Cremartin club captain Niall Flanagan, is unequivocal in his assertion that his club's ultimate aim is to get up into senior ranks and challenge for senior championship honours. "Our short-term aim at the moment is to get promotion to senior ranks and to be challenging for a senior championship within the next three to five years. The players are there, we have some great young players coming through and the only way to progress them is to get them up there playing in senior football." Cremartin won the junior football championship in 2004 and Niall Flanagan feels that even in that short time that progress is being made. "We came up from junior three years ago and we are now consolidating in the intermediate grade. We are now around mid table in the league with maybe a chance of challenging for an intermediate league semi-final apart from that this year we had our best championship season for a long time when we got to the semi-final of the intermediate football championship. "It's fine however to talk about consolidating but the danger is that people will get into the comfort zone with that and you could find yourself slipping back very easily because to be honest if you're not going forward then you are effectively standing still which is the same as going backwards. So we have to guard against that type of complacency. With the age profile of our players with quite a lot of them 18, 19, 20 years of age you don't want to get in the comfort zone at this stage. We have to keep those young players motivated because I see that if we are to push on then now is the best time for us to push on. There is no point in us saying that we have achieved at the stage we are at now because we haven't and if we don't keep pushing on the whole thing could very quickly pass us by." Niall Flanagan believes that the club is going the right way about motivating these players and putting structures in place to help the club realise that ambition of senior football. So what do they put down by way of my markers for these young players. "The club is doing great work with the players. Declan Bishop as team manager, Maurice Brannigan and Ciaran Brannigan have got a great system going and we have a great trainer in Damian Kavanagh from the Errigal Ciaran club and that group, that backroom team, does everything very professionally. In fact the whole setup around the team and the club is as good as you would get with a lot of county teams with the services that are being made available for the players. "We have physios attending training and there is food after training because of the great work by people like Majella and Roisin Boyd, Anne Brannigan and all those who help out and this all helps to generate a much more positive spirit with everyone. We couldn't ask for more because there really is no stone left unturned in the club to help everyone to keep pushing forward. To be honest we as players have nothing else to do only turn up and put in the effort because everything else is arranged for us and there is a really feel good factor in the club. " I feel all that work and effort has generated a great level of morale and a great spirit among the players especially the younger players because they can see that their efforts are going to be matched by what the club is willing to do for them. I think too that it has meant an awful lot to some of the older players as well because players like Gregory Flanagan and Barry Grimley are playing out of their skins this year simply because there is that great morale now among the players. Gregory Flanagan told us before we played against Drumhowan in the championship that it was 17 years since he had played in an intermediate championship semi-final. Now that isn't that an awful long time to be waiting on your second appearance in a championship semi-final. "I can tell you that man would do anything to go senior with Cremartin. Gregory has a couple of years left in him and he will see it because the hunger is there. We definitely made progress this year, championship wise, because since we came up to intermediate we hadn't won a straight championship match, we had won a backdoor game but only after losing our first championship match so this year we definitely made progress. It doesn't matter what systems are in place championship football is about winning on the first day out, that is the test of a team and it is a big test going through a championship to win on successive days so from that point of view we definitely have made progress this year. "We can improve though because down in Clontibret in our game against Truagh we knew we hadn't played well. That's no disrespect to Truagh who won the match but we were poor on the day. Despite that though, we have achieved our goal of winning our initial championship match and then putting championship victories back-to-back before going out at the semi-final stage, so that was good. I suppose to a certain extent we felt as a team that we had let ourselves down that day but we did gain valuable experience this year. As I said the big test is championship football because you have to do it on the day." Having aspirations of playing in senior championship football is one thing but having the structures on the ground is something else but in that regard Cremartin are right up there with the best. The current development campaign started back on the eve of the millennium year when their headquarters at Shamrock Park was refurbished with the opening of a new Social Centre and the complete refurbishment of their own Community Centre and dressing rooms as well as development work on Shamrock Park itself. A lot of work has gone in since that too and Niall Flanagan would see this as an integral part of the club and their overall forward looking strategy. "Work on the main pitch is almost finished with new perimeter fencing and the playing area being extended as well as some covered accommodation for spectators. With the demands on the pitch the club knew that they needed more training and playing facilities so the next stage was to draw up a development plan for the area that was known as Tavey's Rock. Tavey's Rock is gone now and in its place there is a state-of-the-art training and juvenile pitch that will serve the needs of the club into the immediate future at least. The next stage is the provision of an astro turf pitch which will be developed beside the new training pitch and then the whole project will be completed with the erection of floodlighting on the training pitch so, as I have said before, the players couldn't ask for more, because there is nothing that is not being done to make for a situation where the club is aspiring to be the best that it possibly can be. "Our response to that as players is to adopt the same attitude and if we do that and work to that I don't see any reason why we cannot achieve our primary purpose. The club is moving forward on and off the field and that same team effort is there because a lot of people have to play their parts