Killygarry GAC are a club which have been making long strides in recent years, and with a solid underage structure well in place and the senior footballers having reached back-to-back championship semi-finals the club look to certainly be headed in the right direction.
At the start of 2009, Kevin Reilly was appointed as club chairman of Killygarry and started off the year looking to increase community participation within the club and to place it at the heart of the community in Killygarry. A number of events that happened throughout the year would exemplify this vision.
"On the playing field, the senior team desired to make an appearance in Kingspan Breffni Park on county final day and to have a strong solid league campaign to improve on the their top three position in the league of 2008," explained club PRO, Enda Mulvany.
Under the management of Declan Sheridan, Aindreas McGovern and John Donnellan, Killygarry kicked off their league campaign in Division One by hosting Gowna at Crubany, where they were made to rue the late concession of a goal and lose by the narrowest of margins (1-9 to 0-11). To their credit, the team responded brilliantly to win their next four games against Castlerahan (2-5 to 1-7), Lavey (0-12 to 0-8), Belturbet (2-11 to 2-7) and Redhills (0-13 to 1-8) to set their season alight and leave them in strong contention for a league semi-final place heading towards the championship.
The draw for the senior championship pitted Killygarry in a tough group with Kingscourt, Lacken and neighbours Denn.
First up for the Crubany men was a meeting with Denn at Kingspan Breffni Park on June 11. A Thursday night game at Kingspan Breffni Park saw both teams struggle to get to the pitch of championship football. Killygarry started fast with Denn playing catch up. As the game moved to a conclusion it was Killygarry who had fell behind and only a late free earned the men in red and black a draw. The team followed this game up with hard fought victories over Lacken and Kingscourt in their next two games to progress through to the quarter-final stages, where they would take on perennial championship contenders Gowna.
On a miserable night for football both sides found scoring at a premium. Killygarry converted a higher percentage of the chances with ace their ace attackers Martin Reilly and Stephen McGovern sending over the scores and the likes of Padraig Cahill and Donal Thomas grafting around the middle to assure consistent supply.
The win put Declan Sheridan's team into their third semi-final in four years and if they were to finally get over the hurdle this time and reach the final, they would have to do it against the defending champions, Cavan Gaels.
A blistering start saw Killygarry take a four-point lead and by half-time they went to the dressing rooms with a slender one-point advantage. The second-half became one to forget for the Crubany outfit, as the Gaels showed their class with a dominant display in all corners of the field. A third semi-final defeat in four years left the Killygarry men trudging back to the dressing room with a massive sense of disappointment and realising a lot of hard work is still to be done.
2010 will see a new management team take over the senior set-up in Killygarry. Damien Moen from Clontibret and Colm Donnelly of Castleblaney have been entrusted with moving the senior team forward. A solid and competitive league campaign will be required to lay a foundation into the future to achieve county senior championship success.

Division Three
After their promotion from Division Four in 2008, the club's second team found themselves in Division Three for the first time. They found the competition a lot stiffer playing against leading junior clubs in the county. However, some good displays particularly towards the end of the year enabled the team to retain their status for in the third tier. In the Junior B Championship, Killygarry defeated Gowna following a replay but came unstuck against a youthful Kingscourt side at the quarter-final stages.
Under the guidance of Bartley Gilsenan, The third team had a solid season in Division Six and is proving to be a nursery for up and coming players and for former greats to stay involved with the club. They finished out the league in a very comfortable mid-table position. Killygarry's Junior D Championship campaign was a case of so near, yet so far. Victories against Crosserlough and then Mullahoran saw them progress to a semi-final against Mountnugent. Despite playing a man short for most of the game, a late four-point salvo from their opponents saw Killygarry go home with the bitter taste of defeat.

