Martin, John Joe
April 25, 1997INSPIRED THE CAVAN OVER 40'S TO ALL-IRELAND SUCCESS IN 1996 AND HOPES THE COUNTY'S SENIOR TEAM CAN EMULATE THE ACHIEVEMENT
With all the hype surrounding Crossmaglen's recent triumph in the All-Ireland club championship, no one spared a minute's thought for the losers, Knockmore. Amidst the scenes of joy and euphoria, the Mayo contingent lay desolated on the hallowed turf of Croke Park. Crossmaglen captain, Jim McConville's words of comfort offered little consolation to the men from the west.
One man who can identity with the Knockmore Players' plight is john Joe Martin of Cavan, Templeport and Thomas Davis fame; who in 1992 suffered a similar fate. Having overcome the Offaly champs, Clara, in the provincial decider and Monaghan representatives, Castleblayney Faughs at the penultimate stage, Thomas Davis set up an intriguing St Patricks Day clash against Dr Croke's of Kerry.
And with Dublin stars Paul Curran (at centre-back) and Dave Foran (midfield) forming the backbone of the team along with jj, confidence was high of clinching outright honours.
But as things transpired… it wasn't to be. A soul destroying one point defeat (1-11 to 0-13) signalled the end of the cosmopolitians' title aspirations.
And for John Joe it was particularly heart breaking. His side, seven points in arrears at half-time, managed to claw back the deficit to three points when they were awarded a penalty. Up stepped the full back, whose last minute penalty against Clara in the Leinster club final proved the winner. But to the dismay of their Cavan import and the Thomas Davis faithful, the opportunity was squandered and Dr Croke's held on to clinch victory.
Defying the ageing process (he had surpassed the forty mark when patrolling the edge of the parellogram for the final showdown), in many observers eyes, JJ was the king of full-backs on the Dublin football circuit in the late eighties, early nineties.
An Evening Herald/Irish Nationwide Player of the Month Award, the clinching of his club's 1998 Player of the Year Award and selection of the Blue Stars XV illustrated the high esteem in which he was held.
Talking to the Hogan Stand, JJ reflects back over his own career and the challenges that lie ahead for the Dublin club. "The All-Ireland club final was certainly the biggest disappointment of my career. You don't often get the chance to win an All-Ireland club championship and to let that opportunity slip away is particularly disappointing. "We could have won it, but the team just didn't perform on the day; that's the way goes," comments JJ.
But time is a great healer and now that the boots are dangling on the nine inch nail, John Joe, in his role as club trainer, hopes to erase the bitter memories of '92.
With the beginning of the Dublin club championship only a matter of weeks away, a crunch first round tie against Ballyboden, St Enda's looms over the horizon for Thomas Davis. JJ is wisely bordering on the side of caution.
"It will be a hard match and if we're to win, we'll have to play to our full potential. But if we get over that hurdle. There's no reason why we can't progress further in the competition. "The Dublin championship is tough to win. Unlike in other counties where there might be two or three in with a shout, there's any amount of clubs here who are capable of winning it. There's a lot of teams evenly-matched-St Sylvesters, Kilmacud Crokes, Ballyboden, St Vincents and Erins Isle are all big dangers. There's only a bounce of a ball separating these teams," opines Martin.
And on his arrival on the Dublin club scene, did he find much of a difference in standards between his native county and the capital? "The level of play is a good bit higher than in Cavan and there's also a higher fitness level. The influx of players from other counties makes the standard that bit better. Particularly every second game in Dublin you could be marking an inter-county player."
But although a resident in the metropolis since the seventies, John Joe Martin's heart will forever remain in West Cavan; where as a youngster many an idle hour was filled perfecting the skills of gaelic football.
Under the supervision and guidance of men like Chris Maguire and Martin McGowan at his home club, St Aidans, Templeport GFC, JJ blossomed into a tough, uncompromising defender.
