On New Year’s Day, Dromintee’s minor side completed the clean sweep of underage football. But they’ll enter senior football in a pressure-free zone.

By Shaun Casey

TWO years ago, Dromintee had no Ulster titles to their name. Now, at the start of 2026, they have two provincial crowns and it’s all down to the same young team that has come through the ranks and brought unprecedented success to the club.

They won an All-Ireland Féile before capturing the Paul McGirr U-16 Ulster title two years ago. They followed that up in 2025 with a first-ever county title at minor level and were crowned Ulster champions at St Paul’s on New Year’s Day after victory over Clontibret.

The youngsters that have come through are an exceptional group. They were earmarked from early on as a team that had huge potential and they’re now showcasing their talents on the wider stage.

“About 10 years ago there would have been a lot of competitive blitzes back then and there would have been silverware coming back to the club, even at that age,” recalls former Armagh and Dromintee goalkeeper Philly McEvoy.

“That just grew over the years and we’re at the stage now where the lads have pretty much done a clean sweep through Armagh. Wow we’ve two Ulster titles as well at U-16 and minor level, which is pretty incredible.

“We did feel that they had the potential to go a lot further than any Dromintee team had gone before and that proved to be the case, so it’s been a brilliant journey.

“The beauty about the team is that, early doors you would have seen lads that stood out, and the temptation then is to build the whole team around those two or three players but that wasn’t the case.

“Everyone had a starring role and that developed each player over the course of the ten years. The best quality of the team is that there’s quality all over the pitch – they’re not reliant on one or two players and that’s a major positive.”

Injuries to key men, namely Diarmaid O’Rourke, Gavin O’Rourke and Michael Walker, suggested a tough campaign in Armagh, but they came through without three of their best players to topple everything in front of them in the Orchard County.

“It seemed that in every game they played in Armagh, there was just another unfortunate injury but someone else just stood up each time. Scott Harris came off the bench for Michael Walker in the preliminary round – he’s still u-16 but he scored two goals.

“He would have played with that group to try and progress as much as possible. The lads wouldn’t have got over the line that day against St Peter’s without Scott’s contribution but that’s just one story out of multiple over the years.

“With other teams, you’d have a star player or two and if they got injured then it’s very hard to replace them. But with this team, any obstacle that came their way, they all chipped in and played their part and that’s why they’ve had so much success.”

In the build-up to the St Paul’s Ulster tournament, joint-manager Kevin Toale praised the Dromintee players for their maturity. While the on-field heroics have been widely celebrated in the Dromintee area, and rightly so, their off-field air has been just as important.

“They’re all good lads too, which is more important than how good of a footballer they are,” McEvoy continued. “They contribute a lot to the underage setups; there’s a couple of the lads that help me with the u-8s and u-10s.

“Michael Walker has put in a big shift, not only with his own team, but he goes to u-8 and u-10 training and wouldn’t miss a session. Bd by the end of the year, he was actually taking the sessions at 16 or 17 years of age because he had earned that trust from us.

“They’re all brilliant volunteers and contribute not only the success on the pitch but also looking out for the younger groups coming through. The younger lads and girls are just in awe of them to the point where they’re almost seen in the same light as the county stars.”

In his speech after lifting the trophy, captain Conor Laverty singled out Aidan O’Rourke for special mention and thanked him for his contribution to their rise to the top. While it’s much more than a one-man band, McEvoy is also full of praise for O’Rourke’s input.

“We’d have a bit of expertise around the club in different areas like strenght and conditioning with Shane O’Neill. There’s different yoga teachers that have lent a hand and with pretty much all the health and wellbeing stuff, everyone in the club contributes to it for all underage teams.

“There’s a lot of people doing a lot of work behind the scenes and this success wouldn’t have happened without them. It’s not all about winning trophies. You want to develop young people as people first and foremost but also as footballers.

“Aidan would be the last man to put himself up as the main guy behind it but if you look at his track record, it’s hard to speak against it.

“If I go back to 2003, we won an u-21 championship for the first time in our history and we haven’t won one since and Aidan was the coach then. I was on that team and Aidan was the main man then and that’s 23 years ago.

“He has contributed to all age groups and there’s two decades of work there and he’s put a big shift in. He would be the first to say that the work of Kevin Toale and Stephen Dyas has been massive.”

While the club has put everything in place, the players have driven a lot of it themselves, as McEvoy experienced firsthand.

“Even as a goalkeeping coach, James McBennett had me in his house when he was nine or ten taking him for sessions.

“He was mad to do that and that’s not on me as a goalkeeping coach, that’s a lot to do with James wanting to be the best he can be, even at that young age. He’s had an exceptional year in nets and that’s all down to him wanting to progress and improve.

“All the lads have that mentality. The only thing we can do is try and contribute as much as we can as club people to try and give them the best opportunity for success and thankfully it’s panned out that way.”

At senior level, Dromintee have four championship titles on their roll of honour. Two at junior level and two at intermediate. The most recent of which was back in 1996.

McEvoy was part of a Dromintee side that reached five Armagh Senior Championship finals during the noughties but came up short against the all-conquering Crossmaglen on each and every occasion.

They club haven’t featured in a county final since 2010. There’s hope that this team can get them back competing for a senior championship in the near future, but there will be no level of pressure or expectation on their young shoulders.

“The main goal is to get as many of these lads through to senior football as possible and provide them with a senior career,” McEvoy added. “What that brings, who knows? There’s no guarantee that underage success will translate into senior football.

“Whatever happens, they have provided the club with some of the best days that the club has ever experienced. I asked my wee lad before he went back to school what the best thing about Christmas was and he said Dromintee winning the minor championship.

“We couldn’t have asked for anymore out of this team, whether that bears fruit at senior level going forward, who knows? There’s zero pressure from the club and there’s never been pressure on them the whole way through.

“Knowing those lads, they’ll want to make an impression at senior level, and they’ll do all the work necessary but senior football is ultra-competitive.

“We’ve seen a few different winners in the Armagh SFC in the last few years which is fantastic, but it also shows that there are quality teams out there and everyone has their sights on a senior championship.

“There’s no pressure from within the club on the lads. They’ve provided some unbelievable days for us and if they’re able to provide a few more down the line, we’ll grasp that opportunity. Time will tell but hopefully the future is bright.”

TOP OF THE TREE…Dromintee have won everything there is to win at underage level.

ALL-IRELAND CHAMPS…This young group won an All-Ireland Féile in 2022.

OVERSEER…Aidan O’Rourke has helped put underage structures in place at the club.

CLUBMAN…Philly McEvoy has enjoyed watching the rise of this team through the years.