Senior final day at Kingspan Breffni Park, saw the shifting of football power from the county town club, Cavan Gaels to an impressive and determined Mullahoran team. Dreadnoughts were worthy winners of the crown, the Oliver Plunkett Cup. By Tony Dunne. It was just reward for many attached to this proud club, as they had contested the previous three finals against the same opposition only to loose out by the narrowest of margins on a number of occasions. This time round, there was no room for error as the Dreadnoughts, produced a concerted team effort to completely dominate the former champions. While it is accepted that this was a crowning moment in the club's football history, Mullahoran, as a club, as a parish, were further honoured when Paul "The Gunner" Brady, cemented his reputation on the world stage recapturing his world handball title. This achievement has to be taken into context with the fact that Paul is the only player ever worldwide that has managed to retain his title at this level. While Paul was blazing glory for himself on the American continent, the journey through this year's season belonged, without a shadow of doubt, to another, 'Gunner', Danny. It was Danny's performance throughout the season that set Mullahoran apart from the chasing pack. Indeed when the early season form hit a rocky patch, it was Danny who managed to eek out salvation in the league, with some superb timely scores to help secure Mullahoran their Division 1 status and set his team up for an exciting run in the championship. Just like Eddie O'Reilly was last season, Danny 'The Gunner' was without comparison when it came to picking the accolade of "Player of the Championship". While it would be easy to extol the virtues of 'Danny boy', it would be remiss to exclude the considerable contribution made from his fellow 'veterans', like a powerfully commanding midfielder, Christie Sheils, Danny Mel Reilly, Paul Brady, Eddie Reilly, and goalkeeper, Eamon Brady who had a flawless campaign. This was by no means just the workrate of a handful of determined and focused players, it was the commitment of the entire squad, who had to overcome adversity, in losing their three previous finals to the same opposition, that helped bond the younger members, like captain, Seanie Smith, Ciaran Sheils, Norbert Smith, Dermot Sheridan, Sean Brady, Philip Brady, Patrick Brady into an efficient and effective unit. While the players produced the performance on the playing pitch it was the hard working backroom team that gave them the inspiration and belief to take this championship journey to its final conclusion. The hard work put by their manager, former Armagh player, Justin McNulty; trainer, James Lovett and selectors Noel O'Reilly, Padraig O'Reilly and Tony Lynch proved to be of immense value. Mullahoran who had been on the losing end of the previous three senior finals to the same opposition, were expected to add a fourth defeat to this already dismal statistic. However, it was evident right from the outset that this was never going to be the case. A lesser club would have folded possibly after the second final defeat, but such is the character of the Mullahoran club, that they never had any doubt that they could master their more fancied rivals and three-in-a-row champions, Cavan Gaels. The Gaels were served warning when Mullahoran who only just survived the semi-final against Killygarry, but who on the replay, made sure that their pathway to the final was not to be interrupted as they powered past the challenge of the red and blacks. As determined as their display was in the replay semi-final, the opening ten minutes of the final against hot favourites and champions, Cavan Gaels was to prove to be an ominous sign of the intentions of the challengers. So committed and purposeful in mind, the efficiency which they displayed throughout the entire team was sufficient to give them the edge throughout the entire field. With a rampant Christy Sheils at midfield, Danny "The Gunner" tormented the champions throughout the game. While the Gaels opened the scoring through Cormac Nelligan it was Danny Brady who pointed his team-mates in the direction of victory when he latched onto a pass from Eddie Reilly after a mix-up in the Gaels defence to give slot the ball into the net for the first of his side's two goals. Mullahoran's focus was tested when approaching the half-time mark; Eddie Reilly was sidelined by referee Joe McQuillan, in the twenty-eight minute. At the end of the half, Mullahoran held a slender one point lead 1-5 to 0-7. On the resumption, Mullahoran set the seal to victory when they dominated the champions in the opening ten minutes and but for some poor finishing should have put the game out of reach. Indeed, the dominance of the Mullahoran side belied the fact that they were now down to fourteen men. Entering the final quarter, Mullahoran held a two point advantage 1-7 to 0-8. With just ten minutes of normal time remaining, it was another of the Brady clan, Philip, who provided the final blow to the champions when he slotted in his side's second goal. This goal was to ensure that the title was now firmly heading out of Cavan Town and to Mullahoran. While the sides traded points in the final minutes, the five minutes of injury time probably caused more anxiety among the Mullahoran supporters than did the entire sixty minutes that preceded as they waited with baited breath to express their joy. Mullahoran - Eamonn Brady; Seanie Smith, Ciaran Shiels, Nobby Smith; Dan Mel Reilly, Dermot Sheridan, Paul Brady (0-1); Christy Shiels, Sean Brady; Patrick Brady, Philip Brady (1-3), Thomas