Moynalvey, in their first year as an intermediate side after relegation from the senior ranks in 2000, struggled to gain the level of consistency required to make a concerted challenge for the title. John Donoghue, the team's intercounty under 21 representative, was initially struck by the ultra-competitiveness of the intermediate grade, and knows the club will need a lot of work - and a bit of luck - to regain their place at the top table of Meath club football. Message to all teams slipping from senior to intermediate: Be warned; don't expect to make an immediate return to the top shelf without a struggle. Moynalvey, in their first year in the middle grade after relegation, found the necessary commitment and effort difficult to come by, and know they will have a battle on their hands to complete the journey back to senior in the coming year. Indeed, as one shrewd, if knowingly over-stating, observer pointed out, it may turn out to be easier to fall straight through the intermediate grade than to bounce directly back to the senior grade. St Michael's have suffered that precise fate in recent years, while Carnaross have yet to make a sustained effort at jumping back across the bridge. Blackhall Gaels put the equation into some sort of equilibrium by winning the intermediate title at the first time of asking recently, but no side finding themselves in the middle tier by dint of relegation can be too sure of regaining their position in the Top 16 too quickly. Moynalvey, in their first year at the level, discovered, in a terribly disappointing campaign, that if redemption is to be achieved, it will take a monumental effort. John Donoghue, the Meath under 21 wing back in 2001, and who normally lines out at centrefield for his club, realises what is required if the club are not to become stuck in the second level. "It's a very competitive competition, and that can be seen by how well the intermediate champions always do in the senior championship. Cortown, Syddan and St Pat's all did well the year after they won the intermediate, and Kilmainhamwood went from intermediate champions to senior champions within two years, so the standard is obviously very good. "There are so many teams in with chances. A year or two ago, Duleek were kind of the whipping boys, but this year they put in a great effort and did very well. So we know that it's going to take a huge effort to win it, but that's what we have to be aiming to do. Things didn't go that well for us all year, the preparations were fairly bad, and the league matches didn't go well at the start of the year. We got stuck in a losing rut, I suppose, and it's very hard to break that when you get into it." Moynalvey were offered one of the toughest opening round matches possible, against Ballivor, constant door-knockers and one of the favourites to claim the title. The draw which pitted them against the group favourites was a bad start that got worse very quickly. Four goals against, game over. "Talking to a few of them since that, they said their best performance of the year was against us, so it was a real bad start for us. The next day, against Castletown, we fell asleep for three goals, and that was that." Though that doesn't exactly tell the whole story - they managed to fight back well against Castletown, but not well enough and lost by a point - there were not too many positives to be taken from a start which read played two, lost two. After such a beginning, they were fighting for their championship lives, and without some points, and soon, they faced the wholly undesirable prospect of freefalling straight through the intermediate ranks and nestling with a bump on the floor of the junior grade below. Things didn't get any better in the third round, when Drumconrath ran out eight-point victors. "Indiscipline cost us that game," says John, candidly offering his own name as culpable. "I was sent off after 20 minutes, and we had a second fella sent off in the second half as well, so that put paid to any chances we had in that one." Suddenly, the possibility of relegation was becoming ever greater, and the crunch match was the next to be played: against Moynalty, with both sides without a point. The losers would be on the brink of the dreaded drop. "Luckily for us, we won that one, but we had to. Only for that, the chances are that it would have been us, and not Moynalty, who were relegated at the end of the year." Luckily for Moynalvey, they were able to gain another victory (by a single point against Rathkenny), while Moynalty ended the year without a win to be consigned to the relegation dustbin. While it was generally doom and gloom on the field with his club in 2001, Donoghue enjoyed significantly better times with the Meath under 21 set-up, helping the county to Leinster title victory before suffering All-Ireland semi-final defeat at the hands of Mayo less than a fortnight later. As ambitious as any top footballer should be, he is disappointed by the missed opportunity for a stab at an All-Ireland medal. "We beat Dublin in the Leinster final, and it was a great day, as good as it gets, but I don't think it was right that we had to play Mayo ten or eleven days later. We weren't mentally right, I didn't' think we had enough time to prepare ourselves properly for such a big game so soon after the Leinster final. Mayo were definitely more ready for us than we were for them, so it was disappointing to go out like that." John, who still has another two years left at under 21 level, is full of praise for the team of selectors who guided Meath to the Leinster title, and the way in which they conducted business from the beginning. "With Paul Kenny and Robbie O'Malley, everything was brilliant. The training was very hard, but it was a great experience, and everyone enjoyed being part of it. There was a great atmosphere among all the lads, and between Paul, Robbie, Johnny Sullivan and Johnny Henry, everybody got a decent chance. I was talking to Paul afterwards, and he said that he'd seen every club playing, so the whole system is a lot fairer than it sometimes is at minor level." With Sigerson football at NUIG also beckoning, there will be no shortage of opportunity for Donoghue to hone his skills in the coming years. He captained the college to the All-Ireland freshers' title in his first year, and "trained a bit with the Sigerson lads, though none of the freshers got onto it." With talented footballers such as Dessie Dolan and David O'Shaughnessy also part of the NUIG set-up, Donoghue could do a lot worse that just watch and learn. Somehow, though, it seems likely that he'll be doing a lot more than that. That can only be good news for him as his career path arcs ever upwards. Surely, for Moynalvey, the benefits will follow. Tweet

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