For the Ballymachugh players, Division Three football represented uncharted territory. It had been four decades and more since the club last competed in the basement division, so a bit of adjustment was needed to adapt to the new environment. The aim was to engineer an immediate return to Division Two, but ultimately seven wins from 13 outings and 15 points amassed from a possible 26 was only enough to earn fifth place on the final league table. Alas, they missed out on the semi-finals and - more pertinently - on a Top Two place, which would have also carried the prize of promotion.

In the intermediate championship, the record was somewhat disappointing: three defeats from three. Drumgoon (0-13 to 1-7), Bailieboro (5-8 to 2-2) and Drung (2-7 to 1-5) did the damage at the group stage of the IFC. The services of former county star Stephen King have been secured as first-team coach for the forthcoming season, complementing a management team comprising Dan O'Reilly (manager), Brendan Sweeney (trainer) and Owensie Smith (selector). With a strong backroom in place, the club should be right up there in the Division Three hunt this year…
Meanwhile, in 2009, Ballymachugh's seconds finished third in Division Six of the all county football league (with 12 wins out of 15) and progressed to the competition final, only to lose therein by 0-11 to 0-9 to Butlersbridge at Ballyhaise on Sunday November 29. Dan O'Reilly's charges came close to securing a welcome piece of County Board silverware but left it behind them on the day. This was the Ballymachugh team on duty in the Division Six final: Brendan Sweeney; Michael Halton, Brendan McIlarney, James McIlarney; Christopher Rooney, Finbar Sheridan, John Fox; Padraig Sheridan, Aoghan Kiernan; Stephen Baxter, Padraig Galligan, Brian O'Reilly; Killian Smith, Adrian Daly, Barry Kiernan. Subs: Killian Goldrick, Richard Fitzsimmons.
Two-thousand-and-nine also saw the club contest an U16 Division Three championship decider against Drumport (losing by 3-12 to 2-6), while that crop also scooped the Division Four league title. The U21 amalgamation with Lacken reached the quarter-final stage of the championship but lost to Redbridge, 1-8 to 1-5.
Inspired by Eugene Hill, Ballymachugh also contested the county SHC final against Mullahoran at Breffni Park on September 27. This was the second successive year playing in the final against the same opposition and they went very close, losing by 2-10 to 2-7 with the following personnel on duty on the day: Killian Smith; Lonan McKenna, Paddy Baxter, Brendan Devine; Michael Sheridan, Alan Hawe, Michael Halton; Dara Dalton, Pauric Sheridan; Rory O'Hanlon, Eugene Hill, Alan Donohoe; Joe Geoghan, Daniel Craig, Barry Harten. Subs used: Jamie Leaghy, Thomas Craig. Squad: Donal Harten, Shane O'Reilly, Anthony McGonigle, Johnny Smith, Mark Nolan, Kevin Daly, Brendan Sweeney.
The ladies section of the club was rewarded with a brilliant double success in the county U12 league and championship.
Former County Board chairman Peter Brady is club PRO and he's looking forward to improved fortunes for the first team in 2010: "We had some injuries and a couple of lads emigrated to Australia, so that weakened our squad and we found ourselves in Division Three for the first time since the intermediate grade started. Normally, we were in Division Two - or even Division One - but the injuries and depleted squad hit us hard and we slipped down. But people are returning and the injuries are clearing up, so we're looking forward to giving it a good go again in 2010."
Is promotion the main objective for the forthcoming campaign? "We would be satisfied with promotion and we'll be trying hard in the league. We'll also give it our all in the championship, but the league probably offers our best prospect of making progress for the time being.
"A slight improvement should be enough to get them into the shake-up for promotion. They did reasonably well last year, but they lost a number of games by one point and if they could turn those narrow defeats into victories then I'd expect Ballymachugh to be challenging for a return to Division Two.
"We also got to the Division Six final last year and only lost by a point, so that shows we have a bit of strength in depth in the club. At underage, our U14s and our U16s both did very well and we have a very talented group of young lads coming up through the ranks. We hope to get a good team out of that in the near future."
Peter is particularly proud of the great efforts of the club's hurlers during the year: "We entered in all grades of hurling from U10 up and we're still waiting to play in the U16 final against our close rivals Mullahoran. The senior hurling championship final between ourselves and Mullahoran was one of the best games played in the county at any grade last year and our lads did themselves proud with that performance. We broke six hurleys in that match and they put in a huge effort. We're very proud of the fact that we're keeping hurling going here in a small club in the south of Cavan. That's a wonderful achievement in itself. It's just great to see the game being played and enjoyed by young people and I believe that if the GAA ever gets into trouble it'll be hurling - and not football - that'll save it. It's a unique game and we're delight to promote hurling at this level.
"Our girls had a great year as well and the U12 won both the league and championship, which was great for the players and for the ladies involved in preparing that team."
Off the field of play, there were also developments around Sheelin Park. "We opened our new training pitch and carried out other improvements, including a running track around it, nets behind the goals and lights. We invested 300,000 euro in this project and we're very grateful to the lotto and to Ulster Council for grants towards the development. We got about 200,000 towards it and will raise the rest ourselves.
"One way we raised funds was by selling ten-year club memberships at 500 euro for individuals and 600 euro for couples.
"Our astro turf pitch has also been extremely busy all year round with football, hurling and soccer being played there in all weather conditions.
"All in all, we're very happy with how things are going. When you take a few players out of any small club, it will make a difference to the team, but hopefully we can bounce back this year. We have less than 1,000 people in the parish in total, so it's a very small club. But it's tightly-organised with strong family connections and a lot of people putting in the extra effort. We're looking forward to 2010." Tweet

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