Oldcastle never had a chance!

Oldcastle never had a chance. I learned that at Carton House Hotel, Maynooth last week when I wandered in on the launch of a new coaching-style DVD - it's much more than that, but let's keep it simple here, something that the top coaches try to achieve regularly! RTE presenter Brian Carthy kept referring to it as a video, as I did myself, but the modern version of the video is the DVD. So it's a DVD. And so it was launched by the popular RTE sports guru who shared a podium with the legendary duo, I think that's a fair and reasonable description of Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and Kilkenny manager Brian Cody. Produced by JWTV Productions, a catchy name in itself for those of us old enough to remember JWT - those of you who don't recollect, no point in explaining. Anyway, Messers Harte and Cody play the lead roles in this thrilling production of 'Passion and Glory' - it's almost a catchy Christmas title and it's sure to be a festive number one in many households. As former Meath hurling manager Michael Duignan told me, as we leaned against the bar in the plush surroundings of Carton House - "Now we will all be able to find out the secrets of success, should be good when some of the lads come back after the excesses of Christmas for that first training session" - but then as the experts explained - "it's not an exact science anyway, but you have to keep trying to improve all the time." Easy to write about, so I'm told fairly frequently, usually laced with a bit of sarcasm along the line of - "What match were you watching" - and Mr Duignan didn't escape a mild form of censure from the Kilkenny boss, possibly over some relevant comments in the comfort of the RTE studio. Back to Oldcastle. Why did they never have a chance? Well, not too many weeks ago, Oldcastle were eliminated from the Leinster Club IFC by the good men from Maynooth. This followed a spirited display by the Oldcastle players (they don't do any other kind) against both Maynooth and Cashel of Longford in the opening round of the provincial series. Anyway, I can exclusively reveal, due my razor sharp powers of observation, that Mickey Harte actually coached the Maynooth team for the pupose of the DVD - 'Passion and Glory' - there on the big screen, we saw Maynooth, the 2009 IFC Kildare champions, having their performance fine-tuned in a 90-minute Harte beat. I recognised Maynooth as I had watched them survive intense Oldcastle pressure for most of the second-half at Millbrook on Sunday, 15th November. I couldn't resist the opportunity to ask a question and duly raised my hand. I got to follow the likes of Val Andrews, Martin Donnelly and Michael Duignan, my name was called out and there was a buzz of expectation in the room. Ballivor's Paddy Doyle was sitting behind me and was probably hoping that I would ask a reasonably intelligent question. Well, Paddy, I didn't let you down. Like the best coaches advise, you have to try to disguise your intentions, so I said I have a question for both managers and asked the hurling one first. Mickey Harte was totally off guard. It was a perfect feint, just like he coached in the DVD, and while Brian Cody replied to my in-depth and probing question about hurling, the Tyrone supremo relaxed. "Mickey, did the lads in Oldcastle know that you were coaching Maynooth" was thrown out. Brian Carthy liked it, he referred to is as a 'typical Meath dig' while, and this is where I stepped into the ambush myself, the Maynooth team who were all seated behind me, greeted the six-marker with a lot of laughter and made it known that they had qualified for the Leinster final which they went on to win on Sunday with a 1-8 to 0-8 victory over Tubberclair. Mickey took it in good spirit. "I have a lot of friends in Maynooth and I had a lot of friends in Oldcastle, I'll probably have to build some bridges now when they find out about this" - that's the gist of what he said. He also added, to a different question, that a manager can make some bad decisions on the sideline on a day that he wins and can make some very good decisions on a day that he loses. "Sport can work out that way, it's not predictable and that is what makes it attractive." If he didn't say that exactly, well that's what he meant. On hurling in the 'weaker' counties - Cady was adamant that at under-age level across the country, the skills of hurling are fairly equally distributed. "I've seen teams from Leitrim Roscommon and Westmeath at Feile and they were on a par with many Kilkenny teams, the problem, and the gap, emerges as the players get older and this has to be an issue for the relevant Co Boards," he suggested. "At the top level it is competitive, we've had to beat four different teams to win the last four All-Ireland finals, look at the progress Dublin have made, that didn't happen overnight, it's all about developing skills at under-age levels," added the Kilkenny man who this week will be wining his way to Argentina with the hurling Allstars. "We never set out to have a perfect product in this DVD production, it's about giving people some ideas about what can be achieved with the right set of circumstances," suggested the Tyrone boss. Autographs were sought by the enthusiastic patrons who enjoyed a good night at Carton House and got to meet two of the top managers in the country. "Passion and Glory" is packed with interviews, drills and training session hints and some motivational tips. These will certainly have the coaches chomping at the bit for the new GAA season in 2010. It will probably be hugely popular in Oldcastle.