Having been promoted from Division 3 just two season ago, Kill Shamrocks confounded the doubters with their performance in the higher reaches of Division 2 of the Cavan ACFL. Having struggled in their first season after promotion the Shamrocks reversed the 2009 trend with some superb displays during their 2010 league campaign.

At the conclusion of a twelve game league campaign, Kill found themselves in fifth position only two points adrift of their more 'illustrious' neighbours, Drumgoon and Knocbride who both took fourth and third spots respectively. In a division that sports many former strong senior clubs like Ballyhaise, Drumgoon, Knockbride and Bailieboro, the achievement of Kill must not be underestimated. When asked to take a look back at the performance of his club over the 2010 season, club PRO, Gerry Pritchard proved to be truthful and honest in his assessment. Gerry could definitely be termed a 'dyed in the wool' Kill man as he has held most positions at the club and is truly committed to the future of the Shamrocks.

According Gerry: "We were only promoted to Division Two in 2009. It was a tough transition and we struggled to survive. We did manage to gain experience from this 'baptism of fire' and proved in 2010 that we are capable of holding our own in Division 2"
The season did not get off to a great start as they lost the opening game but it did not take long for Kill to regroup and get back on track.

"I believe that if we had not had the poor opening to our league campaign we certainly could have made it into the last four and a league semi-final placing. I think our achievement this year was down to great commitment from the players."
At the outset of the year Kill lost the McCarey brothers, John and Conor. Conor had taken a year out of football while John had emigrated to Scotland. Their loss was further compounded with the double injury to the McMenamin brothers, Barry and Darragh. Both Barry and Darragh suffered cruciate ligament damage during the same game which further reduced the small panel. They did have a ray of hope with the return to football of Cathal Brady whose presence was indeed greatly appreciated but his return was short-lived as he too was sidelined with a cruciate injury.

"As you can see through emigration and injury our panel was being decimated early on in the season and with the parish having a small population we were now in a position of working from a reduced squad," explained Gerry.
"It was this 'hour of darkness' that the true character of the players came to the front. A commanding centre stage peformance of leadership by Pearse McKenna helped to bring us back on track. The entire squad rallied and through their dedication and commitment we began to put behind us the negative tones of injury and a poor start." The final league tally is testament itself - played twelve, won five, drew three, lost four. Indeed all three drawn games were fixtures they could have won.

"We had the upperhand in those drawn games but failed to kill off the opposition. Despite our early setback the team produced some great performances. I do believe that if we learn to kill off teams next
season then we will be a force to reckong with," said the PRO.
"The loss of so many of our senior player also provided us with the opportunity of introducing a number of younger minors into the arena of senior football. We are fortunate at Kill to have a number of very talented young players coming on stream. The new crop of players showed little nerves and indeed on occasions proved to be match winners. Players of the calibre of Darren Tierney, Anthony Brady and Cian McPhillips all played their part in our good run this season."

Indeed Cian McPhillips proved to be a match winner in the local derby against Cootehill when he registered thee points to give Kill victory on the day. It was vital to the survival of the club that they had these young players at our disposal.
"I have no doubt that our side will benefit greatly in the future with experience these minor players have acquired this season. We also have a number of very talented U16s at the club who have gained great experience with our Junior B side. The experienced gained at Junior B level will be another stepping stone towards senior football in the coming years," said Gerry.
"We have a strong crop of talented U-16s in Damien O'Brien, Ian Middleton, Alan McIntyre, Brian Crowe, Francis Hand, Kevin Pritchard and Ciaran O'Reilly. These young lads have the ability to help steer the club in the future and will no doubt bring both flair and a winning mentality to the senior table when they arrive.

"We had high hopes entering into the championship and after some great league displays felt optimistic of our chances. While we did manage to account for both Drumalee and Laragh in our group we did not reproduce our true league form. We seemed flat and under-performed despite winning against Drumalee and Laragh."
These wins gave Kill a quarter-final berth against Bailieboro. They expected to have a tough game at this stage of the competition and were hoping that they would now show the form that they produced in the league. However, they failed to produce their true form and had to settle for second best on the day.

"While we were disappointed with our championship form we do know that we have a lot more to offer and should be in better shape for next year's championship," said the PRO.
Gerry praised the efforts of team manager, Thomas Duffy.
"Thomas a native of Crossmaglen and living in Carrickmacross. He took over this season after having spent a spell at Rockcorry. He gave us great confidence and helped steer us in the right direction.
"He got a great response from all the squad who dug deep to turn around all the early season setbacks. Thomas has decided that he is unavailable to manage Kill next season so we are now on th elook out for a new manager," said Gerry.

Underage football
With such a small population in the Kill parish, juvenile football is well catered for at the club. Kill field just two teams under the Shamrocks banner at U-12 and U-14. The club won their first ever underage title back in 2008 when the U-14s took their respective county title.
"We get great assistance from a number of people at the club who give freely of their time in coaching and working with the youth of the parish.

"To give you an example of how small a pick we have, there are only seventy two pupils attending Kill National School. When you consider that over half of these are girls then you can see how difficult it is to form underage teams. When we get to U-16 and minor level, we amalgamate with neighbours Drung to form St. Finbars," said Gerry.

Club Development
When talking about the infrastructure at the club, Gerry does not hide his pride at what has been achieved and is still on-going.
"We have excellent facilities at our grounds at Rathluden Park. Our playing surface is first class and we have provided a running track around the field. The erection of new fencing and the extension of the carpark have added greatly to the complex at Rathluden.
"We also extended our all weather training facilities which is of tremendous benefit to us. This enables to rest the main playing surface during the wet winter months when the squad is training."

The work on facilities is a work in progress which started back some six years ago and under the guidance of former chairmen of Joe McQuillan, Gerry and and the current chairman Noel McMenamin.
"Noel has proved to be a great chairman working hard with the club and helping to project the Shamrocks into the future. He has great executive members in Aishling Pritchard (secretary) and Lorraine Lynch (Treasurer).
"While we may be small in numbers the the quality and calibre of people in Kill will insure that Kill Shamrocks will survive as a vibrant and welcoming centre for Gaelic football. We are fortunate that we have a great crop of young players emerging at the club and this can only augur well for the future," concluded Gerry. Tweet

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