Nannery (0-1); Danny Brady (1-4), Eddie Reilly (0-1), Conleth Mel Reilly. Sub. Ciaran Reilly for Patrick Brady (61m). Chairman's delight Noel O'Reilly, the club's hardworking chairman could feel justifiably proud. His belief and forward thinking was fully rewarded with this impressive victory over Cavan Gaels. Noel was quick to deflect any praise from himself when he said: "It says a lot about the character of the team that we performed to our best with only fourteen players for the second-half. Despite losing Eddie Reilly we proved to be more determined than ever which was evident in the manner we approached the second-half." "One of our best performances in the competition was in the semi-final replay against Killygarry as well as a couple of wake-up calls on the way. But the team prepared diligently for this final and came out for the second-half with renewed confidence and were first to the ball." Noel now finds himself at the helm of the Mullahoran club after been re-elected along with the entire management team for the coming season. Ulster Club Hot the heels of their dizzy success, Mullahoran were drawn against the formidable Crossmaglen in the Ulster Club championship. The calibre of the opposition was daunting enough, having won the Armagh SFC on eleven consecutive occasions and one of the leading lights in the All-Ireland club championship, the task was always going to be a struggle. While exiting from the tournament, on a scoreline of 2-13 to 1-7 Mullahoran will have gained valuable experience from this sojourn at Ulster club level and will be hoping to return to this level next season. World Handball champion Paul Brady proved to be the master craftsman on the world stage of handball when he successfully retained his world title at the US Nationals Open Singles championship held in Los Angeles, thus confirming his status as the world's number one player. Carrying the mantle of champion and favourite, Brady displayed the necessary qualities needed to make a champion. A powerful display of controlled, stylish handball saw him ease his way past some of the game's most dangerous opponents before taking on whom many Americans touted as the games most dominant force, Naty Alvarado Jr in the final. Paul produced some superb handballing skills in the final and while Alvarado did put in a spirited performance in the second game, it was not enough to unsettle or unseat the reigning champion. Just three weeks after securing his US title, Paul travelled to Edmonton in Canada and took on the might of the handball world. Paul proved to be the supreme champion adding the world title to his already long list of achievements. Paul' achievement of securing his second world title makes him the only player in the world to do so. This was achieved against what many believed to be the strongest ever field assembled for the tournament. Paul now holds singles titles at Irish, US and world level. Along with his double partner Michael Finnegan, the Cavan pair have proved to be equally successful at national and world level. Cavan Person of the Year Having received civic receptions in his own county in recognition of his achievement at handball on the world stage, Paul Brady was further honoured when the Cavan Association in Dublin named him as their "Cavan Person of the Year". An award that no-one could quibble with. Paul received his award at a gala function held in Westmanstown Sports Centre, last November. Hurling Mullahoran retained their status as the county's strongest hurling team when they retained the Cavan SHC title when they defeated Woodford Gaels on a scoreline of 1-7 to 2-1. The game which attracted a bigger than usual attendance was played under the new floodlights at Kingspan Breffni Park. The St. Joseph's side were rocked when Woodford Gaels took the lead with a goal after the sides had exchanged opening minute points. A goal just short of half-time by Hugh Briody seemed to have settled the champions when disaster struck just on the stroke of half-time when Woodford Gaels netted their second goal to give them a interval lead of 2-1 to 1-3. In a second half that produced some good hurling and an evenly contested affair, Mullahoran bagged the vital scores and held off the challenge of the west Cavan side to run out winners by three points. Mullahoran St Josephs: Darren Sheridan, Thomas Reilly, Damien Brady, Sean Og Brady (0-1), Barry Dalton, Anthony Sheridan (0-4), Stephen Brady, Paul Sheridan, Martin McArdle, Ronan O'Hagan, Jonathan Dalton, Hugh Briody (1-1), Edward Dalton, Mark McEntee, Jason Donohoe. Mullahoran made it all the way to the Ulster club final where they met the formidable might of Down side, Bredagh. This was always going to be difficult game for the Cavan side and as was expected the Down champions ran out winners. Ladies football Unphased by the success of the senior men's squad, Mullahoran ladies showed themselves to be equally successful; when they managed to participate in the final stages of many of the competitions they entered into. While the senior ladies lost out in the final of the 9-a-side competition to Lurgan at Ramor Park, Virginia on a scoreline of 4-13 to 1-12. This was a repeat of the previous year's final, where Lurgan emerged victorious on that occasion also. Good displays, especially from free kicks, by Kate Smith and good work from Breda Smith and Mona Sheridan was not enough to wrestle the title from the holders. While the senior ladies failed to win the title, progress at U-14 level was evident with the side contesting both league and championship finals. The U-14's gained further success winning the Cavan