Massaging and developing Drumlane's production line of underage talent has concentrated the mind of Drumlane's Paul Fitzpatrick for the guts of a decade now. Fourteen years on and the fruits of long-standing work at underage level continue to bear fruit down Milltown-way. An Under 12 Roinn D success back in 1989 seemed to herald the rebirth of Drumlane Sons of O'Connell. Similar cup wins in the immediate years that followed served to copper-fasten the west Cavan club's renaissance. Success at Under 14 Roinn C championship level in 1991, in particular, catapulting such would-be seniors as Barry Corrigan, Paul Kelly, Pauric Leddy, Niall McCann and Ross McKiernan into the limelight at county underage level, big-time. For the last seven years club stalwart Paul Fitzpatrick has been helping to underpin Drumlane's growth and development of its juvenile talent. Like those before him in the shape of, for instance, Fr. John Cooney, Ian Corrigan and Kevin Fay, our man Fitzpatrick is totally committed to the cause of underage football in his home parish. Like many another of his ilk, he is absolutely convinced that nurturing the grass roots is all but a sure-fire way of making sure that a good crop of adult players is produced down the line. "There's no magic formula or secret about getting together a good senior team. "The work has to be put in at juvenile level, consistently. Players at senior level just don't appear overnight. "A lot of effort has been put in over the years at Drumlane to bring together the sort of quality senior panel we have now and that work continues. " It's very important that a constant stream of young talent is brought on," Paul explains. And with a handful of underage titles bagged in the last couple of years, things certainly seem to be going to plan for the green and whites. Not that Paul and co. are on the cusp of slapping themselves on the back and folding their arms. "There'd be no senior team worth talking about in ten years time if the work stopped at juvenile level right now. "The years don't be long going by. There's a lot of truth in the old saying that today's juveniles are tomorrow's seniors," Paul reminds us. The well-known Belturbet-based businessman reckons that all sections of the club are currently prospering, from under 10 right up to senior level. He admits though that the club's premier team are in the shop-window most of all and the perception most gaels in the county have of Drumlane is, for the most part, gleaned from the evidence of what the club produces at senior level in any given year. "The last three years, other than the league success a couple of years ago, didn't go that well for the seniors but the potential and talent is definitely there to make a solid charge for the intermediate championship title this year." No sense in the camp then that the club's JFC title-triumph in 1999 may have diluted the players' appetite or ambition? "I don't think so. I think the lads are very keen to win something at intermediate level. "I know hunger and desire are big things but I think the players have those traits." As with talk of Cavan's 1969 Anglo-Celt cup win prior to the blues' triumph in '97, a lot of the Drumlane stalwarts are anxious to put to bed reminisces of the club's glory day back in '99. Paul, for one, wishes to look forward, not back. "The win in 1999 was terrific and a hell of a boost for the club but we have to try and build on that now and progress to doing well at intermediate level. "I think the signs are positive too that we can emulate the success of '99 because, in my view, the current panel has a strength in depth about it that wasn't there in '99. "There's better stuff on the bench now and that should stand the new management team in good stead for the coming year. "There's a good few more young fellas coming through too which will help strengthen the senior panel even further in the next couple of years. "Hopefully the more experienced, more seasoned players on the panel who are on the senior panel at the present time can help bring the best out of the younger members of the team in the next few months." Paul knows the value of winning cups and the boost to the morale of a club such joy can bring. "He also knows it's important and more than useful to put in place the kind of infrastructure which can act as a catalyst for the nurturing of award-winning talent. In this respect, he more's than pleased with the progress made by the club in the last couple of years in putting together a project which is certain to benefit generations of Drumlane gaels to come. "Our new pitch development will be a welcome boost to the club. We're hoping to have a new car park, a stand and dressing-rooms in place sooner rather than later. "The project has gone out to tender as we speak and while we will probably be retaining the use of our existing pitch at Staghall, the development of a new one in the village of Milltown will be especially appreciated by the players. "Playing on a brand new pitch should give them and everyone at the club a huge lift. "The facilities are badly needed. Our