On the law of averages Duleek surely have to win the Intermediate Football Championship at some stage in the not too distant future. But there was disappointment once again in the club's quest to return to the senior ranks in 2003 when a campaign that promised so much ended in bitter disappointment when Barney Rock's side exited the championship at the semi-final stage against Carnaross. It was an all too familiar story for Duleek who were losing at the penultimate hurdle for the third successive year. Add in their final defeats in 1996 against Cortown and the following year against an emerging power in Dunshaughlin and it's easy to appreciate that the club has grounds for thinking that they are due a change of luck. For pure consistency, it's doubtful if any side in the county could rival Duleek in 2003. They charged through the All-County A League Div. 3 campaign with 10 victories and one draw from 11 outings and played with a confidence and poise in the group stages of the championship that suggested they could go all the way. Duleek were drawn in Group B of the championship, a section that also included Carnaross, Donaghmore-Ashbourne, Nobber, Oldcastle, Slane, St. Colmcille's and St. Ultan's, and opened on the best possible note with a 1-14 to 1-9 victory over St. Colmcille's at Donore in early April. Rock had them playing an attractive brand of football and that good start was followed by a very comfortable victory over Slane on a 1-12 to 0-4 score line, also at Donore. St. Ultan's, a side which ultimately was to suffer the enormous disappointment of being relegated to the junior ranks, really put it up to Duleek in the third round at Walterstown, but a second-half goal from Bryan Cudden proved very important after the sides had retired level at the interval and Duleek went on to edge through for a narrow 1-8 to 1-6 victory. The fourth round game at Simonstown against an Oldcastle side that had been relegated from the top flight the previous autumn pitted together two sides with very realistic ambitions of outright glory and it was Duleek who emphasised their well being when they recorded an easy 3-7 to 1-7 victory as early goals from Robert O'Neill and Conal McGinley gave Rock's charges the start they wanted and helped them to a 2-4 to 0-4 interval advantage. Peter Curran got a third goal in the second-half and Duleek won very comfortably. The previous year's junior champions Nobber provided the fifth round opposition at Kilberry in what was always likely to be a decent test of Duleek's credentials and they maintained their 100 per cent winning record when recording a narrow 0-12 to 0-10 victory against a side that improved as the championship progressed. The quarter-finals were reached with a game in hand when Duleek easily saw off the challenge of Donaghmore-Ashbourne in the sixth round at Skryne, winning by all of 14 points on a 4-7 to 0-5 score line, despite kicking 15 wides. Damien O'Halloran and Donard Ferguson scored early goals and Duleek were coasting at half-time when they held a 2-4 to 0-2 lead. Karl McDonnell and substitute Daire Ferguson added goals in the second period as the winners secured the points which ensured they topped the group. Carnaross had also secured their place in the last eight by the time they met Duleek in the concluding group match at Simonstown. The pressure was off both sides, but nobody could have predicted the ease with which Duleek would brush aside the challenge of another of the more fancied sides for outright success. Duleek were scoring goals for fun in the championship and they added five more as they trounced Carnaross by 5-13 to 1-5. Three of those came from Bryan Cudden in a blistering nine-minute spell in the second-half after Duleek had built up a commanding 2-9 to 0-2 lead at the interval. It was all so easy that even goalkeeper Robbie O'Neill got in on the scoring act when he moved outfield to point in the closing stages. Four more goals followed in the quarter-final against Na Fianna at Dunsany as Duleek won by 4-11 to 2-5, despite making a very shaky start which saw the south Meath side move into a 2-1 to 0-3 lead. A fortuitous goal from Daire Ferguson in the 20th minute helped Duleek to recover and lead by 1-7 to 2-1 at the break and a goal from Peter Curran effectively killed the game off as a contest. Substitute Bryan Cudden and Curran (from a penalty) also found the net as Duleek opened up a 4-8 to 2-3 lead at the three-quarter stage en route to a 12-point victory. All seemed to be going to plan as Duleek had brought their winning sequence in the championship to a very impressive eight games. Surely Carnaross, the side they had beaten with such ease in the final group match, couldn't turn the tables completely and end their championship dream at the penultimate hurdle. This time there was plenty at stake. It wasn't a group match that had little or nothing of meaning and Duleek were facing a Carnaross side that had been wounded by that trouncing and wanted to put that particular record straight. Duleek had scored 5-13 in that group game, but in the match that mattered at Pairc Tailteann they could manage only seven points. With Brian Comaskey in top form at midfield and top-scorer Ollie Murphy and John L. McGee outstanding in a two-man full-forward line, Carnaross won by six points on a 1-10 to 0-7 score line. It was an amazing transformation and suddenly all the victories achieved by Duleek on the way to the semi-finals counted for nothing. They were out of the championship and it was a major disappointment. Karl McDonnell summed it up in one word - "disaster." He was as dejected as any Duleek player as he made his way out of Pairc Tailteann that Saturday evening. "We had been winning most of our games so easily all year," he said. "We had been scoring a lot of goals and got 18 in our previous four outings, but we didn't get any against Carnaross. "I don't think we had a false sense of security going into the semi-final. We always knew it was going to be hard for us. We went into it as a normal game, whereas Carnaross went into it as if it was exactly what it was - an Intermediate Championship semi-final. Their level of commitment was far greater than ours. "We also hit the bar three times, missed a penalty and had 16 wides, the same as against Navan O'Mahonys last year. So we definitely had enough chances to win the game. If we had been told before the match that a tally of 1-10 would win it we would definitely have thought we would come out on top. "Full credit to Carnaross, they did their home work well. They pulled practically everybody back and left Ollie Murphy and John L. McGee isolated up front. That's where the big pitch in Navan suited them. "It was a major disappointment. There was great spirit in the camp all through the championship and we were winning so many games. Maybe if we had just scraped through to the knock-out stages we might have beaten Carnaross. But that's neither here nor there now." However, once that sense of disappointment has eased and winter turns to spring, McDonnell and his Duleek colleagues will start to think about the 2004 championship. "We will be in Division 2 of the A League next year and that should be a help to us because we will get the opportunity to play more senior teams," he added. "Those teams tend to be physically stronger and that seemed to be an advantage Carnaross had on us. We have some lovely skilful players, but we need that added strength. We also need to learn how to grind out results." All of Duleek will now hope that former Dublin star Rock stays around for another year and continues to lend his vast experience in the quest for eagerly-awaited senior status. "He is a great man to work with," McDonnell acknowledged. "Nothing gets him too excited and he has a very calm approach to everything. No coach can just come in for one year and achieve success. I hope he stays with us because there is definitely an intermediate title in this team. Hopefully, we can continue to learn from him." It will be a surprise if Duleek don't fulfil their undoubted potential and go on to win the championship in the next couple of years and, with a rapidly growing population, the area is certainly ready for a successful senior team. Duleek's Junior C side also suffered disappointment at the penultimate stage of their championship when going under to Moynalvey, having advanced through the group stages to edge out St. Michael's in the quarter-finals. Tweet

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