ORAM PRESENTATION NIGHT.
The air was rich with nostalgia as the Oram club organised a special night in their magnificently appointed Community Centre and a Clubhouse to mark the 30th anniversary of the club's success in the 1980 Monaghan Junior football championship and to also acknowledged the contribution that Carl Laverty has made to the Oram club, that has seen him complete 50 years of unbroken, dedicated service. As a player Carl Laverty represented Oram for 30 years and as an official of the club he has held office in a variety of capacities since 1960 right up to the present-day when he is currently Club Treasurer. As an official he has acted as Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, PRO, county board delegate, club referee, team manager and selector and in the early days there were times when he was combining all of those roles including that of goalkeeper. The presentation to Carl Laverty was a complete surprise to him and his family and he was visibly taken aback with the tributes that were paid to him by both Tony Graham who acted as M. C. and Liam Stirrat, representing Monaghan County Board. Carl Laverty's service goes back in fact to when he was present at a meeting in 1959 when the Oram club was re-launched having lapsed some years beforehand and from the day of that meeting Carl Laverty would become an increasingly central figure in the fortunes of Oram Sarsfields. His efforts were unstinting to make sure that were always able to field a team, although they had had two very barren years in 1960 and 1961 before they recorded their first victory over Cremartin in Carville's Meadow by 2-4 to 2-2. In 1961 Carl Laverty was instrumental in organising an under 16 team in the club and finals were reached in league championship. Throughout the 60's Carl Laverty acted as club secretary and this was also a successful period on the field when he was goalkeeper on the junior double winning side of 1963 conceding only one goal in the entire league and championship campaign. In 1960 Carl's prowess as a goal keeper was recognised when he was picked to play in goals for Monaghan against Derry in the Ulster junior championship and he went on from there to represent Monaghan at senior level as well. 1968 saw him win a Hackett Cup medal and he was still a very competent keeper in 1980 when Oram won the junior championship, Carl Laverty conceding just one goal in the entire championship campaign. Away from playing Carl was a central figure in Oram developing their own playing pitch when land was purchased from the famous Big Tom McBride and the new pitch was officially opened in 1983. Over the years too Carl Laverty has acted as manager and/or selector with many Oram teams at all levels. He experienced success when the club won the St. Dympna's Cup in 1988, he was joint manager along with Philip Mone when they won the Dr Ward Cup in 1995 and was joint manager with Gerry McCoy and Philip Mone when they won the PJ Flanagan Cup 1996. The last 15 years has seen Carl Laverty continue to work tirelessly for Oram and his guiding hand was central to the development of an excellent training pitch in 2006, the official opening of the refurbished Community Centre and Clubhouse in 2007 and he is looking forward to the club officially opening their new playing pitch next year. Service like that is the cornerstone of the GAA and has certainly been the cornerstone of the Oram club, where Carl Laverty has gained iconic status as evidenced by the big turnout and the spontaneous and lengthy standing ovation when he was presented with a crystal trophy to mark his half-century of service. Tributes too were paid to his wife Bernie who assisted him in many ways not least of which was washing the club jerseys and she was the recipient of the presentation of a bouquet of flowers.

THE 1980 RE-UNION.
Running parallel with the presentation to Carl Laverty was a reunion of the team that had won the Monaghan junior football championship in 1980 with almost a full turnout and one player making the trip home from the USA for the event. 13 teams took part in the 1980 Monaghan Junior football championship, one of whom was Ardaghey, a club that went out of existence a couple of years later. Oram started their march to glory that year with an opening round victory over Drumhowan and won their way through to the final where they met Emyvale. The final was described as "A case of the old dog for the hard road" as Oram's success was based on fielding a team of veterans, some from campaigns in the 60s and 70s as they took on and defeated a much fancied Emyvale outfit in the final in Clontibret, winning by 0-9 to 0-8. The winning score in fact came from a veteran of the 1963 success, Tommy Mone who scored with his first touch after coming onto the field five minutes from the end. Oram had three survivors from the 1963 team Carl Laverty, Noel Flanagan, who was named as junior player of the year in 1980, and Tommy Mone. The team was Carl Laverty, Paddy Carville, Gerry Mc Coy, John Mc Guinness, Gerard Mone, Philip Mone, 'Hoppy' Murphy, Mickey Murphy, Mickey Quinn, Anthony Mone, Joe Mc Guinness, Gerry Brady, Mercil Murray, Noel Flanagan, Mickey Mooney. Subs: Ollie Hughes, Tommy Hanratty R.I.P, Dinny Brereton, Pat Murphy, Noel Carville, Tommy Mone and Seamus Ward. Ulster Council delegate, John P Graham, congratulated the club on their great facilities and for organizing the re-union, saying that recognizing the achievements of past teams and can be a source of inspiration to the youth. The players were presented with special mementoes and a booklet containing match reports and pictures from the 1980 championship. Tweet

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