Doc looks back to future

YOU go to any Kilcoo match and you know you’ll usually arrive after the majority of fans and the pitch, the grounds, walking in or out will be surrounding with children with a football in play.

You’ll usually see the players taking time to engage with the fans with elder statesmen or children and it something Kilcoo star player Ceilum Doherty is proud off, writes Steve Malone.

“You always see them, they're always on the pitch, and when you’re coming back out you always hear the tannoy saying, ‘any children, please get off the pitch’,” said Doherty.

“At training tonight they’ll be at the side of the pitch, they’re always helping lift the cones, and then you just think back, like I was that lad in ’09, or when Kilcoo first won the league in ’03 - that just brings the culture of Kilcoo, everyone aspires to be in the senior team.

“You'll go watch if they're training on a Saturday morning, they'll probably try and reenact something one of the lads have done on a Friday night in a league game, but sure that's what brings it all together.

Even my mother and father, like they're nearly leaving before you to go to the match, just to make sure they get the same seat. You just be appreciative of the support you get for both club and county.

After the semi-final win the lights of Pairc Esler were being turned off and Doc was still playing into the clubhouse goals.

“That's my wee niece and nephew, they always hang about after, and you do see a lot of the boys with their kids. It's a fun time, it's a special time, especially when they go to watch the match, and you just want to play with them,” Doherty said.

“Because, at the end of the day, they would see that as a big stadium, getting to play, kick about and that. You always remember when you were that wee age, running about, making sure you were taking your ball to the match, putting your name on it so you didn't lose it.”

Doherty joined the Kilcoo squad in 2014 and it was the next year before making the proper breakthrough, so he is at the stage of career were he is the senior member but has plenty older than him and a few more younger coming through and he feels a bit of responsibility and remembers how he was treated when he joined.

“You do, but it's how you can relay that responsibility to the other players in the team,” said Doherty.

“There's a good crew of people, and there's a lot of boys older than me as well, so you're always learning as well as providing support to the younger lads.

“A lot of boys on our team are able to deal with whatever way the game goes, or ebbs and flows, so it's not just one person, but we have a lot of great players and a lot of boys that have been here and soldiered on, so it just could be anyone.

“We know that collectively, we've just got to be on it from the first minute and keep pushing on.

“It always was a great group. Obviously, you had the Anthony Devlins, Gary McEvoy, Gerard McEvoy, Sean O’Hanlon, Conor [Laverty], Aidan [Branagan]… all of them men were statesmen that had soldiered, had went to the well, so you always looked up to them in awe.

“And then when you got to play with them, it was a big moment. You just had to be on it every night in training, because the standards were always set - you just had to follow in.”

Kilcoo are going for their 14th Senior Club Championship title since that breakthrough year of 2009 but the barista Doherty insists he is not taking anything for granted.

“You feel very lucky and blessed to be playing for this team, but you know - especially our age group - because we won nothing underage, so we did have that hurt. It wasn't a case of winning everything, so you just be so appreciative, because you never know when that time can elapse.

“You just need to make sure you're taking every opportunity with both hands, and we're so appreciative to be in this position currently. I love football - football's been a massive part of my life since I was a young lad, and I still have the same passion.”