What a year for Castlerahan Gaelic Football Club! And who would have guessed that by the time the shutters were brought down on 2001, the maroon and whites would be the kingpins of junior championship football and the best around in division three of the All County Football League. Here's how they steamrolled the best of the rest into submission. July 15th, 2001. Venue - Killygarry; Competition - Intermediate Championship; opponents - Ballyhaise. Significance - the genesis of one of the most gloriously successful years in the history of Castlerahan GFC. Ironically, Castlerahan's sortie into the intermediate championship last July didn't exactly catch the imagination of the general public in county Cavan. The Ballyjamesduff-based club wasn't at all fancied to go far in the competition never mind go the distance. The maroon and whites hadn't the pedigree nor the talent - at least that's what we were led to believe by those with a vested interest in hoping that the favourites would win out (hopeful punters) and those who believed that the maroon and whites (most of the club's supporters) just hadn't yet enough quality within their ranks to win the championship. And as for the fans of Cootehill, Denn, Drung et al, well Castlerahan's ambitions concerning the intermediate championship were best described as hopeful and at worst, far-fetched. In time though, there would be tons of egg on hundreds of chins around Breffni land as the outsiders careered to the title. Needless to say, Castlerahan's 1-9 to 0-11 opening win over Ballyhaise in the championship didn't have the local turf accountants scuttling to arrange a confab. Indeed, the win hardly made itself known among the local media. What was immediately clear to all and sundry though who witnessed Castlerahan's win in Killygarry was that the Tony Brady-managed side, assisted by selectors P.J. Lee and Barney Mulvey, was going to bank heavily in the youthful exuberance and enthusiasm of its players. In the event, things all gelled into place for Castlerahan. Seldom before has such a youthful side gone the distance in a major championship in county Cavan. The Ballyhaise game saw the prospective champions dip their toes into the water. It was a case of being eased into the competition. Sean Brady benefited by moving into full-forward in the second half and rowed in with four points, Michael Caldwell with a hat-trick of points added to Castlerahan's healthy tally and a first half goal by David Maguire allowed Castlerahan gain parity at the interval after a hesitant start. Further down the field, messrs. Flynn, McBride and Fitzpatrick in defence plus elsewhere the Mulveys and messrs. Delaney and McCrudden all shone over the hour at various junctures. Meanwhile over at Breffni Park on the same evening, would-be final opponents Drung were shaping up just fine as they beat Drumalee by 3-6 to 1-9. Castlerahan still hadn't kicked up much of a fuss and certainly hadn't alerted the so-called big guns by edging their way out of their group and into the quarter-finals. A dogged Drumlane side which had emerged out of a tough group which had included Denn, Cootehill and Swanlinbar proved to be clever and able opponents in their quarter-final joust which was staged in Killygarry on August 26th last. Ironically at one stage in the match, Castlerahan looked to have the capacity to cruise through to the semi-final quite comfortably as Drumlane conspired to remove themselves from the competition by some poor shooting and a lack of ingenuity in trying to prise open a stubborn Castlerahan defence. Castlerahan were also somewhat profligate over the hour and could have paid dearly for their misses if Drumlane hadn't been equally wasteful in front of goals. Castlerahan were worthy winners though but they had to make their way into the semi-finals the hard way after they were rocked by an early Drumlane goal, Castlerahan failed to panic though and with Sean Brady in top form at midfield from placed balls, the maroon and whites were on level terms by the end of the first quarter, 0-4 to 1-0. Castlerahan continued to mount sustained pressure on the Drumlane goal and two more unanswered points from the aforementioned Brady and one from Ciaran Cahill left the Ballyjamesduff-based side two points to the good. Drumlane tried to stem the tide and they did score their first point moments later but Castlerahan replied not long after through Nigel Duignan to leave the latter's side 0-7 to 1-1 in front at the interval. Both sides exchanged points in a frantic opening to the second half with Fionan Callaghan replying to an early point by Drumlane. Ahead by 0-9 to 1-2, Castlerahan looked to be well in control at this juncture but then minutes from time their opponents grabbed a lifeline when they goaled to set up a grandstand finish. There was now only the minimum between the sides but a fine point by Sean Brady (finishing with a personal tally of six points) did relieve some of the pressure off Castlerahan as the time moved on and although Drumlane were a mite unlucky thereafter when Barry Corrigan's effort rebounded to safety off the upright in the dying minutes, Castlerahan deservedly held on to record a hard-earned victory. Early September saw Castlerahan face up to the challenge of division two high-flyers Ballinagh at Breffni Park in the semi-final of the championship. In a very tentative opening by both sides, the exchanges were robust and claustrophobic-like with neither side managing to find the room and time to engineer worthwhile moves up front. Perhaps predictably it was left to 17 year old Castlerahan midfielder Sean Brady to strike the first telling blow in the third minute when he soloed right through and lashed in a great shot past the Ballinagh 'keeper for a brilliant goal to reply to an early Ballinagh point. Two minutes later and Brady was on the