Thomas Brady is one of the most promising up-and-coming footballers in Cavan. Lucky Mountnugent. Thomas Brady epitomises the youthful enthusiasm that is now rampant within the Mountnugent club. He also portrays the sort of mature approach to Gaelic football that is redolent of the well-educated, open-minded and discerning young sportsmen of Ireland in fact. Not for Thomas the muddled synopsis of a blinkered under-achieving player or the brighter than bright forecast of a gone-with-the-fairies johnny-come-lately administrator. He may be one of Mountnugent's great white hopes but, thankfully, Thomas is refreshingly rooted to terra firma and calls it exactly as he sees it. For instance, he doesn't begin to put a bright hue on a grey season just gone by. "Last year didn't go too well for us, either in the championship or the league. There's no point in saying otherwise. In fairness, we had a number of injuries which didn't help," the current county under 21 opines. There was, of course, another mitigating factor in relation to Mountnugent's lack of success in 2006 - Thomas's absence due to his ensconcement across the Atlantic in Montreal, Canada. The final year Commerce student at University College Dublin missed a large part of last season due to work experience programme he took part in north America. "It was a pity I missed so much football but going to Canada was an opportunity I couldn't really turn down and I was able to play a bit of football with Montreal Shamrocks. "Playing against clubs in Ottawa and Quebec wasn't exactly the same as playing our neighbours at home. It was a great experience though and really enjoyable with fellas from places like Tyrone, Dublin and Clare involved in a big way out there. "Football out there isn't as competitive as it is in Ireland - it's more like friendlies and it's all about the social aspect of getting together with other players during the league in the Summer months. "The standard wouldn't be great and wouldn't nearly be as high as you'd see in Cavan. It's more of a fun thing," says Thomas who was the only Cavan native competing in the Canadian league. By the time Thomas returned to the 'oul sod, the All County Football League was in the Autumn of its schedule but no championship games had been played. The fact that the only fitness sessions Thomas had in 2006 before he returned to Mountnugent were consigned to indoor soccer games in Canada left him more than a bit rusty and short of match practice and fitness. He admits that it took him quite a stretch to get up to speed with the rest of the Mountnugent players when he put on the famed green and yellow jersey on home ground. "Because of the snow in Montreal, there was very little if any training done outside so when I took part in my first training session in Mountnugent, it wasn't long before I was spluttering and coughing." After a full season behind him in 2005 under the stewardship of Dave Russell and Michael Smith, Thomas says it wasn't ideal that his '06 season should be so fractured. "I thought the early part of the year (2006) was the best time to go and that I wouldn't miss the most important part of the year if I stayed in Canada from January to May," Thomas explains. And so Thomas was able to ply his skills for his beloved club during the high season in Cavan when championship football is the blueblood of the big ball game and reputations are made or lost. From his midfield berth, or alternatively pitched from centre-back, Thomas gave the championship his best shot but he was powerless to prevent defeat to Kildallan with the west Cavan's ability to snatch goals crucial. Then came the infamous clash with Killeshandra Leaguers which made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. A melee in the second half was so fierce that referee Michael Lee was forced to abandon the match and, understandably, a whole host of post-mortems ensued with the blame game all the rage. "It was unfortunate and shouldn't have happened but I don't think it ever made sense to go around blaming either club or particular players, "Thomas avers. "The trouble came out of the blue and erupted on the spur of the moment - there was no history of any trouble between the clubs and nobody could have seen it coming. "There were a lot of young and inexperienced players on both teams and maybe the tension of the occasion got to some players but I think there was too much mileage made of the row." Part of the Cavan under 21 panel - and a former county minor during Tony Brady's (Castlerahan) reign - Thomas has garnered quite a bit of experience himself of JFC fare at this juncture. He's been part of the equation for Mountnugent's premier team since 2003 which is a year he would care to forget all told for three years ago marked the time when Mountnugent lost a county final. Losing the JFC decider to Lavey was sore, really sore for Thomas and Co. The burgeoning talents of young Brady were missed for the semi-final that year but were available for the decider. Thomas did well in policing the no mean manoeuvres of then county senior Sean Maguire and while he did well, it wasn't sufficient to prevent black and white garlands being placed on the handles of the cup. "They got off to a great start and left us chasing the game for the rest of the hour and although we kept with them, they were, in fairness, the better team on the day and deserved to win." Not one given to looking back in anger, Thomas is optimistic that Mountnugent can go one better than it did in 2003 and reap the ultimate dividend. With county minors Graham Patterson and David Gibney coming up on the rails to bolster the club's senior team, one can understand just where Thomas is coming from with his crystal ball. Such talent - in tandem with our man Brady - should complement the experienced rendered by seasoned campaigners such as Mark Smith and Killian Fitzsimons. However 20 year old Thomas concedes that Mountnugent's Class of 2007 may want for a bit more experience as the average age of the side is due to be no more than 23. "The team is probably a wee bit top-heavy with regards to youth but if we can get off to a good start in the league and get some momentum going, confidence will flow. "It's very important that we get a few wins under our belts so that morale remains good and that we can keep our eye on pushing on for a promotion place. "At the end of the day though, we're no different than any other team in that we'd be hoping to play our best football in the championship and go the distance in that competition." There is the feeling abroad in Mountnugent though that whatever lack of experience there may be in the club's premier squad, the sheer youthful exuberance and self-assuredness in the ranks could make a difference. Thomas was captain of the Mountnugent minor team that won the Division Four minor league title in 2005. In 2006 the club reached the minor championship and under 16 championship but sadly lost both deciders. Thomas is part of a set of players now on the Mountnugent junior team that have become used to at least making county finals if not actually winning them. He believes self-belief and ambition are there in buckets. "The likes of Terry Rehill, Mattie Finnegan and Arthur Reilly have been doing great work at underage level for a long time now and a lot of the talent they've coached are now playing senior football. "Even though a lot of the lads missed out on medals at the different grades over the years, we came good in the end with the minor win in 2005 so you could say that we were rewarded for our persistance." A first cousin of young Dublin dual star Thomas Brady, Mountnugent's own Thomas Brady will be joined at the coalface in 2007 by his brother John. Thomas says Mountnugent need fear no team in division three or in the junior championship although he maintains that a raft of teams have a chance of hitting the jackpot in either competition. "It's going to be a very level playing field and with the likes of Munterconnacht, Butlersbridge, Cornafean and Arva around, there should be some fine contests." Typically Thomas is careful to keep things in perspective and at the dawn of a new season, he remembers how last year ended so sadly for the club. The death of in December last of Mary Reilly, wife of club chairman Sean Reilly, robbed Mountnugent of a trojan worker and a great club stalwart, Thomas explains. He says it would be nice if the club could win a significant piece of silverware in her memory in the coming year. Tweet

Most Read Stories