Silverware would be fitting tribute to ‘Fozzy’

It has been a tough year for Strokestown. The sudden passing of former player, Martin ‘Fozzy’ Fallon, in January rocked the club to its core, so it’s understandable that there will be a little poignancy embedded within Sunday’s intermediate football final against Éire Óg.

‘Fozzy’ was a selector on the last Strokestown team to win the intermediate championship in 2010. It was a game that current coach, Conor Silke, played in, and the former forward feels that it would be a fitting tribute to the Fallon family if the Jamesie Murray Cup made its way to East Roscommon on Sunday evening.

“More than anything, Fozzy’s death shook the club. Hopefully, we can bring silverware back to the club for him and his family. His best friend Damien Donlon is chairperson. I can’t speak more highly enough of Damien for what he has done for the club this year with everything that has gone on in the background,” he said.

Silke’s career spanned 21 years between 1998 and 2019. Two intermediate titles in 2000 and 2010, alongside a famous senior triumph in 2002 — a team that were managed by former Éire Óg player and manager, Pat Doory — were highlights before the coaching bug bit.

Having been part of various Strokestown U-16, U-18 and U-20 teams, he spent a couple of years coaching with Leitrim outfit, Feenagh, in 2002 before he told Strokestown manager Pearse McGinley in January “you know what, I’ll give it a go” when asked to become part of the current intermediate set-up.

“Coming in this year, there’s a lot of hurt among the boys. I think they felt they left last year’s final after them. Having been senior champions in 2022, there would have been an expectation that the lads would have bounced straight back up, so for that not to happen shook the club a bit,” he reflected.

During Silke’s playing days, Strokestown’s ability to come straight out of the intermediate ranks in 2000 and 2010 was down a cohort of experienced players with a sprinkling of youth that put the fear into every other intermediate team at the time.

Despite winning the Fahey Cup in 2022, the dynamic has changed.

“We’ve lost so many players over the last couple of years — players like Cathal Compton and Seán Mullooly — and you can’t expect younger players to replace players of that quality.

“It’s unbelievable to have Seán (Mullooly) back. Given what he’s done over the years, to be able to bring a fella like that back into the panel, you can’t get that anywhere else.

“Thomas Corcoran has returned the last few weeks and is putting his hand up for selection for the final. We had Cathal Compton back in the middle of the year, but work commitments ruled him out.

“Stephen Tighe, Timmy Gibbons, Shane McGinley, Colm Neary, and there are a few minors coming next year that, hopefully, will bed in well. When you have that, Strokestown has a bright future,” he asserted.

Honing in on the present, however, Silke recognises that Strokestown are playing a top team on Sunday, meaning they will need to find the consistency they’ve been lacking over the course of the season to harbour notions of victory.

“Finding consistency is the big thing with us this year. It was the same during the league — very good one day and not so great the next. I think we’ve been better over the last six weeks in terms of pushing on in games.

“It mightn’t have looked like that against Fuerty but you have to give Fuerty a huge amount of credit, they really put it up to us. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to us. We expected Fuerty to be a lot better than Creggs, so hopefully it was the wake-up call we needed.

“Éire Óg have shown what a good team they are at this level. When you have the likes of Conor Cox, Jason Doory and these boys up front getting the scores, it’s going to be tough. But we’re ready for it.

“We’ll have a plan and while certain Éire Óg players will need to be earmarked, we’ll play our own game. We’ll be well prepared, and we’ll go out and do our best. We really feel that we have the panel to win the match,” he concluded.