Ballivor's decision to bring in an outside manager for the '04 campaign paid dividends. Under the watchful eye of Westmeath favourite Larry Giles, the 2002 intermediate champions rediscovered their winning touch to clinch promotion to Division Two of the ACFL. They also reached the knockout phase of the IFC, laying down a marker for the future. Prior to the 2004 season, Ballivor had gone a little off the boil. After the high of winning the 2002 IFC, they failed to make an impression at senior level, slipping straight back to the second rung. The club committee decided to effect urgent moves to get back on track. As a consequence, they enlisted former Westmeath dual star Larry Giles as coach. Giles had made a bit of a name for himself in the Royal County with Longwood the previous two seasons and was singled out as a man who could make a difference for the Maroons. It was an inspired choice, as the new manager freshened things up and oversaw a definite improvement in Ballivor's fortunes. Granted, the intermediate football championship - and senior football - eluded them, but promotion was secured to Division Two of the all-county league, which places them in a much better position than they were at the start of the year. Division Two is a more practical launching pad than Division Three and promotion represents a clear move in the right direction. Ballivor will regularly complete against a better class of opposition during the forthcoming season, and this experience is sure to stand to them as they continue the quest for a return to the top grade. The team's league form in '04 was very impressive. Ballivor won seven of their eleven outings in Division Three and finished their campaign in second place, with 15 points out of a possible 22. This was sufficient to guarantee promotion to the second division. It also earned the Maroons a place in the Division Three decider, against table-toppers Gaeil Colmcille. At the time of writing, this fixture had yet to take place (it was scheduled for Sunday November 21), but Ballivor had evidently turned things around and were in with a chance of securing a welcome piece of silverware. Speaking to 'Royal County 2004', Larry Giles noted: "The prime objective of promotion has been secured and nobody can take that away from the lads. The final was there to be won but, regardless of what happened, they're up to Division Two and are now in a better position to challenge for intermediate honours." All in all, it was a successful year. Ballivor had to drag themselves up by the bootlaces. Having done so, they made their mark. As the '04 manager explains: "The club was at a bit of a low ebb when I took over but the lads knuckled down and got a few good results and turned things around." In Division Three, Ballivor gained promotion by finishing above Drumree, Dunsany, Curraha, Slane, Moynalvey, St Michael's, Longwood, Ballinabrackey, Nobber and Drumconrath on the league table. Ultimately, promotion was booked by virtue of three wins in their final three outings. "We had to win those three matches to get promoted and we did, beating Drumconrath by a point into second place. One of those matches was actually in Drumconrath and that was a great win. We beat them by a point. It was played on the same day as the All-Ireland hurling final [Sunday September 5] and was a game we had to win on the day and was always going to be the difference between playing Division Three or Division Two football next year. We then had to beat Dunsany in our last game to clinch a place in the final." Considering that there were a number of factors conspiring against them, promotion was a fine achievement. The manager notes: "We won our first league match against Curraha but some of the lads began to drift off a bit due to work and college commitments and exams. Some of the players found it very hard to give their full commitment, but they're a great bunch of lads and they came good in the end." When Larry took over the team at the start of the year, he only knew one player on the team, a former work colleague. He had trained Longwood in 2002 and 2003, gaining promotion in successive years from Division Five to Division Three. Thus, by helping Ballivor to Division Two, the Westmeath man has now achieved promotion with Meath clubs for three consecutive seasons! What was his first impression of the Ballivor team at the start of the year? "There were a lot of individuals there, and they weren't what I would call properly fit, so there was work to be done. Training went reasonably well, though some lads were working late, others had exams, and then there was the lure of Killyon, Kildalkey and Meath hurling. Six or seven of our lads hurl for Killyon and four of them are on the Kildalkey team, so it was almost impossible to get them all training together at the same time. Accordingly, we had to come up with a bit of a Plan B, and we didn't do too badly." Having negotiated the group stages, Ballivor were knocked out of the championship by Duleek. Barney Rock was in the opposing corner for that game, so it was a