Eimear O'Reilly is one of the most outstanding lady footballers in Cavan, nay Ulster, as her recent All-Star award confirms Eimear O'Reilly may be quietly spoken but she's no soft touch. As many of the finest lady footballers in Cavan and Ulster can testify, the Mullahoran teenager is a solid, tidy package whether acting as the lynchpin of defence or the anchor woman of the midfield. In a transfer market, 19-year old Eimear would be hot property. Her stellar billing was recently confirmed when she was named on the 2004 Ulster All-Stars line-out and selected as last year's Cavan GAA lady footballer of the year. Modesty itself, Eimear insists that she wasn't expecting to be so honoured. She was, nevertheless, delighted with the recognition. "It's great, especially to be included in such company on the All-Stars as players like Jenny Greenan from Monaghan and Donegal's Debbie Lee Fox. "I was glad to be nominated for the full-back position but was eventually selected at right full-back which was okay be me. "Just the make the team anywhere was brilliant but it was a big shock." Not such a shock though to those who have followed Eimear's career to date. Eimear confesses that she has benefited from coming under the tutelage of two former Cavan stars, on the club and county fronts. Garda Gerry Sheridan has been a great help at her native Mullahoran club, Eimear confirms, while on the senior county scene, Cavan-based accountant Ciaran Brady has helped her hone her innate skills to the point where she is rightly regarded as one of the best talents in the province. Sister of ace Mullahoran defender Gerard - unfortunately injured for the crucial stages of his club's SFC campaign last year - Eimear inherited a gra for the big ball game from her father Micheal who played for the Dreadnoughts in times past with some distinction. Eimear is a natural athlete and her penchant and aptitude for Gaelic football was evident from her early 'teens. Her sporting prowess first came to prominence while she was a student at Mullahoran National School where she took part in a range of sports in addition to Gaelic football such as basketball, athletics and rounders. Along with her primary school peers, Eimear - operating from a midfield base - secured Cumann na mBunscol honours in the prestigious mini-sevens county competition. Medals continued to flood her way as the Community Games came a-calling with the amalgam of Erne Valley careering all the way to the under 12 county and provincial ladies football titles in 1997. And while defeat for the spring-heeled midfielder and co. to Kerry thereafter in the All-Ireland semi-final at Mosney is still a sore one as she recalls her formative years as a footballer, Eimear insists she really enjoyed her first taste of playing against top class opposition from other parts of Ireland. Participation in the Community Games whetted Eimear's appetite for more of the same inter-county competition and it wasn't long before she donned the blue of her native county. Over the years, the Mullahoran starlet proceeded to represent Cavan at under 14, 16, 18 and inter-county junior fare. Meanwhile on the school front, Eimear was a key figure on the Cnoc Mhuire, Granard, school team which put together back-to-back All-Ireland senior vocational schools titles in 1998/99. "Football was very strong at Cnoc Mhuire and there were a lot of very good players on the team and I'm a bit surprised that not more of the girls progressed to play senior county football," Eimear opines. In recent years, medals have been harder to come by for Eimear and she would dearly love to win something with the Breffni Blues. "This is my fourth year with the Cavan senior team and it would be great to win the Ulster title. "I played at all underage grades with the county but didn't win anything but hopefully our luck will change this year." Given Eimear's commitment to the cause of ladies football in Mullahoran and Cavan, one can only hope she gains due reward for her effort and determination to succeed. A rigorous schedule involving training/matches on Wednesday, Friday and Sundays can take its toll on any young person, especially if the season extends from mid-February right through into late Summer. Unfortunately it doesn't help when some bitter defeats serve to threaten to eat away at one's innate enthusiasm and ambition. "The first final I played in with Cavan was the Ulster junior final in 2002 when we lost to Donegal and then we lost to them again the following year. "We missed out once again last August when Armagh beat us in the provincial final. That was probably the biggest disappointment of all so far." That aforementioned defeat to the Orchard County resembled a case of Cavan 'throwing it away.' "We played well in the first half and were leading at half-time and looking fairly good but they came back in a big way half-way through the second half. "We let down our guard a bit, maybe thinking that we were on the road to victory, and really stopped playing. "In fairness to Armagh, they finished the game far more strongly and we hadn't any excuses. They weren't any fitter than us, maybe just more determined overall. "The last twenty minutes were poor from our point of view," Eimear explains. The approachable Mullahoran ladies football star is positive and optimistic that the county's finest can turn things around and put their hat-trick of defeats in the provincial decider firmly behind them. She believes that the talent is certainly in Cavan to propel them into the All-Ireland scene. "The standard of football in Cavan is rising all the time and so is the number of clubs who are capable of winning the county title and doing well in Ulster. "It's no longer a case of just Knockbride and Mullahoran being certainties to win the senior title; you have the likes of Lacken and Lurgan now in the running." Mention of the blue riband title in Cavan and the nightmare of being injured prior to the 2004 county decider comes back to haunt Eimear. Things looked to be going swimmingly for Eimear and her Mullahoran and Gowna team-mates (Erne Valley Gaels) in the run-up to the meeting with holders Knockbride. However on the Thursday prior to Saturday's county final, disaster struck for Eimear when he went over on her ankle and damaged ligaments. "It was a bit frightening when I took off the boot and saw that my ankle had swollen up like a balloon. "Straight away I knew that my chances of playing in the county final were very slim. It was the first serious injury I got but I went to a faith healer to get the ankle right. "Unfortunately the time was too short before the final and I wasn't even able to make the subs bench. "I was on crutches for the game and it was agony to have to watch us go so close to winning the game and not being able to help out." Was she surprised that Erne Valley Gaels came so close to deposing the champions? "No, not really because we had Laura Pierson and Paul Fitzpatrick back from America where they'd been on holidays and their return was a big boost to the team." Sadly Arlene Clarke's winner for Knockbride put an end to Erne's brave bid but Eimear believes that Knockbride will come under renewed and even stronger pressure in 2005 to hold onto their title. As a new season rapidly approaches, Eimear is slowly getting into the groove again for another busy year of football. Now ensconced at NUI, Galway, the Environmental Science student is in esteemed company way out west as she contemplates playing for the college in the prestigious O'Connor Cup. Eimear is looking forward to playing with such household names in the ladies football world such as Lorna Joyce (Galway), Emer Flaherty (Galway) and Clare Egan (Mayo). "There is a lot of competition for places on the team and I'm far from guaranteed a place on the team but come the championship in March, I hope to get a game." Meanwhile as far as the Cavan county scene is concerned, Eimear is looking forward to helping new team-manager Raphael Rogers (Knockbride). "I'd say we have a 50/50 chance of winning the Ulster junior this year. "Armagh will be very strong again but our panel is improving every year and we'll give it our best shot this year and hope that it's good enough." Tweet

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