long-standing facilities just weren't good enough and we knew that if we want to have serious ambitions about the developing the club, we had to really push the boat out and go ahead with these plans." And the effort needed? "There has been a big, big effort put into the fundraising side of things. "We ran a 25 euro car draw last year and it realised a profit in the region of 120,000 euros. "I'd say around one hundred people were out selling tickets between January and March. "Everyone put their shoulder to the wheel and hopefully the players will respond in kind on the field of play after seeing so much effort put into getting together the money for the current development." Paul insists Drumlane is as vibrant now as he's seen it during his stint at the coalface of club affairs. He believes that foundations laid at underage level in the mid-nineties and a succession of underage titles won in the interim have set the club up for a promising time at adult level from here on. "We were very unlucky at intermediate level last year having been decimated with injuries. "For a long time during the season, at least 50% of our first fifteen were out through injury or emigration. "Losing the services of the likes of Ross McKiernan and Nicholas Dolan was a big big loss but the community rallied behind the club during the year and gave the players great backing in all their league and championship matches," adds Paul, father of Drumlane starlets Niall (18), Cormac (16) and Glen (14). And with crystal ball in tow, the popular club Drumlane native reckons that the local community may well be in line to celebrate the return of a major piece of silverware in the next few months. "I think the intermediate team has a good chance of going the distance this year. The time is right, the opportunity is there. "With no disrespect to Drumgoon or any of the other teams who made it to the latter stages of the competition last year, I thought the intermediate championship in 2002 was there for the taking. "I think we need to strike now while the iron is hot. We've got more strength in depth now. If we escape injuries we won't be far off the mark. "The competition will be fierce though and there's maybe five or six teams who will be in the running for the championship this year. "It's a very even standard between most of the teams but I see no reason why we can't come out on top," Paul concludes. U14s stole the show After another respectable showing at underage level - culminating in an U14 Division Two championship - Drumlane have every reason to look back upon the events of 2002 satisfactorily. And, with their first-team squad returning to something approaching full strength, they should be amongst the contenders for the intermediate championship in '03. That's the considered view of the club's hard-working executive, at least. Drumlane's attempt to annex the Cavan IFC in 2002 was hampered by a combination of factors. First of all, the meaningless nature of all league games during the season made for a strange season all around. Preparations for championship fare were awkward to say the least and Drumlane were not alone in feeling that the absence of a 'proper' league season made things less than ideal. Injuries also affected their chances. Indeed, three of the club's key men were out of action for much of the season. Nor did the gods smile favourably on the Sons of O'Connell: their championship quarter-final defeat at the hands of Cootehill - after a replay and extra time - was decidedly unfortunate. Neither side deserved to lose; unfortunately, someone had to. But, while frustration was the order of the day at adult level, Drumlane did superbly well at juvenile level, winning the county U14 Division 2 championship and also reaching their first-ever Cavan U16 semi-final. Drumlane also bought and paid for their new home in Milltown and are planning an imminent move, which will incorporate new car park, clubhouse and facilities. All in all, these are buoyant times for the club. Hardly surprising then that Drumlane's convivial secretary Padraig Leddy exudes optimism and enthusiasm in equal measures: "Our underage section came good for us again in 2002," he notes. "The U14 team won the Division Two championship - a significant breakthrough for that particular crop of players." The U14s had lived in the shadow of many previous underage teams in Drumlane and were determined to make a breakthrough in their own right. Drumlane produced many successful U14 teams in the past but few if any dug as deep as this team did to bring glory to the club. What made their success all the more remarkable was the fact that Drumlane overcame a very strong Ballinagh outfit in the county final. The backdrop to the final was worrying and, frankly, intimidating: earlier in the year, in the league stage of the competition, the Ballinagh boys had inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Drumlane. Most observers doubted whether they could turn the tables ... the players answered their critics emphatically. "Ballinagh gave us a real thumping in our previous meeting but