Fear of failure drives the Kernan family’s pursuit of excellence

Aaron Kernan has already tasted his fair share of glory, but he still wants more much more, writes Brendan O’Brien.

AARON KERNAN’S teenage years were filled with regular and successful trips to Croke Park. When he was 12 he watched Crossmaglen win their first All-Ireland Club Football title. When he was 14 and 15, he watched them do it all over again.

His dad Joe was manager all three times and, when he was 19, Aaron again travelled to Dublin to watch his old man deliver Sam Maguire to the county of Armagh for the first time.

He is 23 now and has had successes of his own. Ulster medals have been earned with the club and the county at underage and senior grades and in 2004 he played wing-back on the U21 team that pipped Mayo for the All-Ireland.

So far though, the opportunity to emulate those Cross and Armagh teams of his childhood has eluded him.

With Cross, he endured the disappointment of a semi-final defeat to Portlaoise at Parnell Park in January of 2005 while on county duty Tyrone and Kerry boycotted his path to the biggest stage of all.

Tomorrow he gets another chance of returning to Croke Park when Cross travel to Mullingar’s Cusack Park where they will begin as strong favourites against Roscommon’s St Brigid’s.

“It’s what drives us on, it was the same whenever we were younger,” says Kernan who missed December’s Ulster final with a broken arm.

“I was 12 when we won our first All-Ireland (in 1997). That definitely drives us on, to go on and emulate the boys who have won All-Irelands.

“Sam Maguire is probably the ultimate for every young boy growing up but winning the All-Ireland with your club is something you would always dream of doing as well. We’re in a semi-final. Hopefully we can drive on from here.”

Seven years on from their last All-Ireland, some things have changed but others remain the same. Last year’s county title was their eleventh in a row and guys like Paul Hearty, the two McEntees, Oisin McConville and Francie Bellew, who all played in 2000, are still clocking in every Sunday.

Bellew however is a doubtful starter for tomorrow’s game which means even more weight being placed on the shoulders of the younger brigade led by the likes of Aaron and his brother Stephen.

“When I broke onto the team initially it was at the end of the 2002 season. There was a lot of young boys starting to come through at that stage and a lot of the older boys who had won the three All-Irelands although some of them were starting to drop off. There’s still a core of them there although it’s fallen on us younger boys to come in and fill that mantle. We’re slowly but surely getting there.”

These boys are no green horns either, Aaron Kernan already has six county medals in his back pocket and two Ulster clubs but, for all their silverware, it is the fear of failure that drives them on.

Defeat can be postponed, it can never be cancelled and though Crossmaglen are still hoovering up titles at the underage grades, one day their stranglehold on the senior title will be lost.

“Obviously we’re going to get beat some day. Some day it will come to an end. Any time you get far in the club championship you don’t want to let it slip because it is a long way back. We were very disappointed to lose to a better Portlaoise side in 2004 and we don’t want that to happen again.”

Once his club duties are dealt with, Kernan and the rest of the contingent will renew acquaintances with Armagh who, like Cross, are infusing new blood into the system after a period of unprecedented success.

Even Aaron himself finds himself taken aback by the rookies’ tender years but, though they are as yet unknowns to most people, he has seen enough to be convinced of their worth.

They could hardly be entering into a better environment in which to succeed. Joe Kernan has lived and breathed Armagh football all his life and four of his five sons will be on the Cross panel tomorrow afternoon.

It’s been a love affair that stretches back five decades now but Big Joe is showing no sign of slowing down and Aaron for one is far from surprised.

“Not really because I have to live with him 24/7. I know what he’s like all the time. It’s the same with a lot of the people on our team, the likes of Kieran McGeeney and Paul McGrane and Oisin McConville. They have the same energy levels too. They know these times don’t last forever and that we’ll all be retired long enough. You’ve got to push on while you can.”