Dublin/Westmeath tussle of sorts, with the Dubs coming out on top. However, the midlanders won the really big one when the two counties clashed at Croke Park in the 2004 Leinster SFC quarter-final. Larry grins at the thought. His beloved county won their first ever Leinster senior championship in 2004. "It was a long time coming." admits the man who served the Lake County so well. Was it disappointing for Ballivor not to go further in the championship? "Obviously, because the main thing is to get back up senior and try to consolidate the club as a senior force. However, they did make a move towards that in 2004. Playing a decent grade of football in Division Two next year will certainly be a big help. If Ballivor really get their act together, who knows what they might achieve? But there are a lot of lads working up in Dublin and there's also the conflict with the two local hurling clubs, and that makes things tricky. "At the start of the year, the club didn't set any specific target for me. They just told me they were a good bunch of lads, with plenty of football in them, and that they were going very poorly. So we set about trying to improve their fortunes. We got stuck into training and some of the lads were wondering what was going on because we did things differently. I never do laps of the field. I run across the field or in a figure '8'. They say that a change is as good as a rest and I think the players appreciated the new approach. We did a lot of ball work. In May and June, we did nothing but ball work and lots of challenge matches. "But it was very hard to get a settled team. For example, two of our key players were doing their final exams and they weren't available for a lot of the foundation work, which came against them in the end. There were a lot of factors working against us during the year but we gave it a go and the lads know now what they have to do. "There's a serious conflict with the two hurling clubs in the area. All three clubs are trying to keep things going and you have three managers pulling the players in three different directions. That puts pressure on the players, but it's one of those things that everybody has to learn to work around." If Ballivor got everybody out, fully fit and focused, how far could they go? "I reckon they'd win the intermediate and they could also do quite well at senior. Maybe if they got knocked out early in the hurling, that could happen. But I'm sure the hurling managers are saying the same about the football. "I was a dual player at club and county level myself and I know what it's all about and how difficult it is for players to stay fresh. When a lad is training four or five nights a week, he can very easily be burnt out by July. It's no good being fit unless you're also fresh and hungry. It's very difficult to find that balance, but it's something Ballivor have to seek." Larry has many fond memories of his first year with Ballivor: "I enjoyed my year with the club and I had a lot of craic with the lads during the year. They are a very good bunch. They've a good crop of players and there are some young lads coming on who are pushing for a place on the intermediate team. I brought Kevin Kelly and Brendan Canavan onto the team last year and another year will bring those guys on a ton. There are a few others waiting in the wings, pushing for starting places, which is good because it'll keep everybody on their toes." Under 17 Division 3 glory Whilst Ratoath scored five points in the first half of this game, Ballivor found themselves scoreless at the half time whistle, having played against a fairly strong wind. The second half saw Ballivor get to grips with the game with Killian Canavan opening the scoring for Ballivor with a point from a free on the seventh minute, quickly followed by another point on the eighth minute from Brendan Canavan. Killian Canavan then drew the match for Ballivor when he scored a great goal on the 10th minute. David Raleigh put Ballivor ahead on the 16th minute with a fine point. Ratoath then got their first score of the second half - a point on the 18th minute, followed by another point on the 20th minute to put Ratoath two points ahead with 10 minutes to go. Colm Ward put Ballivor ahead again with a brilliant Goal on the 21st minute with points from Killian Canavan (22 m), Colm Ward (27 m) and Killian canavan (29 m) further enhancing their lead - Ratoath got the last score of the game a point on the 30th minute. Full Time Score - Ballivor 2-6 Ratoath 0-8 Ratoath played most of the second half with 12 players having had a player sent off early in the second half. Ballivor Team and Scorers D. Kennedy, D. Pacini, R. Sherlock, C Ward, (1-1) P. Keogh, A. Feeney, Brendan Canavan (0-1), J. Carroll, J. Connor, Killian Canavan, (1-3), David Raleigh (0-1), D. Doran, J. Reilly. Subs: W. Murray for C Ward, C. Ward for J. Reilly Richard Sherrock, David Kennedy, Killian Canavan, Colm Ward, Brendan Canavan, Joseph Connor, John Carroll and Daniel Pacini played very well for Ballivor. Tweet

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