to reach four finals over the course of the year in all competitions. Furthermore, they were boasted by the sublime form of their most naturally talented player and went close to capturing the county JFC: Shane Maguire's stellar performances in '02 saw the inimitable attacker emerge as a genuine contender for the Cavan Junior Footballer of the Year award. The former county minor was in typically inspirational form as he fired the club to a JFC semi-final appearance. Bizarrely, his match-winning displays failed to attract the attention of the county selectors - but then again hasn't that always been the way with players from west Cavan? Still, though, at 24 the Templeport Terror finds himself surely on the verge of a senior intercounty breakthrough . . . something which has amazingly eluded him thus far in his influential career. A gifted and frighteningly tricky forward with an uncanny Ollie-Murphy-like ability to kick scores off either foot, Shane is heralded by many as the Colin Corkery of Cavan football. That's one heck of a compliment, but is fully merited. Once rated the brightest prospect in the Breffni County (he captained Cavan at both U16 and minor levels), Maguire is now in his prime and could be about to realise his boundless potential. Templeport have a real star in their ranks. How long before Cavan afford him the opportunity he richly deserves? Of course, Templeport was anything but a one-man show in 2002. They played wonderful football in the group stages of the county junior football championship. After emerging from the Group of Death (there's always one of those!), they were generally regarded as the team to beat as the competition entered its knock-out phase. Arva were duly despatched in the quarter-final but Templeport inexplicably flopped against eventual winners Butlersbridge in a disappointing semi-final at Breffni Park - hardly their favourite haunt. Shane Maguire had been ruled out for much of the league but his timely return a fortnight before the championship gave the team a real boost and they produced some heroic football: "We played fantastic football up to the semi-final," he affirms. "We were the surprise packet and once we got to the semi-final everyone thought we had it won. We'd have really fancied our chances against Kildallan in the final, but unfortunately we didn't perform against the 'Bridge at Breffni and the year ended in disappointment." At the start of the year, Templeport probably never thought in their wildest dreams that they'd be challenging for the championship. But, once they got that far, they were clearly disappointed to let it slip. Their form had been indifferent going into the premier competition, as Shane explains: "The year started badly for us when we were beaten by Kill in our first league match. We had a couple of good wins over Lavey and Arva and appeared to be going well, but we lost our way again." That dip in form coincided with an injury to the talismanic Maguire himself, a player so influential that any team would miss him. Four successive defeats does not for ideal championship preparation make, but the return from injury of Templeport's most dangerous forward bolstered their confidence at just the right time. "We lost our final league game before the beginning of the championship to neighbours Corlough, but we then turned around and beat them in our first championship outing. At that stage we had begun to realise that we could go well," Shane recounts. Templeport remained unbeaten through their remaining three matches in a notoriously difficult group, drawing with both Shercock and Shannon Gaels and defeating Redhills to emerge full of justifiable hope into the business end of the competition. Following the quarter-final defeat of Arva, it appeared that the world was Templeport's oyster. Perhaps they already had one eye on intermediate football when Butlersbridge gatecrashed the party. The west Cavan men could have (and should have?) won that semi-final but for whatever reason (Complacency? Over-confidence? Big day nerves? . . . who knows) failed to hit form at the county grounds and suddenly found their newborn championship dreams in tatters. Without any prior warning, their season was over. It was disappointing. Shane Maguire and his team-mates had had designs on ending the team's silverware famine: "We haven't won anything since the intermediate championship in 1995 and this was our first year to get to a semi-final since. Having gone so far, we really wanted to finish the job." It's ironic that Templeport weren't expecting much but found themselves disappointed after having done so well. "Looking back, we really should have won it," Shane insists. "We were in the toughest group of the lot and did really well to come out of it. That was the hardest part and we should have gone on from there. We had a good win over Arva in the quarter-final and all of a sudden people were talking about us as potential winners. "The 'Bridge were outsiders of the four semi-finalists but they beat us and then Kildallan in the final. In the back of our minds, we really fancied our chances against Butlersbridge but it was our first game in Breffni all year and we didn't perform. For some reason, we never seem to be fit to perform in Breffni. The '95 intermediate final is the only time I ever remember us playing well there..." Shane was only 15 when he starred in that victory over Arva. Two years later, at the tender age of 17, he featured prominently on the Templeport team that took Laragh United to the cleaners in the intermediate league decider . . . his first medal with the club garnered in his first year on the team! A child prodigy, the Templeport clubman carried a huge burden of expectation on successive Breffni County underage sides - and never failed to deliver. He enjoyed two years with the county minors, captaining the team in his second year, 1996. Shane also represented the county at U16 level for successive years, captaining them for one of those years and playing in a Fr Manning Cup final. The Templeport player was often the key man on teams that included the likes of Larry Reilly, Finbar Reilly and Cathal Collins but, while their intercounty careers have since blossomed, his has been starved of such opportunities. Cavan also availed of his considerable talents at under 21 level but - inexplicably - have overlooked him at senior level. He muses: "For some reason, I've never got the call up at senior level. They haven't taken a look at me yet and to be honest I am a little surprised." In all truth, the situation is a mystery. Maguire has played some tremendous football for his club these past few years. Two-thousand-and-two was a case in point: in six championship matches, the unerring attacker registered a phenomenal personal return of 5-49! Is there an endemic tendency in Cavan to overlook players from the county's unfashionably western outpost (captain Anthony Forde being the obvious exception)? Judge for yourself. Either way, Shane has yet to be granted the opportunity his god-given ability warrants. He says he'd seize such an opening with both hands: "It probably doesn't help being from west Cavan. All I can do is keep plugging away with Templeport - that's my main priority - and hope that the county management decides to take a look. If I got a chance, I'd certainly be willing to give it a shot." Whatever transpires in the coming season, Shane will be an integral part of his club's onslaught on the 2003 JFC. Can they use their '02 form as a platform upon which to mount a concerted challenge for honours? "We probably can. We're essentially a very young team. Most of the lads are in their mid- or early twenties. You'd imagine after getting to the semi-final last year that we should have a great chance. "We'll be going all out to win the junior championship and we'll fancy our chances. After seeing Butlersbridge go up, we know we can do it. Everyone else will be afraid of [neighbours] Kildallan but that's one team we definitely wouldn't mind playing. They'll probably be favourites again, but we can usually handle them. "We had our chance in 2002 and we should have taken it. We're determined to make no such mistakes next year. We have a lot of good, young footballers at the moment, who could be here for the next ten or twelve years. Now would be the ideal time to be moving up to intermediate level." Don't bet against it. With Shane Maguire in such prolific form, Templeport have an excellent chance of moving up at least one grade. Tweet

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