All in all, 2002 was quite a successful year for Cornafean. By retaining their intermediate championship status, the club also assured itself of a place in division two for the forthcoming season. With significant progress being made off the field as well, there's every reason to be looking forward to 2003 with confidence. Looking back on how 2002 panned out in general, Cornafean PRO Tommy McGibney is quietly content. He's not swinging from the rafters or screaming from the rooftops, but he's evidently happy . . . and not without reason. "I thought we had a reasonably good year," he notes. "Our main objective was to stay intermediate and we achieved that. This means that when the leagues are restructured next year, we'll be in Division Two, which is definitely a step in the right direction. "We also had a good run in the league, reaching the semi-final and playing some very good football along the way." The league took centre stage in the early part of the season and Cornafean were in Division Three. As they'd experience a mixed year in the same division in 2001, with a lot of poor results, a marked improvement was both sought and required. As it transpired, such a progression was attained. The selectors had the lads fired up from the very start and they were determined to do well in the league. This showed in the results. From eleven games played in the 'league' stage of the competition, Cornafean won nine, drew one and lost only once. Their will-to-win was clear for all to see. Some of those games were tight affairs, with little between the teams, but that intangible bit of extra desire that had been instilled in Cornafean's play proved decisive. These league games were played off in a relatively short space of time at the start of the year - which suited Cornafean down to the ground as they were training exceptionally well at the time. The season effectively started with a great win over Kill in March and from there Cornafean were on a roll. They strung together an impressive sequence of results, the highlight of which was arguably two victories over the same weekend in April, at the expense of Butlersbridge and Drumalee on the Friday and Sunday respectively. Cornafean had completed their programme of eleven games by early summer. They were paired with Killeshandra in the quarter-final and there was a lull in league activity before that game eventually went ahead in October. Despite the long wait, Cornafean picked up where they had left off and recorded a comprehensive victory. Inclement weather led to a further suspension of proceedings for another month before the semi-final took place against Drumalee. By now it was late November. Cornafean had lost their moment, to a large extent, and the punishing length of the season also took its toll - but their PRO puts forward no excuses for the team's demise: "Drumalee had a strong young team out on the day," he acknowledges. Though their league form had impressed, they found the championship much tougher. In their group, they were up against teams that were predominantly playing out of Division Two, and this showed. Says Tommy: "Those teams had played to a higher standard all spring and Division Two football is also that little bit more sophisticated. "We played Cootehill first and it took us about 20 minutes to get into our stride. By that stage we were well adrift. But once we got going we came back well at them and closed within four points before they struck with a late goal to finish us off." The next performance was much more encouraging. Here, Cornafean locked horns with Lavey - the only team to have thwarted them in the league - and scored a notable victory. Up next were Denn, one of the strongest sides in the competition. There was no shame in defeat here, against a side that came out of the group with a 100% record. A contributory factor towards this result was undoubtedly the absence of two key men: centre half back Eamonn Reilly and his brother Ciaran, always a tricky forward to contain. The pair are influential players and few club teams could afford to be without men of such a calibre. Despite the two defeats, victory over Lavey was still sufficient to earn a play-off against Cootehill for a place in the quarter-finals. The original fixture took place at Breffni Park on a Friday evening in early August and Cornafean improved beyond all recognition from their previous joust with the town side to force a draw. However, Cootehill came much stronger in the replay, thus ending Cornafean's interest in the 2002 Cavan intermediate football championship. Defeat consigned Cornafean to the Shield competition, wherein they did enough to assure themselves of intermediate status for the forthcoming season. Beating Lavey in their first round of the subsidiary competition put them in a strong position and there followed a very impressive display against Ballyhaise, who needed a few late scores to sneak victory. Cornafean's second-last match was against Swanlinbar in Killeshandra and victory here guaranteed them intermediate status for 2003. "The way the leagues have been changed, we knew that we had not alone secured our intermediate status but we had also made sure we'd be playing Division Two football next season, which was certainly a key objective for the year. We're now looking forward to seeing if we can make an impact in Division Two next season, and we'll also be in a better position to compete in the championship. "The team has a lot of experience and also has a good crop of young players coming through. Cormac Geoghegan, Mark Johnson and Liam Duignan all played key roles in 2002, even though they're all younger than minor. We're hoping that a few more young lads will come through and play important roles in the club over the coming year." Away from the actual playing field, Cornafean also enjoyed a successful year. In Scor, Michael McGibney won the Ulster title for recitation and represented Cavan and Ulster at the All-Ireland finals in Killarney. And returning (literally? Well almost) to the actual playing field in Cornafean, improvements were made during the '02 calendar year. Extensive upgrading was carried out and a number of problems were addressed. As the pitch is widely regarded as one of the best in the county for winter football, it gets a lot of use and requires a fair bit of maintenance. Further work was also carried out during the year on the club's new sports hall, which was initiated in 2001 and should be completed during the coming year. Everyone associated with the Cornafean club is looking forward to the opening of this new facility, which the PRO notes will be "a huge resource to the community". Cornafean bade farewell to some great servants during the year, with the sad loss of men who represented the club with distinction and honour. Peadar Doyle, who died in November, was a long-serving player and administrator. Peadar captained the last Cornafean side to win a county senior football championship in 1956 and was also a distinguished county footballer, winning an All-Ireland with Cavan in the 1930s. He was also a former vice-chairman of Cavan County Board and served his club executive in virtually every position. The death also occurred of Seamus Sheridan, who lined out for Cornafean in the late 'sixties and early 'seventies. Seamus will be remembered as a strong, powerful midfielder, who was also a great follower of the club. Cornafean gaels were further saddened by the loss of former vice-chairman Seamus McKeon. Seamus was vice-chairman in the late 'eighties and remained a faithful and committed supporter of the club despite sometimes being in poor health. The late Frank McCormack, meanwhile, who was a native of Lahard, played for the club in the 1930s and passed away in Monaghan. On a brighter note, Cornafean have no shortage of young blood coming through. Kevin Geoghegan, Seamus O'Reilly, Benny Duffy, Willie Duignan and others have put tremendous work into underage football in the club. That Cornafean have so many exceptional young players coming through is purely due to their efforts in promoting underage football. Tommy adds: "Our catchment area is small compared to other clubs and we draw from a small population, so it's imperative for our future that we attract as much young blood as possible and that we can hold onto our youngest members." Cornafean held its 2002 AGM on Friday December 13th. The only change at the top table was that Padraig Gormley stepped down as treasurer after years of wonderful service to the club. He has been replaced by Sharon Mulligan. Phil Cullen also gave up his role as team trainer at the end of the season, having done a stellar job for three seasons. Phil steered Cornafean to junior glory in 2000 and has revolutionised football in the area, bringing a new level of professionalism to proceedings. The club is hopeful that he will be involved again in some capacity in future years. Here's looking forward to 2003 and a productive year for all associated with the club! Tweet

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