Derek Crilly hoping to light up the Junior Championship with Stabannon

Just like in soccer, January is a time for transfers in the world of GAA too, with county board meetings at this time always attracting more attention then usual. Who’s looking to go where, will they be approved or denied? It is a time of great speculation.

One such transfer that caught the eye earlier this year was that of former Louth Senior footballer Derek Crilly, who has made the move away from Dundalk Gaels to link up with Junior side Stabannon Parnells.

His last action after over 20 years of service was keeping his home club in the top tier, after the Gaels overcame O’Connell’s in the Relegation Play Offs. After that tie, the switch to a new club just made sense, both from a family and sporting perspective.

“I’ve been living in Ardee for over 10 years, but we had started building a house up in Stabannon” stated Crilly. “It isn’t finished yet but that is where we will be living long term. With the kids and stuff like that, the switch just made sense.

“I’m getting on a bit now in age and it is about managing my time. I’ve been coming off in plenty of the matches after 40 to 45 minutes, so I was maybe not fit enough for the Senior level anymore. I just wanted to be able to enjoy my last couple of years playing football.”

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And what a time to be joining the Parnells, a side who are clearly enjoying their football. They were desperate to get out of Division 3B this year, that being their main target for the year. What has followed has been a glorious run to the title. It leaves the North Louth club feeling very confident.

“We have played very well year and there has been lots of tough games to contend with. We started with a loss but recovered well. It is great when you are winning matches, we won 10 or 11 in a row. It makes it easier for everyone to come training.

“Maybe we played around 16 or 17 game in all competitions and won something like 14 of them, so It has been really enjoyable experience so far ahead of the championship.”

Unlike in the Senior grade where most teams tend to be meeting each other quite regularly due to being in or around the same division, in the Junior championship it can be very hard to gauge who are the top teams.

But one thing is for sure, Crilly and Co will soon know where they stand when they go into battle in Group 1, facing up against a team they know very well in Sean McDermotts as well as the new boys Naomh Fionnbarra who were relegated from Intermediate football last year.

“The Finbarrs game is a great chance to see where we stand, obviously we don’t know what level we are going to be at right now, and they provide the opportunity for us to find out.

“Then we have a clash with the Seans, who we have had a couple of great tussles with us this year as well, so it is going to be a tough group which will really test us.

“The likes of Lann Leire are flying and then you have Glen Emmets up in 3A too giving Junior teams a good test. But it is funny as you have teams spread across three divisions, 2, 3A and 3B, so you really don’t know who to fancy but that is the joys of this competition.”

After such a great career in the game, one that has seen him get involved with top class local, college and inter county setups during a glittering career to date, people might expect him to be a role model for the up-and-coming young Parnells players. The likes of Harry Butterly and Sean Reynolds.

However, the prolific forward wanted to stress that he doesn’t see himself in that role, noting they don’t need his advice. They are good enough prospects in their own right. Instead, he hopes his professional attuites from years at the top will rub off on all involved with his new side.   

“I take training and the likes quite seriously. I look after myself fairly well so maybe guys will pick up things like that from me. But I’m not a massive talker, if anything I’d chat to the lads about other stuff away from football.

“I’m not the one shouting at every training session, but if people can pick a few things up from me when it comes to preparation, that would probably be my contribution to the cause. I’ll let the lads develop naturally as they are talented footballers.”

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Stabannon were knocked at the Quarter Final stage last season. Missing key players Sean Halpenny and Bobby Butterly, they went down by 2-11 to 2-7.

Crilly stressed that the championship had yet to be discussed much, as it was all about securing promotion. On how far they could go from here, he was unsure, but claimed in his eyes at least they were well capable of putting it up to any opposition they may face.

“It’s hard to say that we just want to get past the quarter finals. We need to get out of a tough group first. We just want to go there and play well, continue to keep up our good form. I think we are going to be a difficult team for anyone to play, but we will still need another step up from everyone.”