the players and management did a lot of work in the meantime. We had a strong management team [Paul Fitzpatrick, Sean O'Dowd and Vincent Connolly] and they left no stone unturned in preparation for the final in Breffni Park." The attitude was right from the start and it was a stunning victory for the underdogs, who stuck to their game plan to triumph against all odds. "The win was down to the hard work and preparation of the management and the team. They were really up against it at different times during the match and Ballinagh certainly didn't go down without putting up a fight, but the lads managed to stem the tide over and over again and put their scores on the board when it mattered. "They had given us a real hiding earlier in the year and it was a huge turnaround from that day. We were very strong tactically and did our homework. The club was delighted with both the performance and the result." Meanwhile, Drumlane's U16s recorded an excellent run to the semi-finals of the championship, the first Drumlane U16 side to reach the penultimate stage at championship level ... yet another highly commendable feat and a further highlight in a successful year. Unfortunately, the U16s came unstuck in a tough encounter against a strong and physical Ballyhaise side, but they had still made their mark in the competition and did themselves proud. Drumlane are going well at other juvenile levels as well. The club is very well organised at U10 and U12 level as well, under the guidance of Brian Segrave (who's also their sole County Board referee). Paddy takes everything from U8 level through to U12 and they're very well organised with a lot of young lads turning out regularly. Drumlane won a number of small local tournaments during the year, which was certainly encouraging. In general, the Sons of O'Connell are happy with how their underage arm is performing, as Padraig confirms: "We're more than pleased and it's always fantastic to win a championship at any level." Without the breaks, Drumlane's intermediate team was always fighting an uphill battle in 2002. They went into the year with a new manager in place in the person of former Cavan and Mullahoran stalwart Gerry Sheridan, who took on Jimmy Kelly and Seamus McConnell as selectors. "Like every other club in the county, we were a little bit bemused over the actual worth of the league as there was no promotion or relegation at the end of it. There seemed little point in having the league - the games were little more than glorified challenge matches, which was of no benefit whatsoever..." Drumlane were also dogged by injury. Barry Cunningham was recovering from a cruciate ligament operation and was therefore unavailable all year. Meanwhile, the luckless Daryl McConnell broke his collarbone on two different occasions while on duty with the Cavan U21s. Injuries to three or four other players at various stages during the season left the Green & Whites severely depleted. "We didn't know what way to approach the league, so we just focused on the championship." The 1999 junior champions were in the same group as Laragh, Kill, Cuchullains and Swanlinbar. With two wins out of four, they qualified for the quarter-finals, wherein they faced Cootehill. It was very close all the way and the first game ended in a draw. The two evenly matched sides also drew the replay, which went to extra time. A goal in the last minute sealed Drumlane's fate. All in all, they were very disappointed to bow out of contention at that stage: "With a bit more luck and a few less injuries, we could have gone further." At the end of the '02 campaign Gerry Sheridan notified the club that he'd have to step down due to family reasons. Drumlane have thus appointed a new manager for the current season: Malachy O'Reilly. Malachy will be assisted by another local man Gerry Brady and Cootehill man Patrick Lynch, who is the team trainer. The target for the coming year? Their secretary is optimistic but not complacent: "Even though it's going to be very competitive, we can give the intermediate championship a real crack. We have a good chance. There are a lot of serious contenders, but we are in amongst those. Everyone associated with the club - management, players and club members - believes we can make an impression." And they could well be right. Barry Cunningham and Daryl McConnell are both back, as is Ross McKiernan, who had a broken bone in his foot. All three of these players were injured - at the same time! - at key periods in 2002. Drumlane had other notable achievements during the past year. Their ladies (amalgamated with Belturbet under the banner of Erne Gaels) made a name for themselves by capturing the senior league. Drumlane are currently in the throes of relocating and initiating a major development in the village of Milltown. The new property was purchased and paid for in full during the 2002 season and it is hoped that building work will commence this year. Looks like Drumlane Sons of O'Connells are set to progress boldly both on and off the field of play... Tweet

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