Nestled on the Meath border and situated in one of the Breffni County's most scenic locations, Mountnugent G.F.C., once a power in Cavan, now find themselves playing their football in Division 3 of Cavan A.C.F.L. While the 2007 season failed to produce any silverware at senior level it was none-the-less a good year according to the Mountnugent secretary, John Duffy, one in which the club saw a number of talented young players come to the fore. When you talk to John, you are left in no doubt as to what football, and particularly in Mountnugent, means to him, how he views his club and his undoubted love for the game in the locality. John is suitably placed to give an opinion on Mountnugent as he now is entering his twenty-first year as secretary. That in itself could be deemed an institution. "When I was nominated to return as secretary, at the club AGM, I pointed out that I would like to stand down but a quick barb from the floor ended all that when someone retorted, 'you did twenty years, one more will not kill you', so with that I now am entering my twenty-first year as club secretary," stated John. His love-affair with football also saw him act as an official of Co Cavan Minor Board for six years, while his wife, Siobhan, is also actively involved with the Mountnugent club. She has acted as PRO and is currently assistant secretary along with being deeply involved with the juvenile club where she acts as secretary. John has played all grades with the club and still combines his playing career, where he lines out with the second team, with his official capacity as secretary. John's life-long involvement with Mountnugent has infused in him a spirit and optimism that is highly commendable. His unswerving belief in his home club gained some reward during the 2007 season when the Minors took the Division 3 league title when they overcame Killinkere. According to John this victory had a number of beneficial outputs. "Firstly, it is just reward for the great work put in at underage level. Secondly, it has created a situation where the senior club are now in a position to reap the benefits of this work. When the minor competitions ended we were in a position to introduce a number of players from that successful minor squad into the senior ranks. Players of the calibre of team captain, David Givney, Graham Patterson, Tomas O'Shea, Ciaran Caffrey and Owen Smith just to mention a few made their way into senior ranks. We would be hoping that others from that squad will be pushing hard for a place on the first team as most of them have gained experience at senior level with either the first or second team towards the end of the 2007 season", stated the club secretary. When John was asked how he felt about the club finishing in the lower regions of Division 3, he was completely honest in his response. He offered no excuses but rather spoke what he saw was the truth. "While like all others at the club, we would loved to have won more games in our Division. Our lowly end of season league position does not give a complete picture of the year. We won four games and lost eight. We lost four of those games by the narrowest of margins and if we had that little bit of luck and reversed those losses then we would have been up there in the top four. Our second team finished mid-table in their league and with a number of younger players now coming on stream things are looking that much brighter. The player profile at the club is quite young. We woud have a panel of roughly something around forty with the average age in the twenty region. While many of them are at college in either Dublin or Sligo we do not encounter problems with training. The players are very committed and the infrastructure at the club is geared towards creating an environment that is conducive to playing football. When the season kicks into full gear, the players make that extra effort and travel to attend training. This kind of commitment and the youthful talent at the club's disposal should in my opinion create a platform for the club to be a position to compete with the best in both Division 3 and 6 during the 2008 season. "While both squads are predominantly young, they have all gained exposure to senior football having come on stream towards the end of the 2007 season. That kind of experience aligned with their youthful exuberance and talent should augur well for the future of the Mountnugent club. So far we also have been fortunate not to have lost players to the travel bug. When you look at the clubs around the county and see at the end of each season the number of young players that head on their travels, we can count ourselves lucky, so far, that we have not been adversely affected," stated the club secretary. "We had a new management team in place for 2007. It was an all local set-up with John Lynch and Martin O'Reilly acting as a joint managers and assisted by selector, Declan Hennessy. It was their first year in management and like the team they will have gained valuable experience in their inaugural league campaign. As former players with the club, they will have acquired the capacity and knowledge required as team officials throughout the 2007 season to help steer the team to much better results. When you align this new found knowledge as team management and their knowledge of the players at the club, I have no doubt that we will be in a position to compete with the best. As a management team in their first year, I felt that they did a tremendous job and gained the respect of all the players. We have now added two new names to the management team for 2008. Pius Tinneny and Norbert Hanley are added to the backroom team as selectors. Both Pius and Norbert will be a great asset. Their input should give the management team that extra leverage in experience," stated John. John is quick to point out that while the senior teams look to have the potential to make a breakthrough, the work being put in at juvenile level is something that is very commendable. "I know that every club in the country work hard at juvenile level, but I feel that the work being put in at this level at