Gowna are on the way back. That's according to club stalwart Gerry Brady who says he won't be surprised if the men from the Lough scoop the 2006 Cavan SFC title. Former county kingpins Gowna aim to make their rivals green (and red) with envy this year. There appears to be a new sense of optimism around the Loch that the glory years can be recaptured. Former star player and successful team-manager, Gerry Brady is one Gowna clubman who is openly talking-up the possibility of the Longford-border side regaining the blue riband title. Gerry has great hopes that new team-manager Martin McCabe can work the oracle in the coming year with the cream of the senior crop. "I definitely think we can win the county title under Martin because he'll bring a whole new level of enthusiasm and drive to the squad. "He needs a bit of luck though with injuries but if he gets the rub of the green, he'll do well as will the team. "It's crucial that our key players stay injury-free. Martin himself comes with a proven pedigree in the game and it's a real coup for the club to get him to come on board. "He was a good player and since he went into management he guided Garrycastle in Westmeath to three senior championship titles and has shown himself to be a tremendous leader," the father of vaunted Gowna youngster Ciaran comments. Gerry scotches the notion that Gowna is a team that has seen its best days and that it'll be some time before we see the red and greens back at the peleton of Cavan senior football. And, contrary to the general perception of GAA folk outwith Gowna, he discounts the suggestion that Gowna is an ageing team. "People might look at the likes of Ciaran Brady, Bernard Morris and Fergal Harten and think that it's an old team but that perception is wide of the mark. "There's a good balance between youth and experience in the team and the average age of the side wouldn't be any higher than 24 which is really a good average when you're trying to put together a team capable of winning a senior championship." Like most observers and commentators engaged in eyeing up top level football in the county, Gerry unequivocally points to defending champions Cavan Gaels as the team to beat in the coming year in both championship and league parlance. He admits that the county town crew will begin their campaigns as raging hot favourites to clinch yet another double. "They are quite rightly the favourites to win the championship and the league again this year but we'll be challenging them hard. "I'm encouraged by the way we ran them so close in the league final at the tail end of last year. "They were coming off the back of the Ulster club championship and were very fit but they had to work very hard to beat us on the day. "It would be good for football in the county if more clubs could put more pressure on Cavan Gaels this year and even beat them. "Ideally you'd have up to six clubs in the county in with a shout of winning the championship in any given year." Gerry is fearful though that Gowna may not quite have the strength in depth as far as its panel is concerned should injuries kick in and dispatch some of its leading lights to the sick bay. Another season, Gerry explains, without, for instance, Gerald Pierson would make for a torrid time for the would-be SFC challengers and severely hamstring their attempts at toppling the current kingpins. At present though, not too many people in Cavan would put their money on Cavan Gaels not hitting the high notes again this year. And the former countyman accepts that while there'll be no shortage of teams trying their damnedest to de-rail Gerry McCarville's ambitions, he says it'll take some doing. "In fairness, the Gaels were that bit ahead of the rest of us last year but the fact that they're the champions and represent the county town means that teams will be all the more determined this year to knock them off their pedestal. "I think that's only natural." Whoever wins the blue riband title in Cavan this year will carry the mantle of county ambassadors in a competition, the Ulster club SFC, which has bedevilled the best efforts of Cavan champions to go the distance since its inauguration. The Moyne Community School old boy reckons that it's very important for football in the county that that bogey is laid. "Cavan Gaels have dominated the county scene over the last three years but have fallen short when it came to Ulster. "It's very important for football in Cavan that the county champions this year go on and make the breakthrough in the Ulster club. "At the moment Cavan Gaels look like having the best equipped squad to win the county's first Ulster club title." One wonders why the Gaels haven't made that giant leap to date? "I don't think they've had the necessary physique or overall strength to beat the best around in Ulster over the last few years. "They've still a young side and there's a lot more potential in them though." Fact is though, Gerry is much more concerned about his own club's capacity to pull apart the status quo rather than the Gaels' ability to hoist Cavan's petard once and for all in Ulster club circles. Gerry is encouraged by the emergence of a raft of fine young talent in Gowna in recent years at under 12 and under 14 levels and expects both squads to go very close to scooping county titles this year. He is equally buoyed up by the increasing student numbers that have been registered of late at the primary school in Gowna. But while he feels that the long-term future for Gowna is rosy, Gerry also feels that the current bunch of senior rookies can help Gowna's premier team become top dogs, sooner rather than later. "A few years ago we were the dominant force in Cavan football and I feel that with the balance of youth and experience that's in the current squad, we can begin to dominate the county scene again, starting this year. "We'll be looking to the younger players on the senior team to carry the mantle this year. "There's definitely the nucleus of a crop there at the moment that can not alone regain the county title but go on and dominate the county championship the way the club used to," says the man who managed Gowna to the county Under 21 championship in 1980, eight years after winning a JFC medal with former club Arva. There's little doubt but that Gerry has come to understand just what it takes to be the best in Cavan. While better known these days as Chairman of Breffni Park Finance Committee and for his work on the county development committee, Gerry's star first burned brightest during his time as a player with club and county. He was a member of Gowna who won the junior championship in 1982 and the Intermediate Championship in 1985 and, then, before the end of the decade, he starred as Gowna won its first ever senior football championship. Gerry insured himself a piece of history in the club's annuals as he captained the side on that day- in what was to start the club on the road to becoming the strongest club within the county. That same year, the former long-time club secretary was duly honoured as being chosen clubman of the year in Cavan. Gerry later won a senior Division One league medal in 1991 and that same year captained the Gowna team that won the Junior B Championship. Highly respected as a player and mentor alike, Gerry became a selector on the Cavan senior county team under the stewardship of Gabriel Kelly from 1989 to 1991. While success eluded them at inter county level, Gerry was back at the helm of Gowna when he managed the side in 1993 but lost out to Kingscourt in the championship final. Gowna did manage to secure the senior league title that same year defeating old rivals, Mullahoran. 1994 and 1995 saw him add two further medals to his collection when Gowna won division 1A league titles before he hung up his boots in 1996. Gerry moved back into team management in 1995, taking charge of the county minor sides from 1995 through to 1997. As someone managed the county under 18s and who featured on the last Cavan minor side (1974) to win the Ulster MFC title, one wonders does Gerry believe that 2006 will see the county at last regaining that trophy? "Another win is definitely due but I think there is a panel in place this year that's capable of winning the Ulster championship. "There's a case to be made for saying that Cavan were the second best team in the country last year having taken Down, who went onto win the All-Ireland, to a replay. "Cavan underage teams at various levels haven't got the rub of the green over the years and some vital decisions have gone against us in crucial matches so I hope things can change on that front. " And so say all of us. Tweet

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