When Alan Clarke made his bow with the Kingscourt seniors at the age of 17, the Stars had no problem winning half of their ACFL Division One matches.
Seven years ago, relegation wasn't a word in the Stars' lexicon but the world of sport is uber-fickle and, in time, the one-time lords of the manor morphed into tenants within an altogether different world.
In 2007, Clarke and the club's fortunes plummeted. The former suffered a broken leg in January while lining out for the Cavan U21s against Roscommon. He wasn't the only Star to be sidelined that year though.
"At one stage that year, we had 16 of the team that lined out in the 2006 championship out injured; we couldn't have had a worse run of luck," Alan recalls.
"Things got even worse after that and only for the fact that Dudley Farrell came on board late on in the season we might have got relegated from division two in 2008.
"I remember we were beaten by Cootehill and Killinkere by about 15 points each time so there was a lot that had to change for 2009."
The change necessary to re-float Kingscourt's boat was duly put in place by the well-known Royal County coach and, just as importantly, nobody among the Kingscourt players jumped ship.
"Every player among the 35 or so that attended a meeting at the start of the past year agreed that a serious job needed to be done.
"The commitment was there too from the very start with up to 55 players joining in the indoor circuit training in the Centre.
"We were all singing from the same hymn sheet and you could see from the very beginning that there was going to be good competition for places.
"A challenge game against Cuchullains a week before the start of the league was a real confidence booster. We just blitzed them."
As things were to pan out, it would be largely all-too easy for the Stars in division two as they went from strength to strength, notching up the wins.
Apart from a drawn game at home to Ballyhaise "on a dreadful evening", Kingscourt would record an unblemished league record in 2009.
"I think our strength-in-depth came to the fore in 2009," opines the current senior county panelist.
"There must have been at least six new players brought onto the team from '08.
"The only time we took our eyes off the ball was after beating Lacken in the championship but, in fairness, there was a seven or eight weeks gap then between that win and our next game in the championship.
"Things did go pear-shaped for us then in the other games in the group against Killygarry and Denn when maybe we believed all the hype that came after our win over Lacken.
"But we went onto show a lot of character in the relegation play-off against Ballinagh and deserved to keep our place in the championship."
As captain of the senior team in '09, Alan understandably took great personal delight from the Stars's league success in the past year.
Like the rest of his team-mates though, he's unprepared to wallow in past triumphs and, instead, is hell bent on building on the side's title triumph.
"If we can get the same numbers out for training and generate the same sort of spirit and stay clear of injuries, we should do well in 2010."
How well though?
"I'd like to think we can consolidate what we achieved in the past year. A mid-table position in division one and a place in the championship quarter-finals shouldn't be out of the question."
Reflecting on the team's impressive consistency in 2009, Alan says more of the same is required in the coming year and a leaf out of the book which saw them produce a stand-out performance away to Knockbride - when the team notched 1-17 - would do nicely, he avers.
Kingscourt were a class act in the league, all told, and the emphatic nature of their nine point semi-final win over Ballyhaise was another case in point.
Alan was solidity personified in 2009 and his performance in the full-back position against Drumgoon in the league decider was par for the course.
All belonging to Kingscourt were left singing in the rain on November 22nd at O'Connell Park, Drumlane when they beat Drumgoon by 2-13 to 2-4 in the ACFL Division Two final.
Intermittent heavy showers of rain and a gale blowing from the village end made for testing conditions but they didn't stop Kingscourt from blowing away the Eire Og men.
Kingscourt did it the hard way though, alarmingly conceding 1-1 to their opponents inside the opening 40 seconds of play.
"They had the strong wind in the first half and really hit the ground running but we worked extremely hard, played out of our skin and got on level terms by half-time," says Alan who first came to prominence when scoring the winning goal for Kingscourt against Cavan Gaels in a county U14 league final.
"We were a man up at that stage and fairly confident that we could take it on and work our way into a winning position with the wind at our backs.
"I genuinely felt that as the second half progressed, it was only a matter of time before we gained control and that once we kept our heads we'd be okay."
And so it proved. Kingscourt's finest will be anxious to remain on the road to redemption as a new season of challenges beckon.
Kingscourt Stars ( 2009 ACFL Div Two final v Drumgoon);
Cathal McCabe; Patrick Farrelly, Alan Clarke, Shane Grey; Barry Tully (0-1), Keith McCabe, Philip Tinnelly; Colm Smith, Tomas Malone; Joe McMahon (0-1), Philip Smith (0-1), Barry Reilly (0-4, one free); Darryl Martin (0-1), Ryan McCormack (0-4, two frees), Mark McKeown (1-0).
Subs used; Anthony Corcoran (0-1); Neil McCabe (0-1); Brendan Corcoran; JP O'Reilly.

