Corlough didn't light up the football scene in Cavan in 2005 but, as committed clubman David McGovern explains, the green and whites are on the right track For years, Corlough Gaelic football club mentors cried out for some youthful exuberance and confidence to raise them up above the ordinary, the humdrum. In recent times, there have been distinct signs that a crop of young and ambitious footballers is coming slowly but surely into view. 2006 saw an easily visible outline of the vision held so dear over the years by generations of tireless workers in that neck of the woods down west Cavan way. Corlough gaels have worked feverishly to nurture and retain the services of a whole host of youngsters who have impressed at underage level against the best of the rest. And although he may not like the perception that is out there from afar, 19-year old David McGovern figures high on the radar screen of emerging Corlough stars. David comes to the senior game with no pretence, haughtiness or exaggerated opinions on what he personally, or his team-mates, can achieve in the near future. Instead, he's only too well aware that what has been achieved at under under 12, 14 and under 16 levels over the last five years and more is no guarantee of anything. Fact is, the popular Cavan College of Further Studies student says that, if anything, the club's record at junior level in 2005 has given everyone in Corlough a wake-up call. "At the start of the year we expected to maybe reach the semi-finals of the championship and be well up towards the top of the table in the league but neither happened. "I think most of the players would have felt that we had the potential to do well in 2005 but other teams had other ideas and we fell well short of the mark," David explains. Unlike years ago, when Corlough could barely scrape together fifteen players and later had to travel here there and yonder to play their 'home' games, times have changed. The green and white brigade is no longer happy with credible performances and honour in defeat or morale victories - those sentiments have long since been binned. And so, it's no great surprise to anyone clued into what has been happening in Corlough over the last ten years or thereabouts, that Corlough gaels are disappointed by '05. "Everyone in the club was disappointed at the way things finished last year and I would have been surprised if anyone was happy because we definitely underperformed. "In fairness, there were a few things which didn't help us during the year and when things are not going completely right for us, we can struggle to survive. "We were short a few players at different times with Brendan McGovern missing out on the Shercock game and only being able to play in goal for the Cornafean match. "Noel McGovern had to quit football at the start of the year and he was a big miss around the middle of the field and was hard to replace as was Alan Wright who broke his jaw. "And then we lost Darren Dolan after he broke a bone in a challenge game which ruled him out of a few very important games. "Corlough still can't afford to be without those sort of players because of the lack of numbers in the club; numbers are still a problem in the club," the skilful attacker adds. Still, the proud west Cavan outfit did so their intent in the championship when pushing a vaunted Shercock side and a Cornafean side with a fine pedigree all the way. Losing to the aforementioned teams by a single point in their group section of the junior championship smacked of ill-luck and classic cases of 'so near and yet so far.' "Going into both games, we felt we had the beating of of them if we played up to scratch but when you're working with just a panel of 23 players injuries can be crucial. "Without Brendan (McGovern) we weren't as good as usual from frees and that cost us especially against Shercock when we let them off the hook. "The game against Cornafean in Ballyconnell was just as disappointing because we were leading them by six or eight points but allowed them to come back." Given Corlough's history of almost perennial struggle to work the oracle in Junior, is there still a distinct lack of self-belief about the club, at adult level at least? "No, I don't think so because a lot of the fellas playing for the junior team now have won medals over the years at underage level so they know what it is to be winners. "I think against both Shercock and Cornafean last summer, the team just didn't have the killer instinct to put them away when the chance was there. "Having said that, there might have been a bit of experience missing there too when the crunch came," the 'oftimes corner-forward reflects. But, significantly, David doesn't disagree with the perception from areas outwith west Cavan that the present Corlough crew is a 'coming team.' Son of Michael McGovern, a trojan worker at every level for Corlough for many years, David dearly hopes that the potential other clubs see in Corlough bears fruition soon. He's confident that the squad that did their best in 2005 will remain together as a unit for the most part and will acquit itself better in the coming year. "From what I hear the older lads in the panel are prepared to stay on and that's good news because we've a settled team right now and there's a fair bit more in the tank. "We're not that far adrift of the top teams in junior, even though the league table at the end of 2005 would tend to suggest otherwise. "It's pretty much a level playing field and an even standard all-round in junior and we showed in our game against Kill last September that we're there or thereabouts. "They (Kill) were probably the best team we played all year and they showed how good they were by ending up at the top of the league at the end of the year. "But when they came up to us in the league, we only lost to them by five points to 2-5 and that was after we had practically handed them the two goals and missed a lot." So what had the Redhills, Kill and Munterconnachts of this world got in 2005 that Corlough were short of when push came to shove in the championship and league ? "On our day, we could run most of the top teams very close but we're maybe missing a bit of physical strength and power in key areas and we've a smaller panel. "As well as that, everyone on the panel could maybe have given another 10% commitment; could have pushed the boat out that bit more over the year." Some in Corlough believe that the Class of 2006 sports the right mix of youth and experience plus talent and toughness to make a sizeable impression over the next year. David says that morale is good within the club and there was a 'good buzz' about the camp for most of the year, those agonising periods in the championship apart. The fact that the club can now call on fellas in their late teens and early 'twenties who have been in the winners' enclosure at underage level in times past is encouraging. David knows only too well though that Corlough will have to improve quite a bit though on their showing in 2005 which saw them finish just above Maghera and Arva. Still, there's much to build upon in Corlough and David scotches any notion that any sense of an inferiority complex still haunts the one-time basement-bottom club. "We can improve a lot on what we showed in 2005 and even though there'll be some good teams coming down from intermediate, we'll not fear any of them." Like father like son, David is a true faithful servant of the Corlough club and his work with the local under 10 and under 12 squads is well noted and appreciated. And on the underage front, David delighted in seeing the local Dernacrieve Gaels crew make it all the way to the Under 16 county decider in 2005. Seems like the star of Corlough's under 14 Roinn D Championship winning side is determined to help breed another string of would-be junior Corlough stalwarts. Tweet

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