Drumlane GFC has undergone quite a metamorphosis over the last decade. From being almost at death's bed, the patient is very much alive and kicking and aiming to continue to mark its renaissance with some much prized silverware as club stalwart Dermot Smith confirms. Even Drumlane's most loyal and committed members admit that no other club in Cavan has undergone the same near-death experiences as their club has endured over the last ten years or thereabouts. Back at the advent of the nineties, the west Cavan club very nearly went the way of the dodo only to be revived through the hard work of a small dedicated group of club members. It was a similar story no less than some seven years ago when rumours abounded within the county that the green and whites were on the cusp of bowing out of all competitions. Thankfully for all associated with Drumlane Sons of O'Connell and Cavan football, in general, rumours of the club's death were greatly exaggerated. Fact is, over the course of the last seven years or thereabouts, degrees of vibrancy and vitality have abounded about Milltown and its environs - thanks in part to the hard work of local gaels like Dermot Smith. It's a testimony to the work put into the underage section at Drumlane over recent times by men like Dermot that most of the current Drumlane intermediate team have graduated from successful underage teams. Talented players such as Ryan McCauley, Ross McKiernan, Joey Maguire, Barry Cunningham and Robert Smith were all members of all-conquering under 14 and under 16 teams of yesteryear. Indeed, all four aforementioned starlets featured prominently on the first ever Drumlane team to win a minor league (division three) title in a final which saw a fancied Maghera side defeated. Such success signalled a huge turnaround in fortunes for the Drumlane club as for years before the emergence of such talent, the Sons of O'Connell outfit had seen very little talent come up through the ranks. But just like the talk seven and eight years ago around the county about Drumlane's imminent disbandonment spurred the faithful to regroup and grow stronger, so has Drumlane's recent underage successes and adult joy spawned a new sense of self-belief, determination and ambition at the club. "There have been very few years in recent times when we haven't won something at either under 12 or under 13 levels. And even when we've amalgamated with the likes of Kildallan, which we did about four years ago, we've won cups like the Minor B league." Supported all the way by his wife Eileen, Dermot has helped coach and train Drumlane teams right across the spectrum of age groups from under 10 right through to senior over the course of the last ten years. He is pleased to say that the Drumlane parent committee has always given its support to the juvenile committee at the club and he expresses the hope that such a mutually beneficial relationship will continue for many years to come. It's not today or yesterday that Dermot himself experienced the joys of playing underage football. Yet he knows only too well just how important it is to lay good foundations for the future development of the club. "It's an old saying but the underage players of today are your seniors of tomorrow and because our numbers would be limited enough, we have to try and make the very most of whatever abilities the young lads show. "There has been a big turnaround in fortunes for the club in recent years and that's mainly because of the good young talent that has emerged and been looked after over the last ten years or so. "A lot of clubs would be more than pleased to have achieved what we have achieved at underage level in recent times and they'd be pleased too to have supplied so many players to the various county underage teams, players like Danny Kelly, Darryl McConnell, my own son Robert, Barry Cunningham and Ross McKiernan. "We are still doing a lot of work at underage level and hopefully that will pay off in the future too. It's the old story that there's no magic wand or secret behind engineering success at adult level - the work must be done at underage level well beforehand," adds Dermot who acted as a county minor selector alongside team-manager Brendan Nelligan in both 2000 and 2001. Dermot is optimistic that Drumlane can build on their junior championship title success of a couple of years hence. He has no doubt but that the right structures are in place and he feels that the recruitment of former Mullahoran and county star Gerry Sheridan to the cause will be a further boost to the club's chances of gaining more silverware. "When you consider that we only lost to Castlerahan by one point in the quarter-final and they went onto win the championship outright, you'd have to say that the lads aren't that far off the pace. "You have to keep in mind also that the team would have been lacking in match practice for the championship because of their enforced lay-off due to the club's suspension." And what of that infamous tussle with Cootehill last spring? "I'd consider myself very much an avid football fan and I go to maybe two matches on average every week during the season and I have often seen a lot worse things happening on the field of play and very little coming off it. "I thought the whole episode could have been handled a lot better but a mole hill was made into a mountain in my book even if both teams showed their naievety and were equally