Glen Emmets enjoyed a busy and relatively successful 2006. Making impressive strides on and off the field of play, the Tullyallen club is in safe hands. Committee member and first-team player Derrick Johnson insists the Green & Reds are moving in the right direction. Silverware may have eluded them, but Glen Emmets enjoyed a productive '06. The club had the distinction of winning their first-ever game in the intermediate football championship when they stunned Hunterstown in their group opener and they also continued to make commendable progress at underage level. Corner back Derrick Johnson, who doubles up as vice-chairman, believes it was a decidedly positive year for the Tullyallen outfit. Having represented the club at juvenile level, Derrick was just starting to break through onto the first-team squad when Glen Emmets garnered the JFC in 1997. He's been pretty much a regular ever since, as the Tullyallen men have flitted between intermediate and junior fare. Two-thousand-and-five saw the club retain intermediate status for the first time in their history; they enjoyed a momentous occasion in '06 by actually winning an intermediate championship match - another first. Throw in some encouraging performances at juvenile level and we have a positive year to reflect upon… "It was the first time ever that we managed to play intermediate football for two successive years," Derrick confirms. "It was always going to be a difficult year as club football in Louth is being restructured and all but two of the teams in our division were being automatically relegated to junior football. We had to win the championship or the Division 2B title to avoid slipping back to junior again and unfortunately we were unable to do so…" It was a tough year to be in the 'lower intermediate' section but Glen Emmets were fully in favour of the restructuring, even though it wasn't in their immediate best interest: "Having played so much junior football ourselves over the years, we knew we had to vote in favour of the overhaul. Obviously, it didn't suit us as we knew we'd probably go down but we had to be honest about it and we recognised that the restructuring was necessary. "The way things were, it was possible to win a junior championship by playing just two matches and that clearly wasn't good enough. Even though we knew it was going to work against us, we were always in favour of the changes. There will be 13 junior teams next year and that's way better than seven. The new system will be better for everybody and should lead to a huge improvement in the quality of junior football in the county." Veteran Emmets servant Joey Carolan served the club as player-manager in '06, with the assistance of selectors Mannix Carolan, Pat Colgan and Tommy Kirk (trainer). Derrick takes the story up: "We got together the last week in January and numbers were fantastic at the start of the year. We had 50+ at training and we had never seen the likes of it in Tullyallen before. We had a good few minors and U16s training with us as well as a few new signings and a few lads who came out of the woodwork. January and February were exceptional. We had a real buzz in the clubhouse and we were preparing two adult teams, having started up a 4C side in 2005." Thus, the year started well, with oodles of enthusiasm in the camp. Unfortunately, Glen Emmets got off to a slow start in the league and were soon out of contention for Division 2B honours. But they would make an unprecedented mark in the championship: "We lost all our group games in the 2005 IFC and had never won a game in the championship before," says Derrick. "We got our first-ever intermediate championship victory in our opening group game of '06 - against Hunterstown at Castlebellingham. That was a big day for Tullyallen and it was great to have points on the board for the first time." Unfortunately, successive defeats ensued at the hands of Na Piarsaigh, Sean McDermotts and O'Raghallaighs as the Emmets fell just marginally short. "We went in confident against Na Piarsaigh in our second game," recalls the vice-chairman. "We had the beating of them in the first half but didn't play for the full 60 minutes. That was the story of our season in many respects. We were very much a 30-minute team all year. The Hunterstown game was our best performance of the year and things were really buzzing in the clubhouse after that. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep it going." Looking at the picture in general, however, Derrick is confident. Especially considering the young talent coming through the ranks… "We have some brilliant juveniles starting to come through from our U16 and U18 teams. The committee has been very busy promoting juvenile football about the club and we're now fielding teams on our own from U8 level up to minor." The U15s got to a league semi-final in 2006 and the U16s reached a Division Two semi-final, having moved up from Division Four. "Our minors got to a league semi-final and a 'B' championship final and were unfortunate to be beaten by a very strong Joes side on both occasions. "It was the first year our minors played on their own and we were very happy with how that worked out. It was a big decision for us to go out on our own, so it was great to see the lads doing so well. "Our Division 4C team has also been doing really well. They were in contention for a semi-final spot all year and it would be a big thing if they could move up to 4B, where the standard is higher. With both a junior and 4B team, we'd be in an even better position to bring on our U16 and minor players." The club's hard-working committee organised the erection of a new stand this year - to the tune of 20,000 euro - and the club has already started to train a ladies team for next year. At the moment, they are also looking at tenders for a new 500,000-euro clubhouse, on a piece of land (adjacent to the pitch) which was acquired from the parish priest. "We have a new pitch here too and we're hoping that people can see where their money is going," Derrick continues. "When we look for funds off the local community, it's nice to have good facilities in place so that we can show them what we're all about. The club is at the heart of the parish and we have an important function to play." While 2006 was moderately successful for Glen Emmets, hopes are high that there are even better things in the pipeline. Targets for '07? "We'll be seeking a good run in the junior league and we hope to stay in contention for top spot. Obviously, followed by a good run in the championship. With 13 teams involved, there should be more fight and a higher standard. Hopefully, we can filter our juveniles through the second team, onto the first team and hopefully we can get back to intermediate. "We have the resources; now it's a matter of putting it all together on the field." The following players picked up honours at the Glen Emmets 2006 juvenile Player of the Year awards: U14 Player of the Year: Daniel Grimes U14 Most Improved Player: Paddy Wogan U15 Player of the Year: Andrew Mooney U15 team Player of the Year: Ian Cusack U16 Player of the Year: Stephen Murphy U16 team Player of the Year: Brendan Campbell Minor Player of the Year: Aidan Monahan Minor team Player of the Year: Alan Whyte Tweet

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