And it wasn't off the ground he licked it, the pedigree was there after all. His uncle Willie was a member of the first Leitrim team, back in 1926/27 to have won the Connacht championship. His other uncles Paddy and Jimmy, were famed Templeport stalwarts of the early '20s.
A senior debutant with St Aidans in the sixties, a junior championship (68), senior league ('75) and intermediate championship('77) were garnered with the Cavan club.
But, having joined the Garda in 1971, work commitments and the pressure of commuting home took its toll and in 1982 he joined Thomas Davis.
Although he hasn't forgotten his roots and every Monday morning the Irish Independent is purchased to check on the progress of Templeport.
But it hasn't made good reading recently. Since the halcyon days of John Joe and Co. the club has plummeted down the rankings in Cavan GAA. JJ deems lack of new blood and "too many discos in Cavan" as the two main reasons for their downward spiral.
A Cavan senior team regular between 1972-81, John Joe has difficulty recalling his first outing in the Breffni Blue. "I think it was against Antrim in a McKenna Cup game, I can't remember back that far," he quips. But unfortunately his spell with the county team coincided with the decline of his home county as a power in Ulster, although he did sample the atmosphere of Ulster final day - twice. He was a substitute on the Cavan team that fell to Derry in 1976 after a replay and lined out at corner back on the Breffni side that succumbed to Down in the decider of '78.
But that was the pinnacle of his football career - or was it? Just as it looked like the opportunity to savour All-Ireland glory had passed him by, last year John Joe skippered the Cavan Over 40s team to All-Ireland success. Not did it matter that it had come so late - that made it all the more rewarding.
Occupying the unaccustomed role of full forward, JJ inspired his colleagues to victory over Mayo in the decider. "The Over 40s was very enjoyable and it was nice to win it. We put in a lot of preparation, training once a week in Munterconnacht, There was no shortage of commitment from the lads.
"There's people who may never have been seen an over 40's game but the standard is very high. It was great to play alongside lads like Adge King, Paddy McNamee, Pauric Brady, the Reillys amongst others, rather than playing against them. I've had some bruising encounters with those guys down through the years."
Can the breffni senior representatives emulate the success of the Over 40's team to All-Ireland success. Not did it matter that it had come so late - that made it all more rewarding.
Occupying the unaccustomed role of full forward, JJ inspired his colleagues to victory over Mayo in the decider. "The over 40s was very enjoyable and it was nice to win it. We put in a lot of preparation, training once a week in Munterconnacht. There was no shortage of commitment from the lads.
"There's people who may never have seen an Over 40s team to All-Ireland success. Not did it matter that it had come so late - that made it all the more rewarding.
Occupying the unaccustomed role of full forward, JJ inspired his colleagues to victory over Mayo in the decider.
"The over 40s was very enjoyable and it was nice to win it. We put in a lot of preparation, training once a week in munterconnacht. There was no shortage of commitment from the lads.
"There's people who may never have seen an Over 40s game but the standard is very high. It was great to play alongside lads like Adge King, Paddy McNamee, Pauric Brady, the Reillys amongst others, rather than playing against them. I've had some bruising encounters with those guys down through the years."
Can the Breffni senior representative emulate the success of the Over 40s in '97, or will they remain embedded in the depths of Ulster?
"They've a reasonably good chance. They should beat Fermanagh in the first round but it will be tough, they're an improving side as well and did well in Division 4 of the league. But the win over Tyrone in the league play-off will have given the players and management a tremendous boost.
"The standard of football in Ulster has dropped, it's not as strong as a few years ago. Hopefully Cavan make the breakthrough. Football needs a boost to bring on the youngsters."
A member of the Detective Unit at Dundrum, the plain clothes officer is married to Mary (a native of Donegal) and the couple have two children, Sean and Ann-Louise.
Thomas Davis's preparations for the Dublin championship are well and truly underway now and the remaining members of the Martin household would be forgiven for not recognising their husband/father - such is his rate of absenteeism. But that's the John Joe Martin way, the only way he knows how - 100% commitment to the cause. Tweet