to blame. "And I don't think the punishment fitted the crime. Being docked ten points was very harsh. I think the powers-that-be decided to make an example of ourselves and Cootehill. "I think we would have been in the running for promotion if the incident in Cootehill hadn't arisen. Instead, as things worked out the whole affair tore the heart out of the parish." There's no doubt but Dermot possesses great faith in the collective ability of the current Drumlane senior players and he believes that if the club can unearth another couple of 'gems' from under 16 level over the next couple of years or so, then the green and whites will be hard to stop at intermediate level. "I will be disappointed but also surprised if Drumlane aren't competing in division one of the league and in the senior championship in a couple of years because there is a lot of potential in the current squad and with the addition of some new blood, the squad will be even stronger and more able to compete with the best there is around," adds Dermot who had the distinction of captaining the club's under 14 title-winning squad in the same year (1971) that the club won the Junior Championship title. Dermot says that Drumlane GFC is fortunate that with such big employers as Quinns and Boxmore Plastics based locally at least 80 per cent of the club's senior players are based at home, making it so much easier to get the squad together on a regular basis for training etc. "The most crucial thing though is that the current squad of players has a great appetite for the game, they're very ambitious and so many of them have a natural aptitude for the game. Thanks to what can loosely be described as a mini population explosion around areas such as Staghall, the headcount is increasing all the time in Drumlane GFC's catchment area and with Greaghaghan National School teacher Pat Duggan (Ballyhaise clubman) doing excellent work with the schoolchildren, Dermot is confident that the assembly line of talent can continue to roll. "The local school has won the Cumann na mBunscoil title on a couple of occasions over the last seven or eight years and some of the lads from those successful teams have gone on to represent the club at county under 16, minor and under 21 levels and that's the sort of pattern or tradition we're hoping to maintain." So what can the current seniors achieve in the near future? "The current team is still learning, still gaining experience and even the problems they encountered last year in being suspended and losing out so narrowly in the championship can help them improve and become a better outfit. "The team did very well not to get relegated from division two. If they had been relegated it would have been a disaster for the club and a real setback. "I think the lads can gain promotion from division two in the coming year. They're all good ball players, very intelligent players and playing against good footballing teams brings out the best in them so making it to Breffni Park for the championship is something they enjoy a lot. "If the players' attitude is right and the team can stay relatively free from injury, then they'll have a great chance of doing very well this year." Watch this space! Football family Leddy Padraig Leddy hails from a family which has contributed a lot to the recent development of Drumlane Sons Of O'Connell, both on and off the field of play. In taking on the role of secretary this year he has once again given a firm indication of his own personal commitment to the club. Words: Kevin Carney The mantra that says that the Drumlane footballers are the poor relation of the GAA in County Cavan is no more. Instead, the Sons of O'Connell are now well and truly recognised as being firm disciples of all that is positive and exciting about the big ball game within the Breffni County. And, more to the point, they're steam-rolling their way to the big stage like one could scarcely have imagined just a few years ago! There was never any doubt over the years though that down Drumlane way, the local gaels were as fervent a group of football die-hards as any corresponding bunch in Cavan. Long-time club servant Padraig Leddy is happy to make it known that interest in, and support for, the nation's number one field game is as intense and passionate as even the late Michael Cusack could have wished. "It's football all the way in Drumlane. There's basically no other organised sport in the area and all other interests really take a backseat. "Although the club has had its ups and downs over the years, interest in football has never waned in Drumlane and the following for the game within the club's catchment area compares very favourably with that which you'd find anywhere else in the country." For his part, Padraig was only too pleased to row in with his support for the club after his playing career came to a close. For almost 13 years now he has been working hard like so many others off the field to help see that things on the field of play go smoothly. "Like a lot of other players who had passed their sell-by date, I was anxious to put something back into the club. I had gotten great enjoyment out of playing and I felt that it was only right that I continued to make a contribution to the club even after I quit playing," explains the former club treasurer and vice-chairman and now secretary. The history books will show that the committee members over the years