Gerry Robinson reports on how the Cooley juveniles came close to wiping the board in 2001. He also gets the thoughts of Gerry Sheelan, who managed the club's U16 county championship winning side. The conspiracy theorists amongst us say that the most powerful and influential people in the world are all unknown - behind the scenes anonyminities pulling global strings for fun, all the more potent because they are faceless and therefore left unchecked. Applying a similar sort of logic to Cooley football, one could assert that the peninsula club's true strength lies in its underage set-up. The senior team has come of age in recent times . . . we know this because of the number of column inches they command. But unseen and almost covertly, the Cooley juveniles are building up a head of steam too. Last season, they continued to gather momentum like it was nobody's business, winning the all-county U14 league and U16 championship and going tantalisingly close to recording doubles in both grades. It is in these teams that Cooley Kickhams' true strength can be found. It is here that the club's future lies. Cooley hit the headlines like never before in 2001 as the plague of FMD rattled our prospering nation within inches of collapse. Cooley was culled and was rarely outside national headlines during the months of March and April. Those were hard, hard times for the denizens of the panoramic peninsula, particularly for the farming community inside the exclusion zones. Gradually, some light began to transcend the overbearing clouds of despair as the character of a young group of players who had themselves been tormented by personal tragedies shone through on the field of play. Spirit and character. The highlight of the year was the 2-15 to 1-5 victory over St Nicholas in the GM Furniture Systems U16 Championship final on Saturday July 21st, a win which compensated for the team's narrow defeat to the same opposition in the league decider. It also made amends somewhat for the unfortunate elimination of the U14s in the championship semi-final when they succumbed to a last-gasp extra time Clan Na Gael goal (the U14s won the all-county league and represented Louth in the Feile). Gerry Sheelan, manager of the U16 team, reflects: "We were very disappointed with the league final defeat. We felt we deserved to get there but didn't do ourselves justice on the day. That fired us up for the rest of the championship and the lads performed well in every single game they played after that. "We lost the final by three points to St Nicholas on a Friday night, having beaten our arch rivals Valley Rangers in the first round of the championship the previous Monday. We didn't play like we can that day but one must also give credit to the Nicks and point out that they played very well. "We decided that we wanted to get another crack at them in the championship and we knew that we could beat them if we played to our full potential." After the league final, there was a hiatus in action due to exams. When the championship resumed, Cooley took on St Mary's in the quarter-final at Cooley. They knew the Marys well, having played them twice in the league, including a play-off victory in Ardee. "We knew it would be close enough. It was a tough game but the lads played well and came through comfortably in the end," Gerry recalls. The semi-final was played in Dromiskin against O'Raghallaighs on the Monday evening prior to the final. It was a close call but the peninsula lads scraped through by two points. A great buzz was now discernible in the area. Nobody could quite remember the last time Cooley had prevailed at U16 level and the excitement was clearly palpable. What did the manager say to his charges before they took to the field? "We had one or two training session before the game and I simply told them that if they performed on the night they had the ability to beat the Nicks. The Nicks were a very good side but I knew that if we contested every ball and took our scores - which we didn't do in the league final - then we'd come out on top. "What followed was an excellent performance and we won by 13 points. That proved that the ability had been there all along. In many ways, losing the league final brought it home to the players that not only do you have to prepare well but you also have to perform for the full 60 minutes and takes your scores." At the start of the year, not many would have singled out Cooley as likely U16 champions. Was it on the management's agenda to go all the way. "Very much so. It was our ambition from the word go - we knew we had the players if we could get the performances out of them." Cooley's U16 Class of 2001 was headed up by Gerry Sheelan (manager) and selectors Peadar Gallagher (trainer), Paddy McGivern and Seamus Gregory. Gerry points out that the support the players got from some of the club's senior was also invaluable. He continues: "For the county final, we had huge support, as did the Nicks. It was a championship final and it was an awful pity it wasn't given a better billing because it was an unbelievable turnout." How important was the win to the club? "It was a great win considering that at the start of the year we weren't even allowed to go up to the pitch or anything due to the Foot & Mouth. But we were never going to use that as an excuse not to win anything. I felt all along that we had as good