By Michael McMullan

THE Crosserlough players are making up for lost time after Sunday’s win over Ramor United secured the club’s 11th title.

Their last came in 2020, during Covid-19, when they felt many on the outside put an asterisk beside their title

There was also the restricted access with a limited number of match tickets and the HSE’s closure of pubs curbing their celebration.

“The mood’s been fantastic,” said joint manager Stephen ‘Archie’ Beattie.

“Obviously, we’ve left them to it. It’s a community thing but it’s massive for those lads in Crosserlough.

“I was listening to stories over the last couple of days. The last one (title) was the Covid championship.

“They got a bit of stick about it, that it wasn’t a real one. I’ll tell you one thing; they’re making up for it this time.”

There is extra value on the medal for Dara McVeety who had gone on his travels and missed out on it and Cavan getting their hands on the Anglo Celt Cup.

When Beattie and Ryan Daly took over, McVeety stressed he didn’t want to miss a game.

“He had that wee bit of hunger, I suppose, that comes from that sort of thing,” Beattie said.

“When your club wins a championship and you weren’t there and you’re as big a character as Dara and as big a contributor to on and off the field activities, then it was a lot sweeter for him.”

When the stakes rose in the knock-out stages, McVeety had the extra bit between his teeth.

They all had to raise their game following the news that Cavan ace Paddy Lynch was ruled out with an ACL injury.

The management included him in all things connected with the team. He was the kicking coach and at times was even along the sideline on a crutch.

“It’s not just Paddy Lynch, it is the same with any player,” Beattie stressed.

“We went out of our way to make sure that we kept everybody connected and everybody linked in to what we were doing.

“I’ve been saying to journalists for the last couple of days, you don’t miss what you’ve never had.

“We never had Paddy. He never played a game for us this year because of his involvement with the county and then this very unfortunate injury

“What a fella, what a guy. I’m really looking forward to seeing Paddy progressing with the county and with Crosserlough.”

Winning the title without their star forward put more currency on the overall collective.

Beattie also tapped into the message he remembers from his younger days. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

It’s like football management. A game-plan based around one key player is dangerously one-dimensional. Extra cards and flexibility it key.

“That was the big learning for us this year,” added Beattie, pointing to getting used to Cavan’s group format having only experienced the Tyrone kick-out system. It’s about peaking for the latter stages than just the first round.

“Another thing was pitches,” he added. “Our first group stage championship game was in Breffni which was suited us with the open spaces.

“Our next three games were on tighter pitches dotted around the county before coming back to Breffni for the quarter-final against Ballinagh.

“Then there is the weather conditions. It is breezy in Breffni but the day we played Cavan Gaels in the semi-final it wasn’t as breezy or as blustery as it was with Storm Ashley.”