Remarkable journey of team that reached the Promised Land

In October 2006 Wolfe Tones footballers achieved something the club had never managed to achieve before - they won the Keegan Cup.

In time-honoured fashion those who were in the Tones dugout that day darted out onto the field at the final whistle, broad smiles on their faces, arms in the air in triumph.

The aim of the space invaders was to get to the players on the field who wore the purple and gold; to hug them, maybe even kiss them; to savour and celebrate the moment because it was a very significant milestone for those who were closely involved in making it happen - the players, the management, the people who made up the backroom team. It was the club's first SFC success.

Up in the Pairc Tailteann stand and out on the terraces, supporters of the Tones too could have been forgiven for doing a jig of joy and waving those purple and gold flags with extra vigour because the victory over O'Mahonys that October day was indeed a marvellous achievement for a relatively small club - and the culmination of an extraordinary journey.

Just a few years previously Wolfe Tones were languishing in the junior ranks - and even there they weren't exactly setting the world on fire. In the league they plied their trade in Div 3 and in the championship they struggled to make an impact.

Then something happened. Some kind of alchemy took place and a group of players started to really make their presence felt in the local football scene.

The astonishing journey that led all the way to the Promised Land started.

THE JOURNEY

There are probably various versions in and around Gibbstown and other townlands that make up the Tones catchment area as to when the journey got really underway.

Surely one of the starting points was when Wolfe Tones appointed Tony Kearney as manager in 2000.

From Lacken in Co Mayo, Carney had worked as a teacher in Castletown National School before he became principal at Carlanstown NS.

He played football with Castletown and briefly dabbled in management both at Castletown and Carnaross without making any major inroads. He also coached at schools level.

Then the Tones came calling.

"They were a junior club and I was reluctant at first to take over but a great Tones man, Tony McDonnell, Lord have mercy on him, argued their case. The club's ambition was to stay in Div 3 and to win a championship game or two because they had been in the doldrums," he recalls.

"Probably one of the reasons I took it over was I felt there was only one way the club could go."

It didn't take long for the Tones to make an impact as a group of young players started to emerge and make their presence felt.

"In 2001 we won the u-21 B and the following year the u-21 A beating St Ultan's in the final. We were getting new lads in all the time. That bunch of players gelled completely together and we were fortunate we had nobody with the senior inter-county team. We might have one or two minors, but they were soon back with us."

Looking back on it all now Kearney sees a number of turning points, crucial stage posts, learning curves, call them what you will, that were all part of the team's evolution.

One of those was the 2001 JFC final.

"We lost that final to Curraha after a replay. We should have won it the first day, but we were well beaten the second day. In hindsight it was a blessing in disguise, we weren't even close to being able to compete in intermediate at that stage."

The following year the Tones lost to Nobber at the quarter-final stage. Kearney takes the hit for that, saying the team just weren't right.

"I take the responsibility for that because we were stuck to the ground, we didn't have a competitive game for weeks, they had two championship games the previous two weeks."

Lessons were been learned by both players and management. Vital experience to be stored away for another day.

In 2003 the Tones got the formula right beating Ratoath in the JFC final. Not only that, they went on to win the Leinster and All-Ireland junior titles.

"Everything snowballed from there," Kearney adds looking back. It got better for Tones. In 2004 they landed the IFC title with a victory over Duleek in the final - and in the process made history by winning junior and intermediate titles in successive years.

"We were fortunate to defeat Duleek on the day, John 'Rusty' Tiernan played exceptionally well and Derek Meehan in goals made an exceptional save to keep us in the game. Absolutely exceptional save."

The Tones also progressed to the All-Ireland IFC semi-final where they lost to Tyrone side Pomeroy.

"We were all together, a unit, and the lads simply loved to play football, it was as simple as that. We were fitter than most other teams and part of the reason for that was that we had a team of good agile, young lads and the more games they played the better they got."

There was no question of the Tones finding themselves overwhelmed in the senior ranks. In the 2005 SFC campaign Kearney's troops made it to the quarter-finals.

"The fact that we went through 2003, 2004 and 2005 without hardly a break was a blessing for us because as long as the players were playing they were getting experience, improving. I think we won 33 championship games in a row until we were beaten by Pomerory. I'm counting the All-Ireland JFC which was unofficial competition at the time."

THE DESTINATION

When Wolfe Tones started out in 2006 there was no big aim to end up with the Keegan Cup in their arms.

"We never dreamt or talked about winning the SFC. We had a bunch of lads who were very much together, there wasn't one person who wasn't happy to be part of the panel. They didn't whinge if they didn't get on the team, they just got on with it," recalled Kearney.

"We won our league in 2006, every game was taken as a game to be won and we hated having a break for three or four weeks, we wanted to be playing Sunday after Sunday, week after week.

"We had respect for each other. Now they didn't all love me or anything like that, but the return for what we did was good, all they had to do was look at their medals. Our team for the first two years in senior practically picked itself. For 2006 we made an agreement with the players that nobody would take holidays and 21 birthday parties would be limited and they bought into that. All that meant that they focused completely on football.

"For five or six years we lived in a kind of bubble, it was football, football, football, that came first. We were fortunate they were all young lads, there were very few of them married. We asked them to give total commitment and they did."

In the opening round of the SFC the Tones defeated Cortown (0-13 to 1-7). Then, very significantly they overcame three big guns, Skryne (1-11 to 2-7), Dunboyne (1-11 to 0-9) and Seneschalstown (2-6 to 0-11). As starts go it could hardly be bettered. They then drew with Trim (2-6 apiece) and lost to Walterstown (0-13 to 1-11) before comfortably overcoming Ballinlough (4-15 to 0-13).

It was onto the quarter-finals and there St Patrick's were defeated (2-6 to 0-7). In the last four Wolfe Tones really put down a marker by subduing Simonstown (1-11 to 0-10). The final beckoned.

O'Mahonys were red-hot favourites. After all they were the aristocrats of the game. Wolfe Tones were the newcomers, the hopefuls, seeking their first crown at the highest level. There could only be one winner. Right?

One of the sub-plots of the final was that the great Tommy Dowd was in line to win his second medal having claimed one with Dunderry back in 1995.

"Tommy was a great character, great to have around the place," Kearney recalls.

So all was set for the big day. Kearney and his selectors Gerry Thompson, Morgan Carr and Terry Lynam named the team. It was along familiar lines.

The Tones were ready for their date with destiny and when it mattered most they were able to conjure a big performance.

They were able to defeat O'Mahonys and become on the Keegan Cup winners - and complete a truly remarkable sequence of championship triumphs over three unforgettable years. As they say in racing circles they were champions all right.