Glyde Rangers gave a good account of themselves over five SFC matches (including two play-offs!) in 2003, but didn't quite make it through to the knock-out stages of the race for Joe Ward. Still, all those championship outings were decidedly close-fought affairs and eye-catching county minor Trevor O'Brien is confident that the Tallanstown club is moving in the right direction. Trevor O'Brien is a wonderful up-and-coming footballer - a star in the making, if you like. In 2003, the Glyde youngster was superb with the county minors, his inspirational form one of the many highlights of the Wee County U18 team's brave run to the cusp of Leinster glory. In both Leinster semi-final outings against Dublin, the Glyde clubman proved literally unmarkable. He also acquitted himself exceptionally well with the Glyde Rangers senior team, putting in vintage performances that belie his tender years (he qualifies for minor football again next year!) as the Tallanstown pretenders pushed hard for a place in the last eight of the Louth senior football championship. In addition, Trevor was also a key player on the Baile Talun side that reached the 2003 Louth minor football final, only to be pipped by Oliver Plunketts. In the crazy world of gaelic football, you don't always get what you deserve. A case in point was Glyde Rangers in 2003. The Tallanstown men performed admirably over the course of five epic senior championship games during the summer of '03 but yet the prize their efforts merited - a place in the business end of the Wee County's premier football competition - eluded them. This in spite of the fact that Glyde won two of their three Group D outings (against Roche Emmets and Naomh Mairtin) and took part in two play-offs in late July, each time with a place in the last eight up for grabs. Frustratingly, fate conspired against them and narrow defeat was their lot of each occasion. Glyde gave as good as they got in ALL their games, but still managed to lose three of the five: the first of their campaign was lost to Kilkerley Emmets by a single point, and in those two play-offs against Naomh Mairtin and the Emmets again they were pipped by four points and two points respectively. It was a harsh lesson for the Glyde men, whose only choice is to keep plugging away, hopeful that a change in fortune will come. There's no doubting that the current crop possesses an abundance of inherent ability - they also have the requisite hunger to go all the way. In other words, Glyde are easily one of the strongest senior clubs in the Wee County at present and must be considered genuine Joe Ward Cup contenders. They have an array of talent splashed through the team, including 2003 county minors Conor Sheridan and Trevor O'Brien, the latter of whom admits that the premature end to the '03 SFC journey, an odyssey that was pregnant with expectation, came as a huge disappointment to all concerned: "We were definitely disappointed with the way the play-offs worked out because we had done well to force our way into that position, but then missed out twice," he notes. Glyde kicked off with a 2-7 to 1-9 defeat at the hands of bogey team Kilkerley Emmets at Haggardstown on June 15th. Trevor scored three points in that game but a goal in each half from Kilkerley's Shane Lennon proved decisive. Next up was Roche Emmets at Castlebellingham, part of a Group D double-header on June 22nd. This time Glyde were in unforgiving form in front of the posts, demonstrating frightening point-taking form on the way to a stunning 0-16 to 2-5 victory. Despite trailing by two points at the interval (2-1 to 0-5), Glyde upped the tempo after the break and pulled clear for an impressive win. Trevor O'Brien was top scorer with four points but the winners were also well served in the scoring stakes by Gerard Sheridan, Shane Barry, David Devenney, Andrew Sheridan and Damien Garland. Glyde faced Naomh Mairtin in the last round at Dunleer on July 12th, knowing that victory would force a three-way play-off. A purposeful display secured the spoils and kept Glyde in the race for senior honours, 1-10 to 1-7. O'Brien scored the all-important goal at the end of the third quarter and also added three points to his impressive championship haul. Gerard Sheridan was also in inspirational for, kicking four points. Indeed, this game was won much more emphatically than the scoreline suggests and the Rangers were back in the SFC race with a vengeance! Unfortunately, the draw for the play-offs paired them with the same opposition at Ardee eight days later. The winners would top Group D. As it turned out, it was the Monasterboice men who booked a quarter-final clash with St Marys by virtue of a 1-10 to 0-9 win. Glyde led most of the way but were caught with a late scoring burst from the Mairtins in the final quarter. All was not yet lost: there was still a second play-off, this time to determine who would finish runner-up in the group. This game took place only six days later - at Knockbridge - on July 26th. Kilkerley provided the opposition, as they had done in Glyde's campaign opener. The result was the same, however, as Trevor's county minor colleague Shane Lennon came back to haunt him again, bagging an astounding personal tally of 3-4 as the Emmets marched into the last eight with a 3-8 to 1-12 success. All in all, it was a disappointing denouement, a real sting in the tail after Tallanstown had thrown themselves a lifeline. Young attacker O'Brien notes: "When we beat Naomh Mairtin it put us right back into the equation and we were confident that we could put a run together. But it's always hard to beat the same team twice in such a short space of time and we were also missing some key players [including Trevor's brother Laurence, David Barry and John Daly] for the first play-off. The conditions didn't