Ramor United have developed an unwanted knack of getting themselves dragged into relegation dogfights and 2004 was no different as, yet again, the Virginians only managed to retain their senior status via an edgy play-off victory over Ballymachugh. Enough is enough, however, and county attacker Shane Cole insists there's NO WAY Ramor will be involved in a relegation battle at the end of the forthcoming campaign. Shane Cole knows in his heart that Ramor have not been doing themselves justice of late. He realises only too well that 2004 was yet another year of stark underachievement. After starting the year in stunning fashion with a South Ulster league victory over Crossmaglen Rangers, Ramor lost their way and just about held onto their top-flight standing. In the end, the 1-10 to 0-11 play-off victory over Ballymachugh was, in itself, something to celebrate but Ramor should never had got themselves into such a tight spot in the first place. They have the players to make a much better fist of senior fare and that's precisely what countyman Cole vows to do in future - starting right now. One of the brightest prospects in Breffni County GAA, Shane was centre forward on the Cavan under 21 side cruelly eliminated from the 2004 Ulster championship by Tyrone and also featured for the county seniors at championship level. Still only 20, he should be a mainstay of Ramor United teams for many years to come. And he's determined to play nothing but senior football with his hometown club: "We should be a lot better and we intend to do just that in 2005. We have some of the best young footballers in Cavan. Our minors won the league and were only pipped by a point in the championship last year, and we also have five or six very good players around the 19/20 mark, so the material is definitely there. It's just a matter of transferring it into the senior team." Sometimes, the desire to play senior football appears to be lacking, but Shane is confident this will change and that Ramor can give a drastically improved account of themselves in 2005 and beyond. "There are five of us on the first team now who played minor together for the club and it has taken a while for the talent to come through, but we should improve from here on," he notes. "We have a very good young team coming through now. We need to become stronger physically and then we'll be well able to hold our own. "I'm confident we'll avoid the relegation play-offs from here on. In fact, I'm expecting Ramor to push for a semi-final place this year. Our ambition has increased, and we'll avoid the play-offs for sure." Though survival came as a relief at the season's end, 2004 was a year Ramor will be keen to forget. Considering how well they played in some of their championship outings, their return to the play-offs was somewhat disconcerting: "It was disappointing because we weren't that far off beating either Gowna or Mullahoran, and we also should've beaten Drumgoon, yet we still ended up almost going down. It was frustrating because we played some good football and we showed that we can compete with the best teams in the county." Did the fact that Ramor ended up in a play-off give an unfair reflection of their season's work then? "I don't know if I'd go that far. In fairness, we probably deserved to be in it. We showed a lack of killer instinct at times. We couldn't put teams away and we seemed to lose our concentration completely in the second half of some games. "We were also short on numbers at times. Training was good, but we had a lot of lads based in Dublin and it fell away as the year went on." Leo McEnroe took charge of team affairs, with assistance from Martin Lynch (selector) and Colm McEvoy (trainer). "Colm's one of the best trainers in the county and training was really good," Shane continues. "But the interest just dropped off as the year went on. At the start of the year, we had everybody. We entered the South Ulster league and had a full squad for that, but it was too early in the year and some lads were sick of football by the time summer came around. We had 25 or 26 lads training at one stage in the year and we beat Crossmaglen in our first game, but it soon dropped off to twelve or so, and we started to struggle." After finishing at the bottom of their section, Ramor were consigned to the four-team relegation play-off. They lost their first game to Knockbride, which meant a do-or-die clash with Ballymachugh. Such an outing represented a drastic change in fortunes from the win over Cross' and the spirited performances against Gowna and Mullahoran, but there was not time to dwell on things. What was morale like in the camp in the build-up to the game that would decide Ramor's fate? "It wasn't great but we had to pull ourselves together, which we did. It wasn't the best performance ever, but we got away with it. We always seem to be in the relegation play-offs recently, but we're definitely going to change that this year." In 2005, Ramor's target is to make an impact at the business end of the SFC. The Virginia men are hoping for a long summer with a difference: "We can make the knock-out stages," Shane argues. "Apart from Cavan Gaels, no team in the county is that far ahead of us. We did well against Gowna and Mullahoran in the championship and we know we can match most teams in the county." Shane Cole has a big future in the blue jersey of Cavan. An under 21 again in 2005, he's already an established member of Eamon Coleman's senior squad. In the 2004 championship, he came off the substitutes bench during the narrow Ulster semi-final defeat to Armagh at Clones on June 13 and also featured in the Qualifier tie against Derry. Cavan were almost the surprise packet of the '04 championship and could well make an impact in the coming months. The Ramor clubman says: "We did well against Armagh and we let it slip in extra time against Derry. Our plan is to do better this year." The Breffni boys open their championship account against Antrim. The two counties have seen a lot of each other lately and, though it may look like an easy game on paper, Cavan won't be taking the Glensmen for granted. "Some people might say it's not that difficult a game, but there's no easy game in Ulster and we'll have to be ready." There's a very good chance the U21s will make their mark this year. Shane featured on the Cavan minor team edged out by Derry in 2002. The fact that the Oak Leafers went on to win the All-Ireland gives a fair indication of the Breffni County's prospects in the U21 grade. The Ramor player notes: "We were probably the better team against Tyrone in 2004 but Anthony Gaynor got sent off and then Sean Cavanagh destroyed us in the end, but we should have a very strong team this year and I'm expecting us to be at least as good if not better. We have Monaghan in the first round, though, and we won't look any further than that one." And what can we expect from Ramor in the long-term future? "Long term, the club can become a force. We have good players and there are strong U16 and minor teams coming through as well. All we have to do is get the lads interested in playing senior football. If we do that, we can go places." And make no mistake: Shane Cole isn't talking about another relegation play-off! Tweet

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