Cortown have certainly experienced the ups and downs of Intermediate Championship football since their decade of life in the top flight was terminated in 2006 and this year brought a mixture of disappointment and relief. By Paul Clarke. 

They were seriously hampered by injuries and found themselves staring at the possibility of a relegation dogfight as the group stages reached a conclusion.
It will be recalled that Kilmainhamwood beat Cortown in the relegation play-off to eliminate them from the senior ranks four years ago and a year later they appeared to be in serious danger of a drop to the junior grade, before they got the better of Ratoath in an intermediate play-off to avoid a dreaded do or die tussle with Ballivor.
Things were very different in 2008 when a team coached by John Henry made it all the way to the intermediate final where they were beaten by Bohermeen parish rivals St Ultan's.
Last year, with former Gaeil Colmcille player Eugene McGillick at the helm, they failed to emerge from their championship group after former county minor Darragh O'Halloran had missed much of the campaign with a cruciate ligament injury and it was the same story this term when new coach Damien Griffin and selectors Seamus Mulroe, Liam Rennicks and Packie Henry had to contend with a lengthy injury list.
Cortown secured just one victory from their four qualification matches, but what an important success it was in the final round when they got the better of Clann na nGael to send the Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination down to the bottom of the section and into the relegation mix.
Cortown, who also endured a struggle in Division 2 of the All-County A League, were drawn in group C of the championship which looked extremely testing. It also included three of the more fancied teams to figure in the closing stages of the competition, Gaeil Colmcille, Ballinlough and Dunderry, as well as a Clann na nGael side which fielded Graham Geraghty.
Ballinlough provided the first round opposition at Carnaross and the concession of two second half goals and a missed penalty proved costly for Cortown who were edged out on a 2-10 to 0-14 score line. It was all to play for at the break when the team in red led by a point and substitute Peadar Byrne stretched their lead on the restart.
Cortown recovered to edge ahead, but with Cian Mallon and Derek Muldoon finding the net Ballinlough regained the initiative. Griffin's team was given a great late opportunity, but Gary Coyne's penalty hit the woodwork. Coyne top-scored with eight points, Glen Loughran notched five and John Fagan got the other.
Carnaross was again the venue for a second round meeting with neighbours Gaeil Colmcille and with Glen Loughran going off injured in the early stages Cortown were seriously weakened and the Kells men earned a deserved victory on a 1-8 to 1-5 score line.
Thomas Smith got the Cortown goal, Coyne was their leading marksman with four points and Ivor and Darragh O'Halloran, Paddy Kerrigan and John Casserly played well, but their efforts just weren't enough.
When Dunderry inflicted another defeat on Cortown at Athboy the alarm bells were starting to sound, but with any luck at all they might well have taken something from this game. Ivor O'Halloran, Glen Loughran and Gary Coyne were unable to start due to injury, though Loughran and Coyne were introduced as substitutes despite being less than fit.
Stephen Fitzmaurice and Coyne shared the scoring honours for Cortown with four points each and Declan Coyne also split the uprights, but Dunderry's goal made the world of difference and they shaded the verdict by 1-7 to 0-9.
The pressure was really on the Cortown players as they headed to Kilskyre for their last group match against a Clann na nGael team which required only a draw to avoid falling into the drop zone. They already had a point to their credit as a result of an earlier draw with Dunderry and they looked likely to increase that to three when they opened up a five-point advantage during the first half.
This was a tremendous tussle between two fiercely committed teams and Clann na nGael suffered a big blow when the influential Geraghty was dismissed before half-time after receiving a second yellow card. The introduction of John McGearty had helped to steady Cortown and they reduced the deficit to 0-5 to 0-7 at the interval, with Fagan (two), Martin Henry, Gary Coyne and McGearty, from a '45', getting the points.
Clann na nGael were ahead by 0-12 to 0-9 early in the last quarter, but Breen Smith gave Cortown a big boost with a goal to draw the sides level. As the excitement intensified and the outcome was in the balance Smith scored a crucial second goal and Colm Kerrigan added a late point to leave Cortown three clear (2-11 to 0-14) at the end.
Cortown's Justin Reilly was red carded at full-time, but it hardly mattered as they had managed to steer themselves out of danger. When the group C action had concluded Dunderry and Gaeil Colmcille had filled the top two places on six points from a possible eight. Ballinlough missed out on qualification after finishing on five, Cortown were on two and Clann na nGael were bottom on one.
Cortown forward Gary Coyne, who is so often their leading marksman, was as relived as anybody associated with the club after their last round victory over Clann na nGael.
"We survived, thank God," was his reaction as he looked back on a difficult campaign. "It was a massive relief for all of us. We didn't want to end up in the relegation play-offs. We were there before against Ratoath in 2007. It's not a place you want to be."
Damien Griffin from Enfield, who had been with Bective for the previous couple of years and who is a former Meath junior selector, was the Cortown coach this year and Gary enjoyed working under the man who took over from Eugene McGillick.
"I have to say that training was brilliant with Damien, very enjoyable," he added. "But unfortunately injuries were a huge problem for us this year. We were seriously hit. For our last game in the championship against Clann na nGael we were without seven of the team which lined out against Moynalvey last year. That match against Moynalvey was the only time that we had everybody."
With so many injuries to contend with there was always the likelihood that the 2010 league and championship would prove to be a real struggle for Cortown and that's how it worked out. Yet the three defeats they suffered in the group stages of the championship were all by very narrow margins - two points against Ballinlough in the first round, three against Gaeil Colmcille in the second and one when they met Dunderry in the third.
"We started off the championship with a two-point loss to Ballinlough, but that was a game we could well have won," Gary recalled. "I missed a penalty near the end of that match, but we also had chances to kick points after that and they went wide.
"Glen Loughran injured his knee after only 10 minutes of the second round match against Gaeil Colmcille. When he went off we knew we were in trouble for the rest of the year. Glen is such a key player for us. He came back for the league game against Rathkenny and was moving very well, but he injured his cruciate ligament again. We'll be without him for next year.
"We were also short several lads for our third championship match against Dunderry. That game was all about pride and we could have stolen it, but they beat us by a point in the end."
Going into their final group assignment against Clann na nGael at Kilskyre, Cortown knew what they had to do. The Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination had one point in the bag and required only a draw. For Cortown, it was a matter of winning and as they have so often done down the years they responded brilliantly when the pressure was on to record a memorable victory.
"It was definitely a very good result for us to beat Clann na nGael, despite all our injury problems" Gary said. "We knew from reading the papers how well they were going, including in the league where we were really struggling. It was tight, but it was great to come away with the win. It was a big relief."
Looking ahead to 2011 Cortown will be hoping that life is kinder to them on the injury front.
"Let's hope we have a cleaner bill of health for next year," Gary added. "We will definitely be without Glen. He's going to be a massive loss to us. But we would hope to have Gordon Codd back. He has a back problem and is a big player for us.
"For a club like ours we really need everybody available. The lads we have often been missing are key players, like Gordon, Glen, Mark Casserly, Ivor O'Halloran and Sylvie Skelton who has retired. They are all big game players." Tweet

Most Read Stories