With a dream management team in place, Ramor have every reason to look to the future with confidence. Former club great and current county selector Paddy McNamee believes the lakesiders could soon be a force to reckon with once again. For the forthcoming campaign, Ramor Utd. have in place a backroom set-up that could only be described as a 'Dream Team'. The experience and know-how in the Gold & Black think-tank is such that Ramor should emerge from their present transition period sooner rather than later. At the club's most recent AGM, a high-profile management team was unveiled. Former Meath and Oldcastle player Leo McEnroe is team manager, with former Ramor and Cavan star Martin Lynch (recently involved with Cavan senior teams under Mattie Kerrigan) as assistant manager. Meanwhile Colm McEvoy - previously manager of Crosserlough, Oldcastle and Kells - has been appointed team coach. With a host of exciting young players coming on stream, it is anticipated that the triumvirate will be able to build a senior side capable of challenging for major honours over the next two-three years. Paddy McNamee played for Ramor for 20 seasons and was involved in all three of the club's (1974, '85 and '92) senior championship victories. He has two sons - Patrick and Gary - on the current team. Paddy. also wore the blue jersey of the Breffni County with distinction and is a selector under Eamon Coleman with the Cavan seniors this year. Running the rule over Ramor's new backroom team, he is full of confidence about the club's medium-term prospects: "It's a very strong set-up and all three men have vast experience ... I'm sure they'll get the best out of the players. We've a lot of talented young lads coming through and the omens are good that, with the ambition that's being shown at the moment, we'll be a force to be reckoned with inside the next two or three years." As the team is essentially a very young one (with a few older heads but nothing in between), it was no major surprise that Ramor failed to make an impact in the 2003 county SFC. They were in section B, alongside Belturbet and Gowna, but lost both championship outings. The Rory O'Moores came out on top by two points, 0-9 to 0-7, while Gowna proved much too strong physically en route to a comprehensive 2-11 to 1-5 success. Paddy notes: "There are going through a bit of a difficult phase because the team broke up and maybe too many of the older lads retired around the same time. This left Ramor with a very young team. They're all good footballers but they're a bit raw and we're lacking leadership in the starting fifteen. Realistically, it's going to be a couple of years before all these lads come through and the team peaks but the quality is definitely there and the right men are in charge, which is an encouraging position to be in. "Installing Leo, Martin and Colm shows good foresight on behalf of the club and the ambition to get things up and running again is clearly there. Now is the time to get all the skills into the players and if Ramor can build things up gradually over the next couple of years then we have every reason for optimism." It's been twelve years since Ramor last scooped the county SFC crown. Current moves within the club are decidedly positive, however, and Ramor genuinely look as if they're heading in the right direction, getting ready to turn the corner. In fairness, with such a young team, they were never going to set the world alight in 2003. However, there was still an element of progress made and Paddy is quick to point out that the players didn't let themselves down by any stretch of the imagination: "As far as I'm concerned they did well. It's a young team and they made great work to stay senior [beating Lacken after a replay in a relegation play-off semi-final] and to preserve their Division One status. The fear was that they'd go down and it could then be very difficult to get back up again. It was crucial that they maintained their top-flight status. "Senior football in Cavan might not be great at the moment but it's a lot better than Division Two or Division Three, especially for the development of younger players. When you're trying to bring young players along, then senior football is the obvious place to do it. The higher the grade the club is playing at, the better it is for everybody. Bearing this in mind, Ramor got a good result in 2003. "Also, the seniors will be in the south Ulster league this year and that's going to be a very worthwhile exercise. They'll be playing against the top teams from Monaghan, Fermanagh and Armagh and that has to be a great incentive. Pitting their wits against the Castleblayneys, Crossmaglens and Enniskillens of this world has to be a tremendous experience. They may not win any of those games but they'll certainly learn from them, and that's the main thing at this stage in the team's development." The average age of the team is about 21, though there are a few older, wiser heads still on board, helping the younger lads find their feet. To this end, the experience of men like David McDonnell and Philip Kermath still has a big part to play. "We have a few older lads and plenty of young players, but there's nobody at all between 21 and 28. That's a big void and it's the main reason why it'll probably be a couple of years before Ramor challenge for senior honours again." The players coming through certainly know a thing or two about collecting silverware, having won a host of honours at U12, U14, U16 and minor levels with Lurgan. The vast majority of them have also lined out for the county at one level or another. Paddy McNamee's last year on the Ramor first team was 1992 and he went out on a real high with a SFC medal in his pocket (despite missing the final through injury). Ramor haven't regained the blue riband title since, but doing so is a definite priority. "It is the ultimate aim," Paddy confirms, "and most of the present team probably don't even remember the '92 win. It's time for Ramor Utd. to look forward and concentrate on what we're going to achieve in the future rather than dwelling on past feats. "I would certainly hope that in three years Ramor will be as good as anyone else in Cavan. There's a first class management team in place and they will bring them on no end. I'd say the target for 2004 will probably be to produce some good performances, and hopefully that'll be good enough for a championship quarter-final or semi-final spot." Paddy's sons were key men on the team in 2003 and will almost certainly be to the fore again in '04. Patrick (21) is a wonderful forward, who normally lines out either on the 40 or at full forward, while Gary (18) is an influential wing back. Paddy himself was on the Ramor first team for 20 seasons, 1973-92. He also enjoyed a lengthy career with Cavan from 1974 until '87. Indeed, the Ramor clubman starred on the last Cavan minor team to win an Ulster championship - way back in 1974. He looked after Lurgan's minor teams for the past couple of years and also trained various U21 sides as well as leading Munterconnacht to a JFC win in 1996. He is currently a county senior selector under Eamon Coleman. "It's still early days but obviously Cavan will be hoping to make an impression this year," he confirms. "Martin McElkennon is in as trainer and Mickey Harte rates him as the best trainer in Ulster, so he's a big asset to the team. The players are definitely up for it. Eamon Coleman is a fantastic motivator and man manager and Martin is a psychologist as well as a brilliant trainer. "So we're expecting big things and the players are under no illusions as to what they have to do. Cavan football hit an all-time low last year and it has taken the players time to recover from that. They have to put 2003 behind them and we're all hoping they will show the world what they're really capable of in the months ahead." Tweet

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