George Dugdale is back in the Leitrim colours Mohill man lines out at centre half forward in Sunday's crunch game with Galway There was a time, not too many moons ago, when the climate in Leitrim wasn't at all conducive to the propagation of a spirited, optimistic gathering of die-hard footballers capable of shaking up the status quo in Connacht. The appropriate structures and organisation which would lend themselves to stirring the passions of it's fiery young footballers weren't quite able to re-ignite the flames of 1927, when lovely Leitrim last conquered the west. Thankfully, times have changed and the necessary framework has been firmly situ for a number of seasons now. Leitrim's rollercoaster drive to bridge that yawning 66 year gap is definitely stepping up a gear. Threatening to go into overdrive for several seasons now, Leitrim's likely lads approach next Sunday's championship set-to with Galway's best earmarked as at least an even money bet to advance further. In a transition period and not quite the scary power they were in the McManus/Talty/Brennan halcyon period, the tribesmen haven't has much to lose as their visitors this weekend, some observers moot. The inside track from the Leitrim camp doesn't care to differ although the county's ace sharpshooter George Dugdale confessed to Hogan Stand this week that "we don't see Sunday's match as a do or die effort but we hope and should really click this year." For the 25 year old Mohill master who specialises in physical education studies at Monaghan's Collegiate Secondary School, next weekend's Tuam fare represents a case of championship time re-visited. After an absence of two seasons on the provincial championship circuit, the Cavan town resident is gunning for all opposition, including of course, the men in maroon. Lovely Leitrim's prodigal son is back in business on the inter county front and isn't the burgeoning Leitrim following glad of it too! A dyed-in-the-wool committed attacker but a team manager's favourite crutch when possession percentages are required to be upped, the current fans favourite west of the Shannon is hopeful of going on to add considerably to his medals collected at club underage level. Truth is, if John O'Mahony, Mickey Quinn, Dugdale and friends have anything to do with it, there'll be migraines aplenty at the close of Sunday afternoon's action. George Dugdale and his peers over at the tidy, closely knit Mohill club a decade ago never really enjoyed a poor day once they cast aside their under 12 and under 14 gloves and came into their own at under 16 level. It was in this latter grade that gifted George and pals really tore apart the opposition from Sean O'Heslins, Ballinamore and elsewhere. Having suffered the bitter disappointment of going down in three under 12 deciders, what followed later was to be a whole new departure for the Mohill mob. According to the club's would-be county senior attacker, the orchestrator of this turnaround was none other than Galway man and local Marian College school teacher Matt Gaffey. "Matt was in charge of the underage teams at Mohill and he had a large part to play in our success. He put in place a proper training schedule and structures and all the lads had great respect for him as a teacher and a coach, and even though Sean O'Heslins had players like Barney Breen, Paul Kiernan and Ciaran Mahon in their side, we did very well every year." So well, in fact, that the Mohill underage maestros cleaned up at underage level, initially dominating at under 16 level to win four titles on the trot. Later the same group of players added a championship double and a brace of league titles at minor level, before graduating en bloc to sweep the boards at under 21 level for three years in succession. They were great time for great underage players like Dugdale, Pat O'Toole, Tommy Ellis, John McGlynn and Gerry Canning among others. Sadly, a mix of emigration, blatant lack of ambition and a revamping of priorities among Gaffey's prodigies stymied any further success at Mohill. That Mohill failed to build on their winning streak and realise their potential is something which is quite obviously still a sore point with their star ball-carrying supremo. "At senior club level the proper structures weren't in place and the proper training wasn't done by the lads. A lot of the lads got their priorities wrong and although the ability was there and the potential, we missed the boat. Losing out in two county championship semi finals at senior level in 1988/89 was the end result," George reflected. Even for the most uniformed Mohill GFC observer, it's hard not to feel a degree of empathy with the said Dugdale a he reminisces on what might have been. The Matt Gaffey/Brendan Gallagher axis which was in control of senior affairs at Mohill in '86/'87 "just didn't get the commitment from the players who had emerged from under 21 level and that's basically why the success at senior level never materialised." For a player of Dugdale's calibre and will to win psyche, such a turn of events hardly helped form a buffer to his and Leitrim's frustrating days at underage county level. Like most of the Mohill GFC clan, George boasted of award winning days played out on behalf of the local Marian College secondary school, Corn Breiffne trophies and two Connacht College C title victories raised unwarranted expectations however of further glory at minor and under 21 inter county glory. Simply said, there were too few Dugdales about lovely Leitrim circa '84-'89 to inflict the gravest defeat at the final hurdle on the long time powers in Connacht. A county minor when he was only sixteen and for three consecutive seasons at under 21 level, one of his county's leading attackers cum midfielders in partnership with such as Ballinamore's Ray Logan and Paul Kieran, Dugdale progressed from receiving little joy with manager Tony McGowan at county minor level to even greater frustration at under 21 in 1986, under the stewardship of Leitrim's Monaghan born team manager Declan McCabe, the 5'11" and twelve stone plus 'erstwhile Jordanstown University physical education student was powerless to prevent Leitrim under 21s going down 0-5 to 0-12 to May in the provincial final. Still, the perception was there that better times were on the horizon for Leitrim GAA incorporated. "You could see a noticeable improvement in the organisation off the pitch and the performances on it during Declan McCabe's time. A lot of credit must go to him for elevating the county up a notch or two in terms of it's professional approach to things. In hindsight Declan probably laid the groundwork for PJ Carroll to follow onwards," George recalled from his home in Cavan town which he shares with wife Jackie (nee Heaslip) from Denn, County Cavan. Undoubtedly equally as potent a player at soccer (he has played for the Irish Universities team and Irish League side Bangor) the flying winger only served under PJ Carroll for some five weeks only, due to an unfortunate broken collar bone (including a 1990 championship outing against Roscommon). Yet he had seen enough of the Carroll scheme of things to appreciate the legacy he handed over to Mayo recruit John O'Mahony. "He raised the discipline to a new level and everything abut the county set-up noticeably improved. Everyone trained properly and prepared themselves well or else they had to go elsewhere," explained the man who gave notice of his return to fitness after the collar bone injury with an impressive display against Cavan on February 14th last in the National Football League. He is, after all, "only starting to peak after some years when I honestly didn't give it my all." Where once he struggled to find enough inspiration, appetite and interest to compete at gaelic football at the highest level, George Dugdale is now rearing to go all the way with O'Mahony's brigade. And what of O'Mahony himself? Is he good for Leitrim football? "We can only get better under John. He's been to an All-Ireland and knows what it takes. He exudes confidence in everything he does and most importantly, he can identify problems that arise during the matches and rectify them. He's calm and collected and his attitude has definitely rubbed off on all the players," offered the man who spent part of the 1992 season "on loan" from the Mohill club to the Denn club in Cavan, but whose unashamed ambition is to win a county senior championship medal with his home club. Appreciative of the difference Leitrim's Dublin recruit Jason Ward has made to the gathering of ammunition around midfield, George is most confident of Leitrim's ability to satisfy the best wishes of their huge support. Greater self belief remains one of the county's goals, he reckons but the side still has the wherewithal to overcome the obstacle presented by Galway at Tuam this Sunday. "Playing against Galway away is one of the most difficult draws we could have had but if we are to win out this year, we'll have to beat the best. They're young and light, they're rebuilding and their style of play will probably suit us and I'd be more than hopeful that we'll do well." In championship, digging deep when the chips are down is what counts. In that respect Leitrim's Green and White hordes can have no worries that Dugdale will dig deepest of all ... if required! Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 28th May 1993 Tweet

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