a team as anyone and that it was just a matter of getting them to perform." All this was achieved in the face of terrible adversity. The area was robbed of two young lives in road accidents within a short space of time and the club was dealt a further devastating blow with the demise of 17-year-old Colin Murphy. Gerry pays tribute to Colin's mother: "Colin was a very popular lad and it was a tough time for everyone. His mother is a remarkable lady. She continued to wash all the club's jerseys at all levels and, to be honest, I don't know how she does it. She's a brilliant example to us all." Gerry has been with this particular group of players for two years now. He also helped them win a North Louth U14 title and is now aiming to bring them through into minor grade: "I hope to continue working with them and I am convinced that they can without doubt win a minor championship. Neil Gallagher, one of the stars of the U16 team, was regular goalkeeper with the seniors all year and we also have a few others already playing adult junior football as well as four or five who can step up into senior within the next three years. A lot of the current seniors are already looking over their shoulders because this is a very talented side." Cooley Kickhams, 2001 GM Furniture Systems U16 Champions: Brian Malone; Barry Long, Declan McGuinness, Stephen Maguire; Aogan McGuinness (0-1), MJ Hanlon, Colin Donnelly; Donal McShane (0-1), Neil Gallagher (0-6); Keith White, Robert Kearney (0-2, Man of the Match), Brian White (0-3); Conor Rafferty (1-1), James McShane (1-1), PJ McGivern. Subs used: Shane Marks and Kenneth Keenan. Cooley retain Division 2A championship Cooley Kickhams successfully defended the Division 2A championship when they recorded a narrow but deserved victory over Naomh Mairtin in the final at The Grove on Sunday November 30th. In the end, the winning margin was a mere two points, 1-6 to 1-4, and the peninsula men - reduced to fourteen men with over 20 minutes left - were mightily relieved as well as proudly pleased upon the sounding of the final whistle. The game was the curtain-raiser for the drawn intermediate championship final meeting of Sean McDermotts and Naomh Fionnbarra and those who made it to the Castlebellingham venue early enough bore witness to a first half in which two of the softest goals ever were scored. The Mairtins opened the scoring with a goal in the second minute when Cooley 'keeper Sean Marks failed to deal with a long delivery into the danger zone from midfield and unfortunately fumbled the ball into the back of his own net. It was a nightmare start for the Kickhams and many's the lesser team would have struggled to recover thereafter. But they struggled on manfully and in the end got the break their perserverance merited. They still trailed by 1-1 to 0-2 after 20 minutes but were then the beneficiaries of another goalkeeping misjudgment when David Hoey capitalised on hesitancy to give his side a lead they were not to relinquish for the game's remainder. They led 1-3 to 1-2 at the break. Playing with the elements, Cooley dominated the opening exchanges of the second half but did their prospects little good when recording five successive wides. Paul Rogan settled their nerves with a 39th minute free but Gavin Long then received his marching orders . . . less than three minutes after entering the fray as a substitute. Michael Murphy stretched the Cooley lead to three points, 1-5 to 1-2, but the Mairtins reduced the leeway to the minimum as the match built to a thrilling climax. David Hoey's point four minutes from time was the game's final score and Cooley celebrated back-to-back successes as their captain Michael Murphy gleefully accepted the cup from County Board Chairman Terry Maher. Victors over Newtown blues after a replay in last year's decider, Cooley were up against a Naomh Mairtin side playing a final at this level for the first time. They were determined to retain their crown and in the process make amends for their disappointing exit in the latter stages of the senior championship. The Mairtins fielded a youthful side, although they had three vastly experienced players on show in the persons of Noel Healy, Martin Winters and Raymond Lambe. The freak goal gave them an ideal start but for most of the remaining 58 minutes or thereabouts Cooley looked the more assured, confident and accomplished team. They opened their account in the fourth minute through a Rogan free but the Monasterboice men re-established their goal advantage a couple of minutes later. Another excellently executed free from Rogan drew Cooley closer again in the tenth minute and then came Hoey's opportunist goal to put them in front for the first time. Hoey also got the winners' final score of the opening half. The second half was more of a dour struggle than anything else, something contributed to greatly by Long's dismissal. Those three second-half points from Rogan, Murphy and hoey were enough to see Cooley over the winning line. Cooley Kickhams, 2001 Louth Junior 2A champions: Sean Marks; Michael Hanlon, Martin Rice, Damien Murphy; Fintan Murtagh, Padraig O'Neill, Eamon Carroll; Paul Rogan (0-3), Niall Brady; Daniel Murphy, Brian O'Reilly, David Hoey (1-2); Andrew Boyle, Cormac Malone, Michael Murphy (0-1). Subs: Gavin Long, Conor McGuinness. Tweet

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