for that to keep progressing. As far as I would be concerned I can put my hand on my heart and say that everything is in place and we as a club are going forward and we will be playing senior championship football within the next three to five years. I think I would be reasonable in saying that Cremartin as a club has as senior club mentality and definitely one of the things that helps you to achieve that is to have lads going to county teams. "We have had quite a few lads from the club on minor panels. Last year I think we had three, Liam McVicar, Declan Farrell and Cathal Atkinson and for the start of the year before that we had Darren Bishop and Liam McVicar so that is four or five lads getting that experience in the last two years. Next year I wouldn't be at all surprised if we had another four or five lads on the county minor panel. There are just simply that many lads coming on and there are others that never had a chance to play county minor; boys like Ronan Burke, a brilliant young player and Ronan Marray and next year we hope to have Christopher Farrell who has played in goals in the last four league games because our regular keeper has been injured. We have some very versatile players like that. Kevin Brennan is another great prospect that has come through the under age system. He is a top-class forward and will have a big impact. In that regard too we have Darren Bishop who is one of the most exciting young talents in the county and a player that he can do it on any stage. Darren will not be playing for us in the latter end of the season due to an injury that is going to require a bit of time to clear up but Darren Bishop will be back playing for us next year and I'm confident we'll see him in the county colours as well. "What we are working at is building a team around those young players and if we can do that we will keep moving forward. We have the basis of a senior team and that senior mentality I was talking about has developed among those young players. We have young players who have All Ireland colleges medals, players like Gary Boyd who was with Our Lady's when they won the colleges B championship and boys like that don't know anything at all other than winning and how to win. Success breeds success and winning from underage generates a winning mentality. It will come slowly but surely and with more young lads to come through the breakthrough is not far away. This doesn't happen on its own because the club has a very progressive under age structure in place. "Any evening during the summer time the place will be just simply crowded. It was bad when we had only the one pitch but even with two and now going for three there will still be demands there because there are that many young lads now being coached and developed as players. We have a great number of people looking after the kids who are being worked with in groups from under eights up, people like Terence Buckley, Harry Leonard, Mickey McGuigan, Regina and Anne Kirby, John Malone, Pete Farrell who was with the minors this year and others like Barry Grimley who as well as Playing takes an under age group. Maurice Brannigan is the same, working with a young squad as well as with the senior team, Declan Bishop does the same, Mark Bishop is also involved and I work with a group as well. It takes that effort because we have so many children in the area. "And it doesn't stop with the summer work because come winter the activity goes indoors where they will playing basketball and other indoor sports. They are always playing games that involve handling a ball, using their hands and using their feet and that develops skilful players. There is a huge effort being put in with the children in this area and even the school over in Annyalla with Kevin Maloney is putting in a huge effort as well. The school team is winning and that is where the winning mentality is being instilled into them from a very young age. The school won the Division 2 of the primary schools league, we won an under 16 competition this year and our under 14 team was successful. But even teams that didn't win anything outright were reaching finals and semifinals of competitions so that we have very committed and very dedicated young players coming through. The parents are playing their part too, in fact there are so many people involved you couldn't mention them all but I can tell you the work doesn't go unnoticed and it's that kind of work right through the community that makes a successful club. The people behind the scenes are vital to our plans because that's how you progress the children through the various stages. The parent that brings an under eight to the pitch for the first time is playing their part because your aim is to develop that child into an accomplished club player and when you see him wearing a senior jersey for the club you will be able to say, that's a job well done because he has been progressed through the whole system." Niall Flanagan sees the work on the ground and as a player he knows what it takes on the pitch but with that level of commitment and that degree of hunger right across all aspects of the club further success is not far away. So does Niall Flanagan see himself lifting the Mick Duffy Cup some day in the Gerry Arthurs Stand in Clones. "Yes I can and that would be a dream come true, but it is not an unrealistic dream. The first step though is to get up to senior and if we can do that then I firmly believe we can win it." Who will say him nay?. Cremartin Juvenile Report 2007 Three cups and three more finals, if anyone had suggested this at the start of the year for the Cremartin Juveniles they would have certainly got some strange looks! The U-14 team started the ball rolling with a Division 3 Shield win over a much fancied Toome side lifting the first of the silverware in Blackhill. It was our minor team next, who were undefeated all year met their neighbours Clontibret in a very hyped up final in Drumhowan. They ran out very comfortable winners to take a long awaited minor cup and title back home. Then the U16 got their turn at the end of August for the Division 2 Curley Cup League final against Killanny. An absolutely brilliant game, with neither team really deserving to lose. Unfortunately the championship final against the same Killanny team the very next week turned out in favour of Killanny - with Cremartin missing a lot of chances and left wondering about what might have been. In additional to this our young very gallant teams of U-12 making the Div 3 final and our U-10 also loosing in a final by the narrowest of margins. Annyalla School also added to the haul, Kevin Maloney and his staff winning the Girls Mini Sevens and the boys winning the Ollie O'Rourke Cup., From this three Cremartin girls travelled to Croker for the half-time games. Well done to Megan Atkinson, Michelle Kerr and Gemma Mulligan. Well done to all players and mentors who worked so hard in 2007 and bring on 2008! Tweet

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