Paddy Donnery was a lively one as a player. He's bringing no less energy to the table in Shercock as club chairman. When frustration threatens to eat a gaping hole in the collective psyche, it's then that a club must hold firm and it's members must stand up and be counted. Shercock have been through the wringer over the years and have left the committee rooms often soaked in perspiration in fighting against the grain. Gaels there are used to rolling up their sleeves but all at the coalface agree the time has come for an opportunity for a celebratory knees-up to be grasped with both hands. Work-in-progress could do with being finished off, all concur. Club chairman Paddy Donnery agrees that talk of monkeys-on-the back needs to be replaced by talk of monkey suits being hired out to mingle around silverware and review title wins. "It's got to the point now where we really need to be kicking on and over the next year or two winning the championship," Paddy concedes. "We've had a good bit of underage success over the last few years and a lot of those fellas are ready to make an impact at junior level. "Fellas who have won finals or got to finals at different levels up to under 21 level should have enough confidence now to make the step up." And of course the club boast the sort of strength in depth these days that has seldom coloured their recent history. "Winning the Division Three Reserve Championship helped make it a good season all-round for us," the former eager-beaver player reflects. "You can't beat silverware to brighten up a year and the lads involved in that success fully deserved it for the effort they put in. Shercock were indeed full value for their win in the secondary competition. A clinically-executed goal just four minutes into the second half proved to be a masterstroke as the yellow and green crew annexed the title with a convincing 1-11 to 0-6 win over an experienced Denn side at Virginia. In a game which did much to enhance the the profile of Shercock's ambition and spirit, Cathal McDermott's opportunist strike in the 34th minute left Denn playing a game of catch-up they never looked like winning. McDermott's major came off the back of one of very few goal chances created over the hour in a game which the winners-elect had a firm grip on throughout. Shercock trailed by the odd point in five after 14 minutes with Cavan county manager Donal Keoghan accounting for two of the Crosskeys-based side's scores at that juncture. Significantly even at that stage it became clear that the town team boasted a greater division of labour all around the field but especially in the last third of the field. Points from Michael Ward, Aidan Lennon, Cathal O'Reilly and Daniel McElroy reflected Shercock's more rounded assault on the scoreboard with the latter's point presenting Shercock with a lead which they were never subsequently to lose. With Michael Ward increasingly influential around the middle of the park and behind him Donal Clerkin and Aidan Liggin in 'no-nonsense' mode, Denn's threat carried less and less weight as the interval approached. Indeed the second quarter saw Denn fail to score while Shercock stretched their legs and were well positioned at the break on the back of a 0-6 to 0-3 lead. Denn began with a spring to their step though on the restart and a point from Donal Keoghan after barely 40 seconds gave Shercock a reminder of their obligations. However less than three minutes later, the Denn challenge all but imploded courtesy of the only goal of the game. A long punt forward from the Shercock half-back line saw the Denn defence make a mess of gathering the ball which allowed Cathal McDermott to nip in and palm the ball to the net for the simplest of scores. From there to the finish, it was all about Shercock consolidating with some comfort their newly-acquired 1-6 to 0-4 lead. Fine points from Aidan Lennon and Cathal O'Reilly (free) helped to rub salt into Denn's increasingly gaping wound. A long range point from Joseph O'Reilly countered a Keoghan free as the clock wound down. O'Reilly was again on target in the last five minutes as was Cathal O'Reilly as Shercock embellished their lead to a significant degree. Denn refused to throw in the towel but their inability to conjure up a couple of match-saving goals hamstrung their efforts at pulling the fat from the fire. For man of the match Michael Ward - a medal winner after 26 years of trying - the game was a landmark occasion. The Shercock line-out was as follows; Emmet Reilly; Andrew Sloane, Aidan Liggin, Donal Clerkin; Francis McPhillips, MJ Lynch, Eddie McDermott; Michael Ward (0-2), Joseph O'Reilly (0-2); Cathal O'Reilly (0-3), Michael McEneaney, Padraig