After flirting with near-extinction for a couple of years, Wolfe Tones GFC have battled back from the brink. The Drogheda club did themselves proud in 2007, fielding for every game in the Division Three league and getting some valuable wins under their belt. The Tones also acquitted themselves well in the Junior 2 championship and Kevin Mullen Shield, so manager David Tully can look back on the year's proceedings with much satisfaction. Over the course of the 2007 season, Wolfe Tones GFC fulfilled every fixture assigned to them and used a total of 31 players. Not bad for a club that had been called into question by the county's top brass not so long ago! The lesson to be learned from the events of '07 is quite simple: Wolfe Tones are not going to go away. To the contrary, this proud Drogheda club is in the process of dragging itself back up by the bootlaces, slowly but surely rediscovering their touch. While the dramatic revival is still only in its infancy, the progress made so far is nonetheless significant and great credit is due to both management and committee members for keeping the GAA flag flying in the face of unprecedented adversity. Team manager David Tully has been described by his colleagues in the club as a "breath of fresh air". The former player has been instrumental in building things back up and has been so successful in reinvigorating the club that the atmosphere in Wolfe Tones these days is as magical as just about anywhere else on the Wee County GAA landscape. It's a sensational transformation for a club that seemed to be on its last legs a few years back; the challenge now is to sustain the progress and continue moving forward. Next year will present a fresh new set of targets but, for now, David is content when reflecting on the ins and outs of '07: "In the heel of the hunt, I was happy with how things went. It took us a while to get going but we managed to get some good results and the players did themselves proud. It was a bit of a step-up to Division Three as we had played Division 4C the previous year due to the major problems we had fielding a team. The lads took a few beatings but it's all part of the learning experience and they finished the year with seven points, which represents definite progress." David is quick to share credit for team management duties with Brendan O'Connell and Paddy Fanning. "Between us, we had a good U16 set-up and we managed to bring in a few older lads in the 23/24 bracket to go along with them. We wanted to retain our junior status so we went back into the junior 1 league, even though we knew we'd be in for a lot of tough battles against teams who had recently been intermediate and even senior only two years earlier. We knew it wasn't going to be easy but this was the road we wanted to take as part of the rebuilding process. "Alan O'Connor was also a big help. Alan played for Dublin in the national football league and, even though he was plagued by injury, he still came in and played a few games at midfield. His presence in the dressing room was vital. His approach to games and his whole awareness of tactics and methodologies was invaluable to us. He had a different programme for each week and that ensured that the lads remained interested and gave us all a sense of direction. "Most of the guys gave tremendous commitment all year. You will always lose a few during the year but, in general, I couldn't be happier with the attitude of our players. They played in the Junior 2A championship and were very unlucky. We drew with the Blues on their pitch and then lost the replay at home by two points. The Blues had a few of their first team playing and their mentors as much as admitted afterwards that the best team over the two games had probably lost. They felt it was the hardest game they would have at that level all year, so - even though we were disappointed to lose - we were relatively happy with our performance in the championship." Wolfe Tones have some superb footballers at their disposal. Seventeen-year-old Conor Brannigan is a prodigious talent, while club captain Mark McKenna also enjoyed an incredible year, scoring freely and leading by example. Indeed, the management is happy with all the performances and refuse to single anyone out for individual praise: "The younger lads coming through showed unbelievable dedication and they trained hard twice a week," says David. "They have come along in leaps and bounds in terms of ability and you couldn't fault their commitment. "This was the first year in a long time that Wolfe Tones fulfilled all their fixtures. You'd have to go back to the good old black and white days for the last time we managed to play every game! We were down to play Stabannon in our last match of the year and they gave us a walkover because they only had ten players and we had 18. That shows where we are at right now. I'm not picking out Stabannon as an example because they must have their own problems and hopefully they'll get them sorted out, but it showed the boys on our team that we are on our way up now." Of course, the work never ends for those who are busy getting a club back on its feet. During the winter, the management triumvirate was actively seeking to bring in a few new players to bolster their squad and give them a better chance against the more seasoned outfits in Division Three. A great deal of time and endeavour has been invested into getting the ship back afloat and this is why the club took exception to some of the criticism levelled at them in recent years. "We have a good strong underage set-up and good people working there," David Tully continues. "Unfortunately, the reality for a town club is that when they reach the age of 16/17, you will lose 40-50% of your players. But we'll deal with that. This year went well. We took a couple of hidings from more established teams in the summer but that's part of the learning process. We picked it up towards the end. Eighteen was the lowest number of players we had for any game and they were all vying for starting places." So, what does the future hold? "We're under no illusions. The Tones aren't going to win the championship next year. But if we are in the top nine in a 13-team league and bring on a few players who were minor this year and get them involved, then that would be a success. "We want to spread the message that, even though we're in town, we're still a local-based club that plays for the parish. We were all born and reared here and all the lads have great pride in the jersey. There are a lot of people who are happy to wear the Tones colours and we have come a long way in five years in spite of the bad press. There are lads here who I've been involved with from U9 level and they're not splitting off to the soccer anymore, so that's encouraging. "The committee couldn't do enough for us. They funded five or six weeks in the gym before the start of the year and they are giving us everything we ask for. The chairman Mickey Kelly and treasurer Noel Donnelly have given the team great support and it's a tribute to them. "We know it's a gradual process. We've moved from 4C to Junior 1 and we took some medicine from teams who came down but we bit our lip. We tried to pick out games that we thought we could win and we targeted those to get points on the board. The year has been an extremely valuable learning curve. We won three games in the league and drew one and we also won a couple of away games in the Kevin Mullen Shield. "Because of lads being away for various reasons, we never fielded the same team twice, so it's a credit to the full squad we have. Every player we used contributed towards making 2007 a successful year for Wolfe Tones and, if we get the same effort again next year, we have nothing to worry about." Tweet

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