at the club didn't do at all badly in generating enthusiasm at grass roots level, raising finance or choreographing the best of the talent around. "Times have changed, even in the time that's gone by since I quit playing and youngsters no longer automatically express a preference for Gaelic football in Cavan or anywhere else in the country. "Fortunately there's always been a good spirit in the club and a willingness on the part of the players and people in the local community to do their best for the club. "This year, for instance, is an important year for the club in terms of the plans we have for developing our facilities and we are hopeful that everyone connected to the club and those in the wider community will row in to see that we get our plans up and running and ultimately carried out to the full. "We are in the process of purchasing a new piece of ground in Milltown with a view to developing it as a new playing facility. We're planning also to have a new car park, a stand and dressing-rooms which is essential if we're to retain ambitions of being a senior club in the not too distant future. "The completion of the development should also allow us to retain our existing pitch at Staghall. A second facility is very important because so many teams wish to use the pitch at Staghall. "It's an ambitious project and it is estimated that it may cost in the region of £500,000 but we've a very good working committee and I think we can depend on getting a lot of practical support from the people of the area. "Our weekly lotto continues to do well and during the year we hope to organise a car draw. We'll also be running our annual golf classic in the Slieve Russell Hotel next June which helps to fund the day to day running of the club," Padraig enthuses. It's obvious that there's as much talent off the pitch in Drumlane as there is on it. The plan in Drumlane is to minimise the debt incurred over the course of the development work which is expected to continue over the next three years at least. Padraig is hopeful that progress pitch-side will be matched by affairs in the championship and league in the coming year. "It would be great if we could do well in the championship in parallel with our progress in getting the development work up and running. "The current bunch of players certainly have the potential to do well in the intermediate championship this year but it won't be easy as you've at least four other teams who'll be in with equally as good a chance of lifting the title. "The championship is all about what happens on the day as Cornafean proved in the junior championship a couple of years ago and as Castlerahan proved in winning last year's intermediate title. They (Castlerahan) weren't expected to beat us in the championship last year but they were the better team that day in Killygarry and deserved to go through. "I'd be disappointed though if we didn't at least get out of the group and into the play-off stages in the championship this year. A lot of people in the county see our lads as having a lot of potential and those within the club do also but potential is one thing and actually getting a cup on the sideboard is another. "We've no divine right to win the championship this year but we'll give it our best shot and, overall, I'm optimistic about our chances this summer. We'll not be that far away when push comes to shove in the championship. " Certainly, Padraig and co. in Drumlane will be hoping that fortune favours them much more this year than it did in 2001 when the championship exit to Castlerahan was compounded by an infamous five game suspension following a well-documented flare-up in a league game with Cootehill Celtic. "The whole episode with Cootehill was very unfortunate but I thought it could have been handled differently. I've seen a lot of worse incidents happening at Breffni Park and the games weren't abandoned. "At the end of the day though both ourselves and Cootehill had to get on with the job of making sure that we escaped the threat of relegation. I was glad that both of us did do just that. It was a credit to both clubs and as far as Drumlane is concerned, I was pleasantly surprised at the way our lads faced up to the challenge of making up for the league points deducted from them. "I think our 2001 league campaign reflected well on our lads overall. It showed up just how much character and pride there is among the players. The team had a couple of really tricky games near the end of the season against Denn and Ballyhaise and they really dug deep to get the required results." So what about the challenge which lies ahead this year? "It'll not be easy to progress in the championship. The likes of Lacken and Ballinagh will be in the running as well as Drumgoon - they'll all be strong contenders but, in all honesty, we're very disappointed about the way the league has been demeaned. "We would prefer to see a promotion spot still available via the league. Limiting promotion to how you get on in the championship means that the new system will limit our chances of getting into division one which we're disappointed about. "Nevertheless we have a lot of fine young players at the present time. They've all done well over the years at underage level and they're hungry and ambitious. I expect them to make quite an impression this year." As ever, time will tell. Tweet

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