That'll do nicely
March 01, 2010The highlight of the intermediate championship campaign was a 0-12 to 1-4 victory over Drumalee in the group stage, but unfortunately Killeshandra's hopes of advancing to the business end of the competition were already up in smoke following successive defeats to Ballyhaise and Lavey. That was disappointing for a side pipped at the quarter-final stage twelve months earlier. However, Ciaran O'Reilly's charges had achieved their main objective of moving into Division One…
"At the start of '09, our aim was to get promotion to Division One and we succeeded in that and had a very good year in general," says club chairman Pat McGearty. "We only had one defeat in the league all year - to eventual winners Kingscourt - so we did well in that competition and we're hoping to build on that next season.
"Ciaran came in as manager and it was the first time we had gone outside the club for a manager. We think this was a big success as Ciaran came in and did a job. The championship was disappointing as we didn't reach our full potential. We were certainly disappointed with our championship performances and we plan to do much better next time around."
What's the objective for 2010? "We held a team meeting on Saturday night (December 12) and our aim is to win the intermediate championship and consolidate our position in Division One. That's the plan, anyway. We're going for the intermediate championship. Eleven of the team are students, however, and whether or not they'll be able to secure work and stay in the area is a big worry for us. This is going to be a big problem for a lot of clubs and for society in general over the next few years."
Assuming that Killeshandra can keep the nucleus of this exciting young team together, the league form in 2009 suggests that they are capable of challenging strongly for the IFC. Can they translate that league form into championship performances, though? "Some of our performances in Division Two were really good and we could have gone on in the championship if we'd repeated that," the chairman agrees. "We were depleted for the second championship game against Lavey, so we can't read too much into that defeat. If we could reproduce our league form on championship day, we'd certainly be in with a shout.
"Playing in Division One football next year will bring them on. It's going to be a good test because this is a very young team - even the most experienced lads are only in their mid-20s. Eleven of the team are U21. Division One will be huge experience for them and it should bring their football on no end. Some of them are playing at high levels in college - in the Sigerson Cup, for example - and you can see the benefits of that when they come back into the club."
In 2009, Killeshandra had their midfield pairing of Tomas O'Reilly and Declan McKiernan on the county U21 team, while the former was also involved with the seniors. Declan had been invited into Tommy Carr's panel but was unable to accept due to time restraints. Darragh Tighe is with the U21s for 2010 and Shane O'Reilly was with the Cavan minors in '09. "It's a good sign to see so many of our lads recognised by the county selectors. It's a sign that we're moving in the right direction. We had nobody there for a few years since Stephen King but this group has come through and Cillian O'Reilly has also been asked to join the senior panel. We have a few others who're good enough to wear the county jersey too, so things are looking up. It will do them good and hopefully they will learn something from their experiences and bring it back to the club."
Clearly, this is a good crop of footballers Killeshandra have on their hands at the moment. Coming up through the underage ranks, amalgamated with Cornafean, they collected U16 and minor football championships (Division Two) as well as a minor league. They also contested the 2008 minor championship final and 2009 minor league decider, amalgamated with Arva. There's a wealth of talent coming through the club's production line and the Leaguers are currently fielding strong hands at U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, minor and adult levels.
"About eight years ago we were struggling badly in underage football and a few of the lads in the club got together and decided to go back to basics and work with the U8s and U10s. The likes of Junior McKiernan, Peter Brady, Shane Devine and Tom McKiernan did tremendous work and thanks to them these lads have come through. With our juvenile section revitalised, that good work is being carried on today by people like Ciaran Fitzpatrick, Justin Hayes, Sean McKiernan and Blaithin O'Reilly. We owe those people a big dept of gratitude for their great work for the club."
On the back of that, the U14s reached both the Division Three league and championship finals this year, with great work done behind the scenes by Michael McGearty and Declan O'Hanlon.
The ongoing development on the club's new pitch is also coming to fruition. This was finished in September 2009 and surrounding work is being done as we speak. Killeshandra hope to officially open the new field to games late next year, with maybe a few matches squeezed in around August/September, weather permitting. "Hopefully we'll have it ready for the Ulster intermediate club championship," Pat quips, part in hope, part in confidence, part in jest.
"We also have a very strong ladies club," the chairman continues. "We won the Division Two minor league this year and the nine-a-side senior Division Three. Ladies football has come on in leaps and bounds over the past few year and we now have up to 50 or 60 girls playing, with great work being done by Thomas McDermott, Sean Feeney, Una Feeney, Colette McGearty and Patricia Dolan, while Siobhan Sweeney and Grace Brady have put in tremendous work on the ladies committee.
"We're successful on all fronts. In Scor, we won the best overall club in the county, with a very active committee led by Loretta Phair.
"Overall, we've a very active club with a lot of people putting in unbelievable work. We're a small town and about 80% of the people in Killeshandra would be involved in the club in some way. There is also a lot of unseen work being done by people I haven't mentioned, with parents and others rowing in behind the club and offering great support.
"I'd also like to mention my fellow committee members - secretary Donagh O'Reilly, treasurers Cathal O'Rourke and Tom McKiernan, vice-chairman Junior McKiernan, assistant secretary Ciaran Burns, and our PRO Blaithin O'Reilly. They all do tremendous work week in, week out, as does our hardworking lotto committee. All in all, the club is in good hands and we're looking forward to 2010." Tweet
