Football

Crossmaglen Rangers: Tony Kernan surprised by his proximity to history

Tony Kernan scores against Scotstown in November's Ulster Club final<br />Picture by Colm O'Reilly &nbsp;
Tony Kernan scores against Scotstown in November's Ulster Club final
Picture by Colm O'Reilly  
Tony Kernan scores against Scotstown in November's Ulster Club final
Picture by Colm O'Reilly  

THEY are just 120 minutes away from finally joining Nemo Rangers as the most successful Gaelic football club ever.

 But, if Tony Kernan is honest, he didn't see this opportunity coming for Crossmaglen Rangers.

Sure, making it to seven All-Ireland wins alongside the Cork and Munster giants was a constant source of motivation, but the tale of the tape in recent years offered little encouragement. After beating Kilcoo in the 2012 Ulster decider, Cross lost their opening provincial games in the following two seasons and high mileage for key players allied to managerial uncertainty conspired to leave the club at a relatively low ebb.

They were whispering it quietly around Ulster, but the definite suspicion was that the great Cross may finally be on the slide. Kernan was aware of the suggestion and, privately, thought his days of winning Ulster and All-Ireland titles with the club was over.

"I think it was just down to the way we had gone in Ulster over the previous couple of years," said Kernan.

"Like, we hadn't won a game in Ulster for two or three years. We were maybe getting on a bit, a couple of the boys anyway, and we had a different management team in and, yeah, I didn't think that we would be winning Ulster clubs again.

"We thought maybe the amount of Ulster clubs and All-Irelands that we had, that maybe that was going to be our lot and we'd look back at that number whenever we retired. But midway through the Armagh championship last year, we brought in eight minors from our minor team and they completely lifted the whole atmosphere around the camp.

"There was an enthusiasm about training and it started to become fun again and we were laughing and joking and the craic was back in the dressing-room. And the extra numbers definitely helped and, obviously, the fact that the boys were able to play football. As it turned out, we won the Ulster club and they won the Ulster minor, so they've really been a huge lift to us and probably the main reason why we're in an All-Ireland semi-final."

With another Ulster title now added to his collection, Kernan, who turned 30 this month on the day he was crowned AIB Ulster Club player of the year, is naturally eyeing another All-Ireland win. He accepts it's a cliche, but says the best way to make that dream a reality, in his experience, is to focus on one game at a time. That means not looking beyond the considerable challenge Castlebar Mitchel's will present on Saturday evening in Cavan.

Kernan, who will return to the Armagh set-up when the latest club odyssey is complete, is happy to talk up the strength of Cross' squad though. He believes this strength became apparent when they were forced to dig deep to overcome Scotstown in the Ulster final after extra-time.

"That was a great game and we also found from it that we still have the hunger," said Kernan.

"That was the really big thing. You don't really know about those things until your head is in the ground and someone's just scored a goal and you have to pick yourself up. We found out, certainly, that we've got the hunger to keep playing at this level and to keep wanting to achieve things at this level.

"We found out about the squad that day too. In previous years, we've come down and maybe won an All-Ireland with 17 or 18 players, whereas I think we used 10 subs against Scotstown with the extra-time, so we found out that we've got a squad that can compete at that level and are capable of pushing us on."

Kernan said the motivation to keep winning comes from various sources. Sometimes, he says, there is a short-term burst of adrenaline to succeed following the passing of someone close to the club. Other times, it's to prove a point or two to those who may have written the team off.

Sometimes, however, he and his Cross team-mates have simply had to accept defeat and to stew on it. The greatest period of soul searching occurred towards the end of 2009, when the players were left to reflect on their failed bid for 14 county titles in-a-row, just months after losing the All-Ireland final to Kilmacud Croke's.

"Some of us would have a huge amount of regret in that we were going for a record at that point and some of the people we idolised, the likes of John, Oisin, Francie, Tony Mc - we felt they probably deserved to have that record of winning whatever consecutive championships it was," said Kernan.

"For a year or two afterwards, we were quite sore about it. It certainly pushed that group of boys. We'd lost the All-Ireland against Kilmacud and, later that year, we lost in the Armagh championship and it was the end of the world that night, for the week or two after, even a couple of months.

"But once you get back and you start winning a couple of championships again, you kind of forget about it and you find something else to think about. There's always something new to chase and to motivate you."