Mountnugent has taken it to another level. We field teams from U-10 to minor. While we have a coaching programme in place at the club, we also have reached out through our members and brought our coaching skills into the schools of the area. This new approach has been greatly assisted by the co-operation of those at the schools while our own members give off their time freely and work with the schools in this worthwhile endeavour. We have earmarked an eight week training programme and so far this has proved very successful. The club members are committed to this project and are putting in a very sizeable effort which I have no doubt will in the future bring its own rewards. Like all good investments, it is a long-term project, which we feel, is a step in the right direction and one for the future. We had great success with our minor team in 2007 and I have no doubt that if we can keep this group of players together then we will be looking towards a bright future. A number of years ago we had been amalgamated with neighbours Ballymachugh at minor level. By mutual agreement and in an amicable manner we parted ways. It has proven to be of great benefit to both clubs," stated John. The club's minor team won the Division 3 league final when they overcame Killinkere. The game which was played at Virginia saw a close encounter for the first half where both sides were evenly matched. Mountnugent stepped up a gear in the second-half and were worthy winners of this title. This was a great achievement for both the players and the team management of John Duffy, manager, selectors, Eurick Reilly, Michael Hennessy, Sean Reilly and Dermot Brady. According to John who was team manager: "We had a small but talented panel. We only had seventeen players and of that squad there is only five of them overage again next year." The Mountnugent Minor squad was: Raymond Cassells, Sean Plunkett, Reamon Finnegan, David Givney (capt), Kenny Quinn, Barry Givney, Rapheal McEnroe, Kevin Plunkett. Liam Smith, Tomas O'Shea, Ciaran Caffrey, Ricky Brady, Michael Patterson, Eoghan Smith, Graham Patterson, Andrew Conroy, Joey Tuite. "There is a great buzz around the club and its enthusiasm no doubt will have benefits all round. Since our recent annual general meeting our newly appointed joint PROs Terry Rehill and Noeleen Douglas have taken on themselves to produce a weekly club newsletter. So far (at the time of writing) they have produced six and the feedback to their work has been nothing but encouraging. Their newletter is very comprehensive and news worthy. No doubt with such a response, they will be encouraged to keep this aspect of the club going. It is a great way of keeping the club to the forefront of the parish and keeping everyone involved interested. John also acts as our first aid officer and 'physio' and is of tremendous benefit to the club in this capacity," stated John. Club grounds Mountnugent play their football at Dungimmon and according to their club secretary are in the process of upgrading part of their infrastructure to cater for the needs of the future. "While the playing surface at Dungimmon is quite good we still needed to do some work on the field during 2007. With so many teams from senior, juveniles and ladies football all using the one facility, wear and tear over a season is inevitable. The club would hope to acquire in the not too distant future a second playing area to cater for the large playing numbers using the facility and help take the pressure of the main playing area. The club are continuously looking to the future and we are in the process of providing and upgrading the facilities at Dungimmon. It is envisaged that the new project will provide extra dressingrooms, a meeting room, kitchen and a gym. It is also hoped to put in a place a running track and also to upgrade the floodlights. The lights at the ground have been in-situ now for the past ten years and when they were put in place back then would have been seen as one of the best in the county. However, like all new technology, time moves on and the upgrading of these is imperative as most clubs in the country are now trying to move into a position that they will be able to play football under lights. We have refurbished our recreational room and inserted a new wooden floor. This will give us the scope to be in a position to provide an area for indoor training if required. "I know that the above is quite an ambitious plan for a small club like Mountnugent, but we have been very fortunate to have the services of a very good chairman in Sean O'Reilly. Sean has been chairman since 1997 and has always been open to change. He has a progressive outlook and is constantly looking at ways of moving the club forward. The officers and members at the club would have the same outlook and their willingness to work and commitment of their time is evidence of that approach. We have implemented a fund-raising draw with a first prize of car to help offset the financial commitment needed to create and finish the above plans," stated John. Ladies football Ladies football is alive and well in Mountnugent. The ladies club was formed just four years ago and during that short period have acquitted themselves creditably. There is a great response for the game and enthusiasm generated by the ladies is indicative of all those involved. Two years ago the club won the 9-a-side championship. While the junior ladies failed to win any trophies during 2007 the growth and popularity of ladies football in the area will see an U-14 team take to the field in 2008. Scor John said that he would also like to point out that the club has a very active Scor section. "We have been very active in Scor for the past twenty years and the driving force behind this has been Mary Garry. Mary's drive and enthusiasm is universally accepted as the guiding force behind Mountnugent Scor. In the past we have won titles at both county and Ulster level and competed in the All Ireland junior Scor back in 1994. The club compete both at senior and junior Scor," stated John. Tweet

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