really suit us either - it was lashing rain in Ardee that evening - but the best team won on the day so we couldn't have any complaints. It was disappointing, though, because we know we could have done better." The result gave Glyde an ideal opportunity of avenging their opening round defeat to Kilkerley. "Again we were confident going into the game but Kilkerley play a similar game to ourselves and we always find it very hard to beat them." The difference between the teams on the night was '03 county minor captain Shane Lennon, who had starred alongside Trevor in Louth's superb full forward line (completed by Mark McCormack). Trevor is quick to give credit where credit's due: "Shane's a class act. I know that from playing with him in the minor team. He was on fire that night and won the game for Kilkerley almost single-handedly. As for Glyde, we didn't perform at all on the day and that was more disappointing than the result." It was an unsatisfactory end to Trevor O'Brien's second SFC campaign but time is very much on the Glyde clubman's side and one gets the distinct impression that he has many more big years ahead of him. Winner of a county minor championship medal at the age of 15 with Baile Talun in 2001 (a team that also included fellow '03 Louth minor and Glyde senior Conor Sheridan), Trevor has also represented Ardee Community School and starred on last year's county final side. Indeed, it's difficult to believe he'll be eligible for minor football again next year, such is the vast amount of football he's crammed into his young career already. Since making his senior debut against Naomh Fionnbarra in the first round of the 2002 all-county league he has nailed down a regular starting place on the Glyde first team. Ominously for the other clubs in the Wee County, the young attacker is still learning his trade and is improving with every game. He made a vast contribution to Glyde's and Baile Talun's 2003 season and was also a key man with the Louth minors (scoring a goal in both the drawn and replayed semi-finals against Dublin). Reflecting on the year as a whole, he cites the run with the county U18s as a high point: "Playing with the Louth minors was definitely the highlight for me. At the start of the year, I wasn't even expecting to get my place, so everything that happened after that was a bonus. It went really well. The full forward line with myself, Shane and Mark clicked and it was a great experience." With typical modesty and economy of words, Trevor is understating things. In truth, the quality of movement offered by the aforementioned full forward line was a joy to behold - they terrorised allcomers as the Wee County blazed a path through Leinster and almost booked a provincial final date. Trevor himself had an exceptional campaign and not one opposing defender managed to put the shackles on him. In the preliminary group, the challenges of Longford, Carlow, Kilkenny and Wicklow were brushed aside before Offaly were accounted for in the Leinster quarter-final. Having eliminated the highly-rated Faithfuls, Louth faced Dublin in the semi-final at Navan on Wednesday July 2nd. In the end, only an injury-time point denied the Wee County a place in the Leinster final. Louth led by four points at the three-quarters stage only for the Dubs to fight back and move a point ahead. Louth appeared to be on their way, however, when Shane Lennon placed O'Brien for a magnificent late goal. Dublin, though, had the last say with two late scores and the game finished level: Louth 1-8, Dublin 0-11. Louth were pipped in the replay, also at Navan's Pairc Tailteann, on Wednesday July 9th, losing by five points, 1-12 to 1-7. They trailed by seven points with ten minutes remaining but gallantly registered 1-2 without reply, Glyde clubman O'Brien scoring the goal, to close the gap to two points. However, three late Dublin points put an end to the fightback and, in the process, killed off Louth's brave bid for provincial honours. "In the end we were disappointed not to make the Leinster final. Paddy Oliver and the players had learned a lot from the previous year and all our efforts were geared towards reaching the final. It was disappointing not to get there. "But we had a good run and made a lot of people sit up and take notice. There weren't that many people at our earlier games, but interest in the team grew the further we went. We had a lot of support for the quarter-final and the two semi-finals. We'll have seven of these players available again next year [including Trevor himself] and have plenty of other players ready to come through from the various Development Squads [of which Trevor is a product, having been coached therein by Peter Fitzpatrick], so we have plenty of reason to look forward to 2004." Enda Sheridan managed Glyde's 2003 fortunes along with selectors Richie Barry, Aidan Sheridan and Peter Bird. Even though things didn't quite work out according to plan (the target was a place in the latter stages of the SFC), Trevor is optimistic that Glyde's big day will come: "We started training early in the year and our aim was to give the championship a good shot. We expected to do well, but unfortunately didn't hit form in either of the play-offs. It was a pity because after losing to Kilkerley, we got ourselves back into contention well with those wins over Roche and the Mairtins. "But we still have a very young team and the club is in a strong position. We've come a long way and we're getting stronger all the time, so hopefully within the next two to three years we can win a senior championship." If such an eventually does come to pass, expect the name O'Brien to feature prominently - Trevor is joined on the Glyde first team panel by brothers Laurence, John and Mark. Tweet

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