scoresheet again, this time with a point from a free. Heartened by their excellent start to the game, Castlerahan poured forward in numbers and even though Ballinagh scored another point mid-way through the half, three unanswered points by Michael Caldwell over the course of the next 11 minutes retained the initiative for Castlerahan. Any feeling of complacency within the Castlerahan ranks though was smartly exploited in the 20th minute when Colin Gumley banged in a nice goal for the town team. Points were then exchanged in quick succession with Sean Brady on target for his side before Ballinagh had the last word just before the interval with another point to leave Castlerahan leading by 1-5 to 1-4 at the break. The second half was a predictably tense, close affair with the teams ending up on level terms on no fewer than four occasions, including full-time. Castlerahan scored three further points on the restart and recorded four wides. For their part, Ballinagh notched four points while missing the target on eight occasions. In the end, neither camp had any grounds for complaining that they were hard done by in assessing the 1-8 to 1-8 scoreline at the death. As things turned out, Castlerahan made good their second bite of the cherry by accounting for Ballinagh in the replay at Breffni Park in mid-September by 1-10 to 1-6. Much more authoritative second time around and much more efficient in their use of the ball, Castlerahan laid the foundation for their passage through to the final by controlling the midfield sector where the Sean Brady and John Clarke combination was in brilliant form over the hour. Between them, the aforementioned duo scored 1-6 and helped settle their side into a winning pattern from early on in the match. Castlerahan fairly flew off the blocks. They were 0-6 to 0-0 ahead as early as the 17th minute with Sean Brady unerring from placed balls and Michael Caldwell and Fionan Callaghan weighing in with nice points of their own. Castlerahan's defence was in top form, so much so that it took Ballinagh all of 19 minutes to open their account with a point from Declan Beard. A missed goal chance shortly afterwards compounded their problems as the first half ended with the maroon and whites leading by 1-6 to 0-1 after John Clarke had finished off a fine solo run with a blistering shot into the Ballinagh goal. Things got progressively worse for Ballinagh when they had a player sent off after Brian Mulvey was roughly tackled. Ballinagh didn't throw in the towel and actually scored four points as opposed to David Maguire's solitary effort for Castlerahan inside the opening ten minutes of the restart. But that was as good as it got for Ballinagh as Castlerahan proceeded to cruise over the finishing line with points from Michael Caldwell, Sean Brady and John Clarke suitably embellishing Castlerahan's semi-final victory. Even an injury time goal for Ballinagh couldn't take the gloss of Castlerahan's passage through to the decider. It was very much a case of relief all-round for the Castlerahan camp when the final against Drung at Breffni Park in mid-October saw Sean Brady fire over a free in the 60th minute to snatch a draw for his side and thus ensure a replay. Castlerahan were decidedly nervous and hesitant over the hour but while other sides might have been tempted to become frustrated and inept at fighting back to salvage what at times looked a difficult fight, Castlerahan dug deep in the second half to deservedly seal the draw. That said, things looked promising in the early stages of the first half as a Sean Brady goal catapulted his side into a 1-2 to 0-2 lead midway through the half. Drung finished the half strongly though but an Alan Mulvey brace of points in the run-up to the half-time break ensured Castlerahan went in at the break, 1-4 to 0-5 to the good. Sean Brady was again to the fore in countering an early Drung point with a similar score but a Drung point in the 45th minute left just one between the sides as the tension mounted. Indeed, it took a goal-line clearance by Johnny Lynch to keep Castlerahan in front as Drung pushed forward with intent. It was level pegging four minutes from time when Austin Curran pointed for Drung and when Niall O'Rourke pointed one minute later, it looked like curtains for Castlerahan. However, with a splendid never-say-die spirit Castlerahan attacked the Drung goal 'till eventually Sean Brady grabbed the opportunity to level the game at the death. Castlerahan were destined to be back in senior ranks for the first time since 1967. With guts, determination and ambition, Castlerahan once again belied their underdog status by beating Drung by 0-10 to 2-2 in the replay at Breffni Park in late October. In the same manner as the club's last such success in 1966, the current Castlerahan crew once again had to fight from behind as they allowed a wind-assisted Drung sprint into a 1-1 to 0-0 lead after just three minutes. That impressive start was to see Drung at their best though as Castlerahan's defence put up the shutters and allowed their opponents to score just one more point in the first half. Points though from Fionan Callaghan and Alan Mulvey steadied the Castlerahan ship in those early, nervous stages of the game. Drung were penned back in their own half for large periods of the second quarter yet still held onto a precarious two point lead, 1-2 to 0-3, at the interval. With the elements at their backs now, Castlerahan set about gaining parity with their opponents and, on cue, Sean Brady fired over a 45 in the sixth minute to close the gap to a single point. Castlerahan began to fire on all cylinders now and they duly levelled matters in the 11th minute when Finan Callaghan pointed after his shot rebounded off the Drung 'keeper. Continuing to force the pace with great gusto, ambition and enthusiasm, Castlerahan took