Feile crown. A gallant effort by these young girls just fell short in the All Ireland U-14 Feile final. Victory in the Cumann na mBunscol Division 2 final and success in the Cumann na mBunscol 7-a-side final auger well for the health of ladies football in the future. The minor squad also had a good season with a strong showing in the championship where they are one of the favourites to take this title. Further success was achieved when they U-15s were crowned All Ireland Pioneer champions The U-16s proved worthy winners of the 9-a-side competition. They have also secured a place in the U-16 championship final and will prove quite a handful. This list of achievement and finals contested is indeed a heady mixture which should see the club posing as one of the strong elements in Cavan ladies football. Rounders Success is synonymous with rounders at the Mullahoran club. Playing under the banner of Erne Eagles, winning has become second nature to the senior men and women at the club. The senior men and minor team emerged victorious as All Ireland champions for the 2006 season, while the ladies, although reaching the final were unlucky to lose out. The performances of both men and women were duly recognized and rewarded when six members were honoured with All Star Awards. Those awarded with the accolade "All Star" were: Aine Brady, Rosaleen Reilly, Dympna Reilly, David Reilly, Jim Reilly and Damien McArdle. New Grounds Mullahoran PRO Raymond Brady feels justifiably proud with all that has taken place both on and off the field at his club: "As a club we have always worked hard. This year the reward was evident on the playing field when we won the senior county title. "We have committed a massive capital investment into the club and have a state of the art complex, floodlights and a running track. Work is still ongoing at the grounds and when completed will provide the one of the best facilities of any club in Cavan and must surely rank up with the best in the country." Charity Games "In honouring the memory of two former members, Vivian Dowd and Emmet Fegan, the club staged two charity games. The proceeds of both these games will be donated to designated charities," stated the hard-working Mullahoran PRO. A year to remember "I think this is as good a period for the Mullahoran club as there's been in the last 50 years" - Mullahoran club chairman Noel O'Reilly tells Kevin Carney. 2006 was a real passion play for Mullahoran Dreadnoughts GAA. It was an award-winning production which was much more about the collective than the individual, club chairman Noel O'Reilly maintains. Last year saw the Dreadnoughts' far greater division of labour earn them the SFC title and while the winners' entire cast shone on the field of play, there was no mean supporting cast among the club's hierarchy and wider membership, O'Reilly informs us. In the aftermath of Mullahoran's 2-10 to 0-10 win over Cavan Gaels in last year's SFC decider, Noel O'Reilly was sporting the look of a trainer leading his horse into the winner's enclosure at Epsom on derby day. But for the long-serving Dreadnought, his beloved club's race to claim the top prize Cavan sport has to offer had much more to do with a three-miler at Aintree than a sprint on the Downs. "The players showed unbelievable staying power after losing three finals in a row," insisted O'Reilly, now entering the third year of his chairmanship. "They'd been down on the ground so many times and to pick themselves up last year and win the championship showed tremendous character. "Five years ago, the club lost a quarter-final of the championship by 17 points and things looked bleak for the club but within a year the same group of players came to within a point of winning the championship. The players came back against the odds to appear in two finals after that and then achieve the ultimate reward last year - it's a great credit to them. The Mullahoran chairman revealed how the sheer self-belief in the Mullahoran camp drove them to the promised land. "There's no doubt in my mind the hungrier team won the day and nobody can say the lads didn't deserve to win. "I'm not surprised they stopped the rot in terms of championship finals because they were totally focussed on landing the title. I genuinely believe the writing was on the wall with the way we finished the league and the way we stuck at it when things got tight in the latter stages of the championship against the likes of Kingscourt and Killygarry. "Justin (McNulty) did an excellent job in turning things around during the year and I think this is as good a period for the Mullahoran club as there's been in the last 50 years. "We had Kieran McGeeney in for a few sessions during the summer and his chats were inspirational - you could hear a pin drop when he was speaking to the lads. I think McGeeney ended up being our trump card. He gave everyone that extra bit of relief," adds Noel who was joined as a selector of the team by Padraig O'Reilly, Tony Lynch and James Lovett. Generously the estatic Mullahoran clubman is at pains to credit Cavan Gaels with raising the bar as regards club football in Cavan. "The Gaels were tremendous champions and great ambassadors for the county but even after we had Eddie (O'Reilly) sent off we won pulling up. I suppose things couldn't have worked out any better for us. "I mean to stop our losing run in county finals and to do it by beating the Gaels who were obviously determined to make it four-in-a-row. Beating them was like beating Kerry in an All-Ireland final." Of course, Mullahoran's success in reclaiming the high ground on the football field was matched