U14s show their class

As well as refurbishing their senior curriculum vitae in 2009, the Kingscourt club also firmly re-inforced its underage foundations with a classic U14 Roinn B Championship title triumph last September.
The Stars' starlets demonstrated their immense potential in securing a 2-13 to 3-6 victory over Drumlane in a thrilling final played at Kingspan/Breffni Park.
Pitted against an exceedingly game Drumlane side, the Stars enjoyed a jet-propelled opening four minutes during which time they raced into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead.
To their credit, shell-shocked Drumlane refrained from pushing the panic button at that juncture but while they continuously chipped away at their opponents' cushioned lead, the Stars invariably countered each and every green and white punch with a punch of equal force.
After skipping into a two point to nil lead, Kingscourt set sail for the winner's enclosure in the 4th minute when top-scorer Aaron McMahon showed a clinical edge to his game by finishing well to the net.
Forceful full-forward Ciaran Keaney was to prove a mighty thorn in Kingscourt's side all evening though and a quick-fire 1-1 from the number 14 fairly put the cat amongst the pidgeons.
The frantic nature of the early exchanges dissipated somewhat but remained a tit-for-tat clash and in the 16th minute a goal by Jamie Carolan saw the pendulum swing decisively back in Kingscourt's favour.
The game was a thoroughly entertaining, free-flowing affair with one team and then the other seeking to secure a vice-like grip on the exchanges only for the opposition to firmly relieve their hands from the tiller.
That said, the east Cavan side remained in the driving seat for the most part following with young McMahon adding a brace to Conor Noone's solitary point as Drumlane desperately sought to circle the wagons.
Trailing by 1-2 to 2-7 at the interval, Drumlane craved a goal to hoist them back into real contention and after Ryan Connolly pointed, team-mate Ciaran Keaney rounded three defenders before goaling in the 36th minute to leave just four points between the sides.
Four minutes later, it took a timely interception from Killian Farrelly to prevent the aforementioned Keaney from fisting the ball to the Stars' net.
One minute later, Darren Grey cleverly mopped up near his own goal when danger threatened once more.
Terrier-like at biting away at their opponents' heels, Drumlane got another major leg-up in the 47th minute when young Keaney nabbed his third goal of the evening to narrow Kingscourt's lead to a solitary point, 2-9 to 3-5.
The west Cavan side continued to press hard for redemption but with the relocated Shane Byrne sweeping up at the back in the final quarter with great aplomb and maturity, the green and whites were thwarted consistently.
With less than eight minutes left to play, a diving block was effected by Kingscourt defender Noel Lynch on Drumlane's Francis Lunney's last-gasp effort to pull the fat from the fire.
Moments later, Kingscourt's Killian Farrelly brillantly shepherded out Ciaran Keaney's effort for a fruitless '45
It was all hands to the pumps for Kingscourt in the dying minutes but, like true champions, they finished with a flourish, hitting the final three points of the evening to seal a well-deserved victory.

Kingscourt Stars (2009 U14 Roinn B Championship final v Drumlane);
Shane Clarke; Darren Grey, Cathal McKeon, Noel Lynch; Ryan McCullagh, Killian Farrelly, Richie Curtis; Aaron McMahon (1-7), Oisin Finnegan (1-0); Ben Sheenan (0-1), Peter Corrigan (0-1),Padraig McDonagh (0-1); Shane Byrne, Jamie Carolan (1-2), Conor Noone (0-1).
Subs used; Michael McDonald; Sean Burke; Sean McCabe; Sean Madden. Tweet

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