The sole focus at Drumalee for the 2011 was to gain promotion from Division 2 and earn their rightful place back among the clubs in the top flight of Cavan football.

A club with many talented players, Drumalee will know that it was their consistency throughout their league campaign that proved to be the key element in the club's drive for promotion. However, they will be disappointed at their championship run having been forced into a relegation battle with Gowna to secure their senior championship status. When they take a look at their championship performance they will see that what had served them well in their league campaign deserted them in the championship. Erratic finishing cost them victories in both their championship games. However, when it was needed they produced a sterling effort when pitted against former Cavan kingpins, Gowna in a championship relegation play-off.

The club will also look back at the 2011 with satisfaction as the club's two senior teams blazed a trail through their respective divisions with the B team reaching the junior C Championship final.

To get a feel of what drove Drumalee to promotion, who better to give a view than one of their most outstanding players over the past years. Enda McCormack, has been a stalwart for his club and an influential presence on the playing field. A highly respected member of the club, Enda is well situated to give us his views as to why Drumalee have produced the kind of form that has propelled them back into the premier league of Cavan senior football. Enda has played all the grades and has represented Cavan at minor, U21 and senior level over the years.

His curriculum vitae has seen accumulate two Intermediate Football championship medals, two U21 medals and two reserve league titles. A member of the club as a juvenile he became a permanent member of the senior squad at the tender age of sixteen. So when you talk with Enda you are left in no doubt as to his pride and commitment to Drumalee.

When asked what in his opinion was the defining factor in propelling Drumalee in their advancement through the Division 2 league and back into the top flight of Cavan football Enda replied: "I suppose you have to look back as far as 2006 to understand the present mindset. In 2006 we had a very dedicated and committed squad, winning the Intermediate championship and promotion to the Division 1.

"We lost our focus the following year and ended up being relegated. We had to face the igmony of a tough relegation Intermediate championship battle against Swanlinbar. This fall from grace made us realise that we needed to regroup and refocus.

"In 2010 we brought in Mickey Lee, a former player, as team manager. We worked really hard and while things might not have gone our way in the league we went on to win the Intermediate championship and promotion to the senior championship," said Enda.
"We were determined at the outset of this season that we were going to regain what we felt was our rightful place back in Division 1. As we were already playing senior championship football it was the thinking of all at the club that we now become a fully fledged senior team playing both league and championship football among the elite."
All the components were at place at Drumalee for them to achieve this. A tremendous effort was made by the Chairman and his executive and indeed by all at the club to facilitate the drive for promotion.

With the backroom team rowing in it was now down to the players and the team management to deliver. With team manager, Ger Shaughnessy who was a selector the previous year and Paul McCorry as trainer, along with John Denning and Michael Lyons as selectors the club now had a management team that had a link with the past and understood what was needed at Drumalee to get promotion.

There was also great backroom workers in John Gorman and Barry Egan. In an unanimous decision the squad decided to hold onto the joint team captains from the previous year, Gary Malone and Darragh Donohoe. This combination works well and has the respect of all the squad. The squad while still relatively young was beginning to introduce a number of younger members into the senior panel. The inclusion of youthful players like Andy Fallon, Fionan Lee, Lee Dunne, Craig Sheridan and Tomas O'Keeffe helped to give a fresh approach.

"The return of the influential Mickey Brennan has been a tremendous asset. Mickey is recognised as one of the most infulential midfielders in the county and his work-rate is legendary. When you combine the young playes with expereinced players like James Heffernan, Kevin, Finbar, Darragh Donohoe and Gary Malone, the blend is one of stability," added Enda.
The fresh approach began to pay off as Drumalee got off to a winning start in the Division Two league. Winning proved to be a habit as they amassed nine straight wins coming up to the senior championship campaign.

"We were pitted in a group that we felt we had every chance of qualifying from. We faced the challenge of Cuchullains, Denn and local rivals, Killygarry. While we had been very clinical in our league run we became unstuck in our first championship game against Cuchullains."
An uncharacteristic nervous start saw Drumalee fall behind to an early Cuchullains onslaught. However, they did recover and took control but on the day hit sixteen wides and a number of shots fell into the goalkeeper's hands. All in all it was estimated they had up to twenty-two shots off target. This was critical and the main reason for not getting off to a winning start.

The next game was against Denn and while they did not play particuarly well on the day, Drumalee had numerous chances of taking the points there but failed to do so. They had now lost two games, a complete downer as they had come off the back of a great league run and now had to face into the final game against local rivals, Killygarry.

