By Niall Gartland

AMALGAMATION can seem like a solution to a problem clubs would prefer not exist, but sometimes it’s necessary when numbers are thin on the ground.

While this year has been difficult, Drumloman Gaels have a shining example of a successful amalgamation – a merger of Ballymachugh and Mullahoran, they won the Cavan Minor Championship in 2019.

One of their coaches, Tony Tierney, explained that kinship between players from bordering clubs is necessary for amalgamations to run smoothly.

“We’re two country parishes right beside each other, so a lot of the lads would have known each other already, especially from attending school with each other.

“So that wasn’t an issue, but it can be – we joined up with Mountnugent six or seven years ago and it was a problem. They sorta stood by one side to themselves.

“I just created drills where we pair a Ballymachugh lad with a Mountnugent lad and they’d get to know their names and they’d ask silly questions. But it didn’t really work.

“We subsequently joined with Mullahoran and it just fits better. It has been reasonably successfully, we haven’t won a heap of trophies but you’ve played Division One football nearly the whole way through.

“We won the Minor Championship in 2019 and a league a couple of years ago as well. Division One is great as it’s fast and speedy football and you’re punished if you make a mistake. You couldn’t get a better learning environment, but to be honest it looks like the amalgmation is being fazed out as Mullahoran have big numbers at underage level coming through.”

Mullahoran are one of the most famous clubs in Cavan, and currently operate in the Senior Championship, but Tierney says they always made sure that fairness is a top priority when it comes to their team selections.

“Mullahoran are a senior club and Ballymachugh are known as an intermediateDivision Two club. We have 90 students in our national school, we’ve only one in the parish, so when you divide that up by age group and boys and girls, Ballymachugh have very small numbers and are currently playing 11-a-side at u-13 and u-15 level.

“You try to be fair to every young child. When it comes to semi-finals, you pick your best team. Currently we’re playing in Division One and we’re not fit for it. We haven’t won a game this year because of injuries and other things. We haven’t looked to results and before a specific game is over, every player has got some minutes.”

“The MullahoranBallymachugh thing was never 13 players from one club and two from another, there was always a 5050 split all the way through. You have to be fair to the good footballers as well because they want to win.”

He explains that much the same applies to the team management as well.

“Normally we have two from each other. Currently it’s me and Liam Buchanan for Ballymachugh. He plays senior football and in fairness gives us all the time he can. We have Michael Fegan who played county football for Cavan years ago and has an Ulster medal from 1997. He’s on the Mullahoran side along with senior player Matthew Hynes. He gives as much time as he can as well.

“Management was always a hundred percent. I’ve worked with various people from Mullahoran since I got involved six or seven years ago and there’s never been any problems. Look it, everybody wants to play with their own, but it still improves football at the same time as you’re playing at a higher grade than you would be otherwise.”

Tierney also expressed his disagreement with the decision to regrade minor football to u-17 level as it makes it much more difficult for young players to ease into the senior panels of their clubs.

“I think you should stay with your own club until u-14 level at least.

“The one thing I don’t agree with is that Cavan have brought things back to u-17 and the drop out is going to be unreal from now on.

“The step up to senior football is considerable and you’re not developed at that age.

“If a lad’s born towards the end of the year, he’ll be playing all his minor football at 17 years of age. My own lad was lucky as he was born in December and he held onto his place when he started playing with Ballymachugh as they were in Division Three that year.

“But to be honest, you’re going to lose a whole lot of players. We’ve an exceptionally good 18-year-old, Shane Tynan, and he dislocated his shoulder in his first senior match. He’s a very good prospect and it’s just unfortunate.”