Breen, Artie
December 06, 1996ARTIE BREEN
Is confident of replay success for the Ernesiders
With the replay of the 1996 All-Ireland "B" Football competition final now just around the corner, the gaels of Longford and Fermanagh are in a somewhat apprehensive mood, wondering if their team can clinch a prestigious title…..and perhaps follow in the footsteps of previous 'B' competition winners Leitrim, Clare and Loais, all of whom improved dramatically once the All-Ireland title had been secured. It was Fermanagh who snatched a late equaliser in the drawn game and former county player Artie Breen is confident that the Ernesiders will make the most of their second opportunity. Artie is confident too that Fermanagh are taking the correct route to that elusive first ever Ulster Senior title - a Holy Grail which he believes is becoming more and more attainable to all counties in Ulster as the overall standard there continues to level out.
An uncle of present Fermanagh full back Sean Breen, Artie Breen is as stalwart a Gael as you're likely to find in county Fermanagh, where the grass roots GAA continues to thrive against all odds. The proud Temop Maguires clubman, who is General Manager of Campbell Contracts (based at Coolcran, Tempo) would talk all day about gaelic football in Fermanagh, in Ulster….or anywhere for that matter. Artie played on the Fermanagh Senior county team himself back in the late sixties, but admits that, while those were enjoyable times and it was an honour to be involved, "it didn't go very well; we never made much of an impact".
After coming up through the basic underage ranks that existed in Tempo back in the fifties and sixties, Artie graduated into the club's senior team as a skillful seventeen year old and remained on the Tempo Maguires premier adult XV for the nest eighteen years. Eighteen good years, all told.
Fermanagh football in the sixties and seventies was famous for the high-octane clashes which resulted from an intense rivalry between Tempo Maguires and Teemore Shamrock… the two leading lights in the county during that era. Artie recalls with great fondness many brilliant duels with the Quinns and co, many of whom were also team-mates on the Fermanagh team.
As far as garnering medals goes, the purple patch in Artie Breen's career arrived in the early seventies when his beloved Tempo scooped three Fermanagh Senior Football Championships in the space of four years - in 1970, '72 and '73. Add to that a senior county league in 1969 and four more in the early seventies, and one can see quite clearly that those were indeed profilic times for the men from Tempo. While Artie spent most of his club playing days operating from midfield (he was full forward on the 1970 championship winning side), it was a wing forward that he made his mark with the county team for three years.
As General Manager with Campbell Contracts, Artie has been fortunate enough (thanks to the generosity of company Managing Director Jim Campbell) to be able to mix business with pleasure. The company is a kind sponsor to the Tempo club's underage section, an area in which the club enjoyed a highly successful 1996. The young lads of Tempo did Artie, Campbell Contracts and their supporters proud by storming to victory in the U12 blitz, U14 Division 2 league, and U16 Division 2league.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the Tempo seniors collected a commendable double when they proved themselves to be better than the best of the rest not just in Division Two of the League but also in the Intermediate championship. So, Tempo will return to senior ranks in 1997 and are sure to be a force to be reckoned with. And bearing in mind the progress being made at underage level, one can't help but conclude that the future must surely be a bright one for Tempo Maguires. HOGAN STAND's prognosis is certainly a healthy one!
Joint club Treatment for the past fifteen years. Artie Breen agrees. His optimism is totally justified. "As we did the double in '96, nobody could argue that we didn't deserve premonition back to senior level. We have a good young team now with a fair number of experienced heads as well. We're confident that we'll hold our own as senior level, maybe even do better than that. And if our talented young players from underage level can be held on to a nurtured (a huge task facing all clubs in Fermanagh) than I could safely say that the sky is the limit," he enthused.
Eamon Rasdale is manager of the Tempo team with Artie lending a welcome helping hand at backroom level. Club Chariman John McIlroy [with Damien Campbell (the former inter-county referee) and Cormac Rice as his assistants] takes charge of the underage section… and is doing a fine job by all accounts. The famous Kieran Campbell and Michael Murphy are over the club's minors.
"I'm delighted to say that the club is very much on the up,"
Artie Breen notes. "We have plans to re-develop our pitch next year. Our intention is to extend the playing are and give the pitch a general overhaul to bring it right up to modern standards. We owe a great debt of gratitude to our two sponsors - Eamon Howe's pub and Restaurant in Milltown Manor sponsored is one set of jerseys while Campbell Contracts sponsored the second set."
Campbell Contracts has been in business for 27years. The company specialises in plant hire (predominantly to the NIE), underground cable work, water mains, lorry hire and has its own sand and gravel pit. The catchment area consists mainly of county Fermanagh, but the company will tender competitive for work anywhere in the six counties - or south of the border (in counties Leitrim, Sligo, Longford, Cavan, Monaghan, Louth etc). Altogether, a staff of approximately thirty are employed to carry out Campbell Contracts extensive operations.
Looking ahead to this coming weekend's All-Ireland 'B' final replay. Artie Breen has his money on a Fermanagh win: "It's not going to be easy as the first meeting would suggest that there's not much between the teams, but I feel we're good enough to beat Longford. In the drawn game, Fermanagh were lucky and unlucky at the same time. We missed a few early chances - including a good goal-scoring opportunity - and should have gone ahead but ended up chasing the game. In the end they did well to come back and Longford will probably feel that they were unlucky to concede a late equaliser.
"Eamon Coleman's men will be wondering how they let it slip the first day, so the physiological advantage could be with us. I'm very optimistic that Fermanagh will be All-Ireland "B" champions come Sunday evening."
Fermanagh have a few aces up their sleeves. Young Rory Gallagher, for example. "Rory is a tremendous player," Artie agrees. "He's still very young, but showed tremendous confidence to kick over that equaliser in the drawn All-Ireland "B" final. This is a very young Fermanagh team and, while they might be a bit on the light side, they have plenty of football in them. We're a bit like Tyrone in that respect. Except that our players haven't got the same self-belief as Tyrone."
Fermanagh are starved of success, and their hunger could prove to be insatiable on Sunday. They'll be determined to turn Longford over, but when the All-Ireland "B" dust settles, attentions will be turned to Ulster Championship first round clash with neighbouring Cavan.
Will the Cavan men prove too strong for Fermanagh? Or could Fermanagh cause an upset? "I would be hopeful for Fermanagh", Artie says. "It's a reasonable draw. They've enjoyed a very good run in the "B" competition, and if they can maintain their form over the winter could very easily beat Cavan. But first of all, they need to win the All-Ireland 'B' final, because it's success that gets the confidence going. Fermanagh got to the Ulster final in 1982, and probably should have won it. Our U21's took an Ulster title in '94…..perhaps we're due a good run at senior level."
The winners from Fermanagh and Cavan will face either Donegal or Anrtim in the semi-final. A place in the 1997 Ulster final is certainly up for grabs!
Fermanagh might just grab it!
Taken from Hogan Stand magazine
6th December, 1996 Tweet