Underage
The underage set-up within Killygarry GAC continues to develop year on year. The past number of years has saw a big commitment from a number of people in developing their coaching skills and the club hope to reap the benefits of this effort in the years to come.
The Under 16 team found themselves up in Division Two in 2009 and a lack of belief at crucial junctures in matches prevented them from closing out games with what looked like victories. They reached the shield final against St Finbarr's and a trophy was there to be won if they had not snatched defeat from the jaws of victory culminating in an extra-time loss. A hard working, talented bunch of young players who have been under the guidance of Seamus Lynch for a number of years, endured a number of disappointments on their way up through the ranks and need to start creating their own luck and breaks to cross that line.
The Under 12 boys' team saw Killygarry play in Roinn B against some very strong sides. This bunch of players qualified easily for their league semi-final with victories over Lacken, Bailieborough and Mullahoran. Their only defeat all year came by the smallest of margins in the semi-final against Dernacrieve Gaels at Swanlinbar. In an enthralling game, the final scoreline read 4-11 to 4-10 in favour of the home side. A number of these young players then contributed to the new Under 13 league which commenced at the end of August. Once again Killygarry were to the fore throughout the league stages and but for injuries and a number of key players falling foul of illness they went out to eventual winners Laragh United in another tight game at Stradone.

Ladies
Killygarry GAC are in the unique position around Cavan town in that they are the only club offering Gaelic Football to ladies. The ladies club is growing from strength to strength on an annual basis. Now over ten years on the go, 2009 saw all the hard work bearing fruit, as a continued success at adult and underage level was there for all to be seen.
The girls' teams brought home silverware at Under 12 level in walking through their league campaign undefeated and winning their league final in comprehensive fashion. The Under 14 girls found the going tough in the league stages but they continued working hard in training and had a competitive championship campaign going down narrowly to a semi-final defeat.
Meanwhile, the Under 16 girls had a fantastic championship success. Following a strong campaign they progressed to the final against Crosserlough at Kingspan Breffni Park. Under the floodlights they battled hard in the first-half but the second half saw the young ladies come out and blitz their opposition.
The Killygarry senior ladies competed in Division Two of their league, where they narrowly missed out on promotion following a narrow defeat to Gowna on a miserable day in Templeport in the league final. The intermediate championship saw the ladies drive all the way to the semi-final, where they suffered defeat to Inny Gaels. Also in 2009, the ladies club amalgamated with Belturbet to compete for the first time in the Ladies Senior Championship. Under the name of Belgarry Gaels, they suffered defeat in the first round. Great credit must go to all involved, particularly, to Majella Tierney for their commitment and loyalty to the ladies affairs for the past number of years.

Under 14s taste All-Ireland Feile success
For Killygarry, the sporting highlight of the year from the fields of play was undoubtedly the Under 14 boy's success in the All Ireland Féile na nÓg finals in Co Kildare.
The Feile campaign commenced over the Easter weekend when the boys took part in the county qualifying competition. Going through the day undefeated saw the Killygarry boys leave Kingspan Breffni Park with the Feile County title and in the knowledge they were on the way to represent Cavan on the All-Ireland stage. Over the weeks between April and July, these young lads trained as diligently as any senior team and travelled to Kildare on July 3rd knowing that the hard work and preparations had been done. They came through the group stages from their host base in Kildangan undefeated and progressed into a semi-final against Caragh from Kildare on the afternoon of July 4th.
A hard fought battle was had in tough blustery conditions but a sterling second-half display saw the lads reach the All-Ireland final. The support that had travelled down from Cavan to St Conleth's Park, Newbridge was there to be seen and the boys took to the field with the words ringing in their ears that his was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Playing against a physically imposing team from Carlow, Fenagh, it took the Killygarry lads a while to get into their stride.
The two-touch style of football that was being coached into them all year soon became apparent, as they started to move the ball quickly and around the much bigger team. After the first point went over and following a penalty save the Killygarry boys ran, blocked, tackled and harried like their young lives depended on it. At the final whistle a winning margin of 2-08 to 1-03 saw this group of Under 14's lift the All Ireland Cup when it was handed over to them by An Uachtarán CLG Mr Christy Cooney.
The return home to Killygarry that Sunday evening will always be remembered and hopefully a large number of these young players will develop and progress to represent Killygarry over the coming years. The Under 14's also brought home the Roinn C League title following a titanic battle with Denn at Kingspan Breffni Park. The successful Under 14 backroom team was Simon Fay, Declan Gilsenan, Padraig Gannon and Enda Mulvany. Tweet

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