Last year, for the first time in 11 years, the Redhills club had cause to celebrate the capture of their first underage football title. Joint team-manager John Kelly reflects on the under 12s title triumph with Kevin Carney. Frustration may have been the name of the game for the underage fraternity in Redhills in 2001 but the tide was bound to change. Given the amount of work being put into nourishing the grass roots section of the club by the juvenile committee and associated mentors, the door simply had to cave in with all the knocking going on by those at the coalface of football affairs along the border. And, sure enough, the sound of the door crashing in back last Summer could be heard well into county Fermanagh. The local under twelves managed to work the oracle. The young yellow and blue starlets had cracked the code leading to the pantheon of champions. For the first time in eleven years, Redhills GFC had an underage title success to celebrate. Victory in the Roinn C decider in 2002 helped greatly to erase the heartbreak suffered by the Class of 2001 at under 12 level when a remarkable unbeaten run in the competition was halted at the penultimate stage by next-door neighbours Drung. Similarily the under 13s suffered a crushing blow when being beaten in the final last year while the under 14s lost out in their quarter-final. But the old saying, 'if you don't succeed . . . .' came home to roost as far as Redhills gaels were concerned. 2002 is destined to be regarded as a watershed year for Redhill gaels. But perhaps given the shift put in by the under 12s in 2001 and 2002 at Cumann na mBunscoil level, we should have seen the writing on the wall. Either way, a big step was taken by wee footballers representing Redhills last year . . .and in the face of some very stiff competition. The competition faced by the winners-elect was made up of Denn, Gowna, Killygarry and Kildallan, all clubs with top-notch records at underage level down the years. It was obvious that the Redhills crew needed to break the mould to bridge that 11 year gap. But surely not even the most partisan Redhills GAA fan could have anticipated just how emphatic their young favourites would do just that! Redhills stormed their way to a semi-final meeting with Lavey. A convincing win over the black and whites was duly secured. A gritty Drumgoon side now lay in waiting in the final in mid-June. Redhills arguably reserved their best display of the year for the decider and played some absolutely terrific football in the course of careering to a 7-12 to 1-2 win at Kingspan/Breffni Park. Ironically it was Drumgoon who opened the scoring after four minutes when Patrick McGorry had the Redhills think-tank wondering whether the club's ill-luck was about to continue. They needn't have fretted though for, as quick as a flash, Pakie Leddy and Mark Kelly fired over a point apiece to secure a lead for the would-be champions that they never subsequently looked like relinquishing. And when Oisin Minagh popped over another point for Cnoc Rua after minutes, the vista facing Drumgoon began to become all the clearer. Then a foul on Pakie Leddy presented an opportunity for Mark Kelly to do the needful . . .and didn't he just! With a clever piece of thinking, young Kelly rifled the ball into the net only for the referee to demand that the free be taken again. This time around the freetaker decided to tap the ball over the bar to put his side into a useful 0-4 to 0-1 lead. With Oisin Minagh and Joe Callan controlling the midfield sector for Redhills, the winners' forwards got a plentiful supply of the ball and in the 19th minute they had the jackpot when Mark Kelly goaled from a Dermot Gilsenan pass. Drumgoon had their backs to the wall, big-time, at this juncture with wave after wave of Redhills attacks coming on stream. Inevitably, more goals followed for the champions-elect with Pakie Leddy, Joe Callan and a brace from Mark Kelly all adding to Drumgoon's woes. In addition Dermot Gilsenan and Pakie Leddy weighed in with some brilliant points to help increase their team's lead to 3-8 to 0-1 at the interval. The second half got underway with Drumgoon engaged in a mission impossible-type scenario. It was obvious that if Drumgoon were to turn things around, they needed to get off to a good start as the second half got underway. Instead it was the leaders who stretched their legs again to net another goal, this time Mark Kelly grabbing his second of the game after just three minutes. Drumgoon then rallied bravely and pulled a goal back but even at that stage, it was a score which had consolation written all over it. Redhills quickly regained the initiative and in the next ten minutes played some lovely football culminating in Joe Callan, Ciaran Smith and Pakie Leddy bagging splendid majors in the 9th, 15th and 17th minutes respectively. Then a brace of points from Mark Kelly well and truly marked the end of the contest. Just for good measure, the winners added further points from Niall Greenan and Ciaran Smith to close the scoring and seal a wonderful win for the Redhills club. Months later and team-manager of the all-conquering Redhills team John Kelly still has vivid memories of the occasion and the celebrations which followed. Heroes all then? "Definitely. It was a real team effort. It would be unfair to pick out any individuals for special mention as they all played very well, including the subs. Somebody once said the measure you get is the measure you give and that was true for those under 12s. "The players gave it their full commitment and I'm confident they'll keep improving. Success breeds success after all," John explains. Fulsome in his praise for the assistance rendered to him by joint-manager Father Kevin Fay and by Paddy Minagh and Kevin Smith in preparing the pitch for matches, John also has special words of thanks for others such as Geraldine West, Peter Sheridan, Orla Reilly and Mary Reilly. In addition, John was always mindful of the support afforded the under 12s by the committee of Redhills and chairman Martin Brady. All told, the Redhills starlets played seven games en route to the county final. None of their opponents managed to get within 15 points of beating the would-be champions - an astonishing feat and an overwhelming endorsement of the notion that the border village-based side were a class apart among their peers last year. "With no disrespect to the rest of the teams in the competition, I think the margin of our victories was a true testament to how well the lads played during the year. "My personal belief is that success only comes from hard work and good teamwork. Myself and Fr. Kevin tried to instill in the players a level of self-confidence and discipline which would hold them in good stead regardless of the opposition. "We tried to encourage the players to keep believing in themselves no matter how badly things may be going for them at any given time just like Armagh did in the All-Ireland final when they seemed down and out until half-way through the second half against Kerry. "Armagh upped a gear at that point and showed a tremendous never-say-die attitude," John informs us. The hard-working mentor stresses that football is, as much as anything, all to do with players' mindsets. "If the head is right, the rest should follow," he says. "If young players are taught from an early age that its hard work on the training pitch matched with a lot of discipline that counts, then you'll get the right response from them. "Players should be taught to concentrate on the positives and not on the negatives. "If a player has a bad game, he or she should be made aware that its not all doom and gloom. Winning is nice but at underage level, it's not everything. "Underage players should enjoy playing and be allowed to express themselves on the pitch without being criticised." Continuing, John expresses an enlightened attitude on what makes for a winning team. "Winning will come naturally to players who have faith and respect for each other and for their coaches and mentors. A trainer or coach has to be able to gel individualism into a team ethic and only then can you begin to win competitions." And what of his title-winning charges and their potential? "They have a lot of potential as well as have great footballing ability. But they also showed great enthusiasm and discipline and a willingness to listen and learn. I'll be surprised if they don't build on the winning pedigree they've built up to date over the next few years." The following is the team, subs, and scorers, that overcome Drumgoon in last Summer's Under 12 county decider; James Brady; Turlough Mooney, Gareth Jenkins, Francis Fitzpatrick, Fergal McDermott, Niall McCaffrey, Oisin Minagh (0-1), Joe Callan (2-0), Ciaran Smith (1-1), Mark Kelly (2-6), Dermot Gilsenan (0-1), Pakie Leddy (2-2), Eoin McDonald. Subs; Shane Jenkins, Martin Walsh, Niall Greenan (0-1), James Jenkins, Niall McCaffrey for Eoin McDonald, Dermot Gilsenan, Francis Fitzpatrick, Gareth Jenkins and Joe Callan respectively. Tweet

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