the lead for the first time just three minutes later when Alan Mulvey converted a free. Drung were very much on the backfoot at this stage and points from Brian and Alan Mulvey over the course of the next three minutes left Castlerahan ahead by three points with 12 minutes left to play. Another point from Alan Mulvey left Drung clutching for a liveline and when the red and whites banged in a goal with three minutes remaining in the tie, the pressure was really on Castlerahan to hold firm. Like true champions, Castlerahan held firm and with the game moving into additional time, the winners-elect broke quickly out of defence and hit the jackpot with Alan Mulvey knocking over the insurance point for a fabulous victory. Castlerahan could now look forward to competing in senior ranks for the first time since 1967. For the record, the victorious Castlerahan team, subs and scorers, which conquered Drung in the intermediate championship replay was as follows: C. Clerkin; J. Lynch, J. Flynn, O. McBride; D. Smith, S. Fitzpatrick, P. Brady; J. Clarke, S. Brady (0-1); M. Caldwell, B. Mulvey (0-1), N. Duignan; D. Maguire (0-1), A. Mulvey (0-5), F. Callaghan (0-2). Subs used; J. Caffrey, K. Cahill. Thereafter, a memorable double was achieved when the same squad marched to the ACFL Division Three title with a 1-13 to 0-10 win over Kildallan in the league decider at Cornafean in late November leaving one to wonder can 2002 possibly offer any greater joy? Time will tell. Share of limelight Not to be outdone by their intermediate counterparts, the Castlerahan under 14 footballers grabbed their share of the limelight in 2001 by claiming a tremendous double success in winning the Roinn A league and championship titles. Demonstrating the sort of quality football, cohesion and determination redolent of their likewise double-winning club colleagues, the Castlerahan youngsters confirmed their rich potential by proving to be a class apart among their peers last year. Indeed by the end of October there was no doubting that the maroon and whites were the premier under 14 team in the county such was their superiority in both league and championship competitions. Following on from their exceptional league title win, over Bailieborough by 2-15 to 0-4 the Ballyjamesduff-based squad were fancied by all and sundry in the county to wrap up the double in the subsequent championship. And how right the masses were! In the championship final played at Breffni Park in late October, Castlerahan showed Crosserlough a clean pair of heels in skipping to a well-merited 2-14 to 3-3 win. Castlerahan laid the foundations for their ultimately comfortable win with a very impressive first-half showing during which they almost totally dominated proceedings. The opening 30 minutes saw Castlerahan win most of the individual battles in most sectors of the field with some skilful, intelligent football. Crosserlough were thus forced to fight a rearguard action as Castlerahan, inspired by a magnificent midfield performance by Ronan Flanagan, proceeded to romp into a six point first quarter lead. The aforementioned Flanagan had good lieutenants on hand too with the likes of Daniel Lynch and Pauric Smith tormenting the Crosserlough defence at every opportunity as their side leapt into an important 0-6 to 0-0 lead. Much sharper to the incoming ball, efficient in possession and seldom erring in their passing, Castlerahan capitalised fully on Crosserlough's first half inertia to power into a 0-9 to 0-0 lead with just 23 minutes of the game played. It wasn't until the 24th minute that Castlerahan's defence was breached - Enda Gaffney getting a point in only his side's fourth meaningful attack of the game. Two minutes later though, any complacency which Castlerahan might have begun to feel was shattered when Crosserlough broke through for a good goal to cut Castlerahan's lead at the interval to six points. Within two minutes of the restart, Castlerahan's lead was reduced to five and suddenly the issue looked in the balance as the play swung from end to end. The big Crosserlough contingent were then in full voice in the 39th minute when a speculative shot dipped underneath the Castlerahan bar to leave just two points separating the sides. Like true champions though, Castlerahan came roaring back and a point apiece by Cian Mackey and Laughlin Egan restored their team's cushioned lead. The tempo of the game continue to increase as the winning post drew nearer and nearer with each team giving as good as it was getting. Soon there were only three points between the sides as Crosserlough pointed again. Gradually though Castlerahan began to re-assert their dominance around the midfield area and a converted free by Daniel Lynch was the signal for the start of a concerted period of Castlerahan pressure which eventually yielded a further two points from Lynch and, most crucially, a goal by the same player in the 53rd minute which propelled his side into a 1-14 to 2-3 lead. With three minutes left to play, Crosserlough seemed to have grabbed a lifeline when they goaled, thus reducing Castlerahan's lead to five points once more. Castlerahan were not to be denied the double however and, entering added-on time, they sealed the issue when Ronan Flanagan converted a penalty after Gavin Cunningham was fouled. It was a goal which put the tin hat on a wonderful season for all concerned at Castlerahan. Final Score; Castlerahan 2-14 Crosserlough 3-3 For the record, the following is the championship-winning Castlerahan team, and scorers; Brian Coleman, Ronan Brady, Pauric Reilly, Shane Boylan, Michael Smith, Fiacra Cork, Barry Cusack, Ronan Flanagan (1-3), Pauric Smith (0-1), Sean Fitzpatrick (0-1), Daniel Lynch (1-6), Gavin Cunningham, Terence Brady (0-1), Cian Mackey (0-1), Laughlin Egan (0-1). Tweet

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