McGee; Daniel McElroy (0-1), Cathal McDermott (1-0), Aidan Lennon (0-3). Subs used; Darragh Roe, Martin Liggin, James McMahon, Michael McEntee. "You have to hand it to the lads because they gave it their all and got their reward," Paddy declares. "I know at first hand the work that the committee put in over the year but the team-manager Jim (Hamilton) and his selectors Paddy Farrelly - who's also the vice-chairman - and Dick Caplice were brillant all year and deserve a lot of praise too." The dying embers of the 2006 season certainly seemed to have ignited a whole new buzz about Shercock GAA. Not content with annexing the Division Three Reserve Championship title two weeks previous, Hamlton's charges sprinted into the semi-finals of the 2006 division three senior league with a convincing 3-6 to 0-7 win over 2006 JFC beaten finalists Munterconnacht. The win in Mullagh added to the burgeoning feel-good factor around the east Cavan club at that juncture. Shercock galloped into the lead courtesy of a goal in the 5th minute and fairly cantered their way past the winning post, ultimately triumphing by a distance. Having already secured promotion to division two for 2007, question marks hung over Shercock's hunger and ambition. However against a Munterconnacht team that struggled continuously to re-discover their championship elan, the winners-elect weren't put under any really consistent pressure. Shercock grabbed the momentum from the start and refused point blank to relinquish it as the final quarter kicked in and a goal apiece by John McDermott and John McEnroe - in injury time - firmly put the seal on an impressive win for the town team. "I think that win over Munterconnacht showed what the team is capable of," Paddy says in a matter-of-fact manner. "The fact that Munterconnacht showed what they were made of in the championship and hopefully the lads can reproduce that kind of form and the form they showed in beating Cavan Gaels to clinch promotion in the next few months. "It'll be a great boost to the lads playing in division two this year, especially the younger lads who will benefit from coming up against better quality teams and a lot of players who are top notch. "With no disrespect to any of the teams in division three, it was very important that we got out of that league which wasn't easy because there's a lot of competition and so many teams in with a shout in that division." Paddy insists that the Shercock players are no longer happy though to merely make quarter or semi-finals. "They're all very ambitious and while everyone was delighted that we finished joint second and won the play-off, the fellas wanted to win the title. Shercock's Donnery reacted philosophically to the club's defeat in the Under 21 Division Two final; a final, it must be said, nobody outside of Shercock perhaps expected them to reach. The Monaghan-border club saw their glorious run in the competition come to a sad end though as they were defeated by 0-5 to 0-9 by match favourites Drumalee in a titanic tussle. "The better team won on the day unfortunately," Paddy lamented. "I think their greater experience counted a lot but our fellas gave it their best shot but it wasn't good enough to beat Drumalee. "A fair few of their players have played a lot of football in division one of the senior league whereas our lads were operating out of division three. "I thought we were still in with a good chance at half-time but our forwards didn't quite play to their potential and it didn't work out for us. "There's no shame attached to the defeat though with so many of the lads who played last weekend eligible to play in the same grade again next year," the Cavan town based car dealer added. As one who thrived in the hurly-burly of derby duels way back yonder when he was a livewire attacker, Paddy is likely to appreciate the honest endeavours of Shercock's finest in the coming year. Shercock will have a raft of matches against near-neighbours which should make for some really tasty fare. Matches due to come on stream include head-to-heads with Knockbride, Bailieboro, Killinkere, Cootehill and Drumgoon. "I'm looking forward to them for all sorts of reasons and, financially, the gates from those matches will do us no harm," Paddy avers. "Getting up into division two should mean the younger lads will be better able to express themselves and improve their game. "We're definitely well able to win the junior championship this year which considering we haven't won it since 1979 will be long overdue. "We've a good team as far as the committee goes and they'll give the players every backing and hopefully they'll do the stuff on the field of play." Tweet

Most Read Stories