by their re-affirmation of their pre-eminent position in county hurling circles. And there is the no small landmark achievement of the club in seeing the state-of-the-art sports complex at its pristine Lady of Lourdes Park become firmly established as the heart or hub of the parish. To date the guts of 2 million euros has been splashed out on making the complex and the park in general one of the finest club facilities in the country and Noel is understandably proud of what has been achieved. "A few years ago there was an air of despondency among our supporters that maybe the senior championship title was behind the team but Mullahoran can bank on one of the best supports in the county and they (club supporters) stuck by the team and eventually the players came good. "In a similar way, everyone in the club and the entire community got behind the club when plans were announced to build the complex and kept faith with us as we went about raising the money to pay for it. "Thanks to the help of our honorary President Fr. Owen Devanney plus Brendan Smith TD and councillor Danny Brady we were able to keep our promise to the people of Mullahoran that we would build the complex. "We ran a 50 euro draw for prizes totalling 30,000 euros; took in 191,000 and made a profit of 160,000 and together with sports capital grants, we were able to proceed with our plans for the complex. "We've since set up a 200 club where each person pays 50 euros per month for five years on the lines of Club Tyrone whereby people in support of the club can put their money where their mouths are. "I'm fortunate in my position of Chairman that I've been able to count on a lot of very hard-working and dedicated people on the committee and it was a result of all their efforts and the support and goodwill of the general membership of the club and the people of Mullahoran generally that we now have such an outstanding facility and grounds at Our Lady of Lourdes Park," Noel enthuses. Since the complex's completion and the installation of complementary floodlights, Mullahoran's headquarters has never been more utilised and in recent times both the Cavan minors and under 21s have used the Dreadnoughts' facilities for training purposes while just a few weeks ago a Sigerson Cup tie between NUIG and UUJ was played there. "I can't understand why more GAA clubs don't push the boat out and invest in the kind of floodlights that we have installed," Noel explains. "The kind of gates we'd get for a game on a Sunday afternoon doesn't compare to the number of people who'd be coming through the turnstiles for a Friday evening match. "The additional income from gates adds to the money coming in from renting out the complex to the county hurlers, ladies footballers, indoor soccer, basketball and other sports. "Before the complex was built, the youth of the area had nowhere to meet up but that has now changed and it's great for such a rural area as Mullahoran to have such a meeting place for the community." Not that O'Reilly and Co. are planning to rest on their laurels or allow their club to become a stagnant entity in deference to its progressive, forward-thinking self. Instead, the club is in the process of purchasing 19 acres adjacent to Our Lady of Lourdes Park. "We hope to develop a playing pitch on the new ground, possibly an astroturf pitch, and car parking facilities," Noel says. "The club is committed to moving forward and building on the work we've done at the park and building on what we've achieved on the playing front too. "We're fortunate in that we've a lot of very good people getting involved at underage level in coaching and there's a good stream of talent coming through. "Even though numbers wouldn't be great in the area the odd year, we're making the best of the material we have at juvenile level because we want to be the talk of the county, not only for our facilities, but for our teams on the park as well. "We have people with vision and hunger at every level of the club who are united in their ambitions to drive the club onto even bigger and better things and I'm just delighted to work alongside them." Looking ahead, Noel says he would dearly love to see Mullahoran making it back-to-back blue riband titles but "getting the better of Denn in the first round won't be easy." Noel believes in the maxim that it's harder to retain a title than to win it but he has great faith in the current bunch of players based at Our Lady of Lourdes Park. "Belief won't be a problem for the lads and they know they have the talent and the ability to beat the rest of the teams in the county so you never know what way things will turn out this year. "In my mind winning the senior championship this year would be a hell of an achievement; even more of an achievement than winning it last year." And doubtless everyone on the Longford border is itching to get another shot at a run in the Ulster club competition? "Definitely. We're itching to get back onto that stage because we didn't give a good account of ourselves against Crossmaglen. "We got a taste of action at that level and we'd like to have another go at it, especially because of the way we let them get a goal after 30 seconds and were 1-3 down so early on. "We worked hard to get back into the match but I don't think any club in the country would have been able to get back at Crossmaglen having given them such a headstart. "I definitely think if we were fortunate enough to win the senior championship again, the lads would be far better able to do themselves justice in Ulster the next time round." Tweet

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