It’s a typically dogged first division match.
Despite Sligo Rovers valiant attempt to embellish the
contest with some degree of sophistication, it looks as
if Athlone’s dubious ambition of strangling the life
out of the game will earn them a share of the spoils.
But just when fortune appears to have deserted the
brave, the victory Rovers adventurous approach deserves
is delivered by Sean Flannery.<br><br>Rising
majestically to connect with Mark Hutchison’s tantalising
cross, Flannery dispatches a header of awesome power and
precision low to the ‘keeper’s left. Game over.
<br><br>It’s been a hard slog for the twenty-two years old
striker. He won a League Cup medal with Rovers while still
a student at Summerhill College but, generally, the
good days have been the exception rather than the rule
as a succession of managers discarded the
youngster’s exciting potential in favour of the latest
import.<br><br>“I was a local lad yet I always felt like an
outsider. It was as if I didn’t belong. I would get a
chance in the first team and do well. Then somebody
would be brought in on loan and I would be dropped
again. No matter how well I played, there wasn’t any
respect for me. It was very frustrating”, he
recalls.<br><br>He wasn’t the only promising local player that
slipped through the net as the club’s full-time
professional policy mitigated against the fostering of
home-grown talent.<br><br>“There were players coming in to
the club who really didn’t want to play for Rovers.
But they were in the team and the local lads were
left out. The atmosphere wasn’t very good and it
affected everybody. Even the fans sensed that things
weren’t right and began to stay away. When I left last
year, I didn’t think I would ever come back”, he
explains.<br><br>A product of the famous Summerhill soccer academy
under David Pugh, Flannery was one of the stars of the
multi-talented College team which won the All-Ireland Schools
Championship in 1998. Conor O’Grady, Aubrey Dolan and Ciaran
Martyn, all now established National League players, were
among his team mates.<br><br>Ten months ago, however,
he was ready to turn his back on Rovers for good.
And if wasn’t for Don O’Riordan, he would almost
certainly be playing soccer elsewhere now.<br><br>In a
reversal of the situation which Flannery experienced in
his early days at the club, young local lads are
encouraged to express themselves with the prospect of a
decent chance of making the grade if they’re good
enough. Even though he’s still in his early twenties,
Flannery is one of the more experienced players at the
club.<br><br>“As one of the older players in a very young squad,
there is probably extra responsibility on me to help
the young lads along. I’m happy enough with that
because I experienced the other side of the coin when I
first came to the club and there was nobody there to
help me.<br><br>“Now, the atmosphere is so different.
The team spirit in the squad is terrific and we all
help each other.<br><br>“We’ve got a very young squad
and we’ve made an encouraging start but there’s a
long way to go and people will have to be patient and
not expect too much too soon.<br><br>“We’re building
a good foundation for the future and no matter what
happens this season, I believe the club is heading in the
right direction”, Flannery maintains.<br><br>The
Champion