Jimmy Reilly played on the last Drung team to win an adult football championship title when he helped the club lift the JFC crown in 1980. Like many another club stalwart, he was bitterly disappointed to see his colleagues fall at the final hurdle yet again in the IFC last autumn. Kevin Carney reports Just how many times can Drung haul themselves back off the canvas and come out fighting again? After two successive intermediate championship final defeats, the ambition and determination of the club's premier squad will be tested to the full in the coming year as they seek to make it third time lucky. Few teams have been knocking on the entrance door to the winners' enclosure longer, and more often, than Drung and, as such, there's unlikely to be too much begrudgery on offer should the red and whites manage to hit the jackpot in the coming season. Defeats in the IFC deciders of 2000 and 2001 were painful hits though. Like a boxer bending over after a rap to the solar plexis, Drung's finest have understandably taken some time to recover their composure. Former stalwart Jimmy Reilly maintains that the players have what it takes to rebound with gusto in 2002: "Hopefully it'll be third time lucky for the lads. Losing to Castlerahan in last year's final was a big blow but we're still talking about just a sport here and the players know they just have to get on with it and try and do better next time around." But have they got what it takes to make it third time lucky? "I think so. The talent is definitely there and I don't see why they can't learn from what has happened them in the last couple of years and turn that to their advantage this year. "There are very few teams in the county who'd fancy themselves against us in any given day. I remember we went up to play Mullahoran in the league about three weeks after losing to Castlerahan and we beat them well. I know the Mullahoran fellas couldn't understand how we could play such good stuff and not be able to win the intermediate championship. "The players showed all year in division one though that they could hold their own in nearly every company. We could have finished even further up the league table only for the fact that the team lost a few matches by letting the other side in for the winning scores in the last few minutes," adds Jimmy who was a right handful in attack on Drung teams in the seventies and eighties. Although the former club chairman has indulged in manys the post-mortem into Drung's narrow misses in the championships of 2000 and 2001, Jimmy still finds he's unable to get a proper handle on just what went wrong for the club in the heel of the hunt. He admits there was a great deal of confidence in the Drung camp right from the start of 2001. All the players, the team-management and supporters were determined to make amends for the disappointment of having been denied in the 2000 county decider. And preparations, Jimmy notes, couldn't have gone any better in the run-up to the championship itself. No stone was left unturned, he informs us. And certainly the proof of the pudding was in the eating as the group stages came and went with the would-be finalists waltzing their way to successive wins against Drumalee, Lavey and Cornafean. Maximum points, minimum fuss. Everything was going to plan and then team's powerful display in beating erstwhile championship rivals Swanlinbar in the semi-final meant the omens were still looking very good. "I thought the team played very well against Swanlinbar and if the lads had to have played half as good again in the final against Castlerahan, they'd have won the cup. "Beating Swad in a repeat of the semi-final of 2000 gave us a great opportunity to go one better and win the final. A lot of us thought at the start of the year that Swad were going to be one of the toughest teams to beat in the competition. They must have been sick though to lose out again to us and then see us throw away the final once more." Drung's 2-11 to 2-7 win over Swad did indeed show Drung at their most powerful, most skilful, pacy and most determined best. But Jimmy's suggestion that the team peaked a game too early does tend to ring true, considering how the players underperformed in the two subsequent games against Castlerahan. All told the final, and requisite replay, was one of total frustration for Jimmy and co. "The lads only played to about 60 per cent of their potential, both days - it seemed as if they had it in their heads that the cup was theirs for the taking and that they only had to go through the motions in fourth gear instead of top gear. "Maybe the fact that we had given them (Castlerahan) a good hiding in a challenge game earlier in the summer up in Bally'duff had a psychological effect on our lads. "There's also the notion that the players got it into their heads that because Drung was a division one team and Castlerahan were operating in division three the final was going to be fairly easy. "Despite the best efforts of the team-management to ward off any ideas of complacency among the players, they mightn't have been totally successful in that regard." Interestingly, Jimmy doesn't begin to dispute the notion that Drung had only themselves to blame for allowing their opponents to come back to snatch a draw (1-6 to 0-9) with a last minute converted free. "We were the better team but we hadn't enough of a hunger or determination about our play and the fact that we had something like 18 wides - most of them from very scorable positions - in the first game tells its own story." Ironically Jimmy relates how the Drung forwards were popping the balls over the bar for fun during the many training sessions which took place in the run-up to the county final. And playing at Breffni Park was something the Drung lads were looking forward to, Jimmy adds. Not surprisingly Jimmy says he always thought that Drung were good enough to win the final. At no stage in the first encounter did he think Castlerahan were going to deny his beloved club, even when they got through for a goal midway through the first half. "Given the amount of possession we had all through the match, we were in almost total control for most of the game and yet couldn't put them away. "But fair play to Castlerahan. They've a few quality players, have youth on their side in a big way and they hung in there and got the draw and made us pay for it in the replay." A shock and a half then? "Definitely. Nobody would have guessed at the start of the year that Castlerahan would have been in with a shout of winning the championship. I don't think many people in the county would have reckoned that they would be in the running for the championship. "They surprised us in the final though, especially in the replay when they were hungrier for the ball and made far better use of it in front of goal. "We should have had things wrapped up both days, especially in the replay when we got a dream start to go 1-1 to no-score ahead after just a few minutes. They pegged us back though, closed us down and we just couldn't get the scores as the game wore on which would have kept our hopes alive." Not one to exaggerate the negative aspects of a season/match, Jimmy, instead, consoles himself with the sincere belief that with possibly the same panel in tow for 2002, the holy grail can indeed be finally claimed. In the long term though, the approachable Drung clubman and hard-working lotto seller is pleased to report that the future well-being of the close-knit crew looks promising on foot of an almost continuous stream of young talent emerging from the club's juvenile ranks. "I know most clubs would say the same but I definitely think we have some really good stuff coming up through the ranks that, given time, will prove to be a really big addition to the club. "And the numbers of players available to the club is growing too with upwards of 35 players togging out for our intermediate side last year. In my time the club would have been lucky to have three subs on duty." Jimmy informs us that the club is hoping to match the progress on the playing front with improved facilities off the pitch as well. New fencing and turnstiles are planned for the coming year. And with a bit of luck and a bit better marksmanship perhaps the new-look Bunnoe pitch will be in good shape to receive a certain piece of prized silverware next October! Tweet

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