"We showed great character in this game and showed that we are capable of competing and winning at senior championship level. Unfortunately, we were now in the position of having to fight for our very survival in the senior championship and were pitted against former county kingpins, Gowna who were also in the same position," explained Enda.
Tradition and reputation did indeed favour the former county champions but Drumalee knew they had the players to win this 'do or die' contest. Drumalee proved to be far too competitive for the losers and opened this tie in determined and committed fashion.
Their intensity was not matched by Gowna and they deservedly ran out winners by 1-10 to 1-7.

"It was a great win for us especially against such worthy opponents. Gowna, had been true champions in Cavan and to beat a team of their stature can only give us confidence," said Enda.
"While we lost out in our bid to qualify for the knockout stages of the championship the drive to gain promotion in the league was still a primary objective. The club's two teams train together and there is a unique bond forged between the entire squad. This has shown through as the junior team have also topped their league and went one better than their senior opponents in reaching the Junior C championship final."

On the day they failed to produce their best form even though at half-time looked likely to take the honours but an underpar second half performance saw Drumgoon edge them out on a scoreline of 0-16 to 1-10.
"I feel that a vibrant second team is extremely important for any club as it helps bring on younger players and keeps the pressure on the more established players on the senior squad."

This team is an essential bridge from minor football to senior status. The second team train with the first team with a number of their squad crossing over onto the senior panel. There is also another important link with this squad as senior selector Michael Lyons takes charge of the second team squad. He is assisted by Gerry Reilly as selector.
"We have also been very fortunate at Drumalee that most of the squad are in employment around Cavan. We lost just one player of the squad. Patrick Colton who took time out to travel.

"The scourge of emigration has already depleted a number of clubs in the county and I feel it would have disastrous effects on us at Drumalee if that were to happen. We have a small pool of players to pick from so any upheaval of this balance would be a problem," said Enda.
"While we set out at the beginning of 2011 with a clear vision of winning promotion back to Division 1 we are now equally focused to remain in that Division for 2012.
"We have to ensure that we terminate the 'yo-yo' effect up one year down the next. We will be looking for a winning start to the new incoming league and to solidify our position in the top flight.

"This will be vital for a number of reasons not least it will give us a greater platform to meet the challenges of Cavan senior championship football. The reality is that Division 1 is the place to be if you have aspirations of being a senior team. Playing your football in both the senior league and championship, completets you as true senior club," said a pragmatic Enda.
"It is easy to talk about the playing end of things but the club would not exist without the efforts of many people who work selflessly in the background. We have a great committee at Drumalee who have helped engineer the current environment that has brought about our success."

People like chairman, Seamus Fay, Lisa McCullough (Secretary) and treasurer Maura Downey along the great work put by John Gorman is all highly appreciated by all the players and management team.
The club have always put great emphasis on juvenile football and have in place a magnificent underage structure. The U12s played seven games in their Group E league and topped it with a total of six wins out seven while the U-14s took top spot in their Group E league.

It is at juvenile level that you see the true commitment of people and in this regard Drumalee have a number of people that deserve mention. The trojan work put in at juvenile level by a myriad of people is testimony to their dedication and commitment. Among this group of volunteer coaches are people like Hugh Curran, Theresa McKiernan, Damien Donohoe, Ronan Molloy, Kevin Downey, Orla Smith, Bernard Young, Thomas Lynch, Denise Downey and John Young whose efforts along with all the other juvenile coaching mentors is sincerely appreciated by all at the club.

Drumalee capture U-14 title

Drumalee's young guns produced an excellent display in their U-14 Roinn E final played at the 3G pitch Kingspan Breffni Park when they easily accounted for Maghera on an impressive scoreline of 5-11 to 1-6. This game proved to be a one-sided encounter as the young town side showed no mercy as they ruthlessly went about securing this league title. Right from the start Drumalee looked sharp as the registered their opening score in first minute through Donovan McCaffrey. Minutes later they were on the scoresheet again through some great team work involving Alex Eyre, Luke Molloy who put Eamonn Quinn for a point. Up 1-1 in the opening two minutes it was the ideal start and one which they never relinquished. Through greater team-work Drumalee never allowed Maghera a chance to regroup and ran out comfortable winners in the end.

Drumalee: Seamus Og O'Neill, Ryan O'Keeffe, Daithi Smith, Killian Connolly, Owen Donoghue, Alex Eyre, Donovan McCaffrey (4-3), Luke Molloy, Eamonn Quinn (1-7), Enda O'Connor, Connor Molloy (0-1). Subs: Owen Ellis, Dillon Molloy, Daniel Murray, Killian Crowe-Brady. Tweet

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