John Rehill Among Fermanaghs Elite Few in number indeed are Fermanagh players who have ever captained an All- Ireland winning team but one who can claim that elusive honour is Enniskillen Gaels Clubman and current County midfielder, John Rehill, who, on a never to be forgotten March Sunday in 1989, led St. Mary's College, Belfast, to Sigerson Cup glory. That historic first ever triumph for the teacher training college, fondly known to generations of students as "The Ranch", not surprisingly forms the highlight of 28 year old John's playing career to date. A singular honour for the Erne County as well, where All-Ireland medals of any sort are as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth. Adding further icing to the cake, among John's team mates as they withstood the fiercely determined challenge of university college Cork, led by Kerry's Maurice Fitzgerald, were fellow county stalwarts Malachy O'Rourke (Derrylin) and Fergal McCann (Irvinestown) with Lisnaskea's Eamonn Shannon also in the victorious panel. The 6' 2" fourteen stone, stylish midfielder from the county town has other major honours too in his footballing curriculum vitae in addition to the coveted Sigerson medal. In 1983, for instance, he was a member of the All-Ireland Division Two League winning Coleraine University side, another college "first" and nearer home, he played a most influential role as his Enniskillen Gaels team swept to Senior Championship victory in 1987. Surprisingly though that re-annexation of the New York Gold Cup after a lapse of nine years, rather than presaging an era of supremacy by the men in blue and yellow, instead was followed by a doldrums manifestation, despite the obvious enviable panel attributes of talent, experience and physical prowess. The barren spell still continues, broken only by the occasional flash of defiance in intervening Championships, most notably this year's semi final replay defeat by Newtownbutler. Not even the capture of the club's only Senior trophy since 19879 the subsidiary competition Canon Maguire Cup, at the start of the 1991 season, none other than current county champions Lisnaskea defeated in the final to boot, has made any appreciable dent in Enniskillen's failure to build upon that 1987 triumph. and for the third year in a row the side is locked in the throes of Division One relegation with safety by no means yet assured. Erratic and enigmatic are the terms most appropriate to Enniskillen's Senior side and when asked to account for this undesirable phenomenon, John Rehill is quick to pinpoint a lack of commitment, recurrent injuries and summer transatlantic excursions as key factor militating against dedicated team manager, Jim Tummon's attempts to regularly field a side capable of emulating his heroes of 1987. In supportive evidence he is quick to focus attention on the stark reality that the side which came so agonisingly close to snatching a place in this year's county final included no less that seven changes in personnel from that which had captured the Canon Maguire Cup so impressively four months earlier. The lure of Uncle Sam had for instance, deprived manager Tummon of Lynchpins like the youthful county trio of Paul Brewster, Raymond Curran and Simon Bradley, but, based on his own experience in 1982, John feels that situation might not recur to the same extent next year - "Having sampled the states, I was not all that keen on a return visit." He is, therefore, hopeful that the Gael's next Senior Championship challenge will be substantial In nature, citing the acquisition of another county medal as one of his two main playing ambitions for 1992. The other is to help Fermanagh, Just like his club, go one step further and clinch a first Ulster final appearance since 1982. John was not on the panel for that momentous occasion but he burst on to the Ulster Championship scene in no uncertain fashion the following year when he was part of the tremendous first round effort which eliminated newly crowned National League Champions, Down, at Irvinestown, truly one of the shocks of the decade. A virtual ever present in the green and white since that dramatic slaying of a footballing Goliath by one of the game's David's, John, a teacher in his local St. Michael's Primary rates Jack O'Shea and Peter McGinnity as the players he most admires with the latter also being cast in the "most difficult opponent" category. Remarkably similar to that illustrious duo, in that he too is a supremely gifted helder of a high ball and adept at inspirational bursts through the middle to crash home spectacular goals from around the thirty metres mark, John, like Peter and Jacko, is also a perfect gentleman on and off the field. With his modest, unassuming manner he has won the respectful admiration of G.A A. fold throughout his native county and far beyond and will surely play a key role in both club and county colours well into this decade. As befits one who has so well mastered the art of gaelic football, John expresses himself well satisfied with the game as it is now played, identifying the tackle as the only area of concern. The need for a clear definition of this contentious aspect, he sees as a ma~or priority and perhaps such a development, if it ever comes to pass, would go a long way towards eliminating his only other gripe, namely differential rules interpretation by referees. Far from uncommon complaints these, but no doubt, if all players approached the game with the same positive attitude of sporting endeavour as does this most excellent ambassador for club and county, then few would be the problems and many the delights. Taken from Hogan Stand 8th November 1991 Tweet

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