When a place in the senior ranks was up for grabs Ballivor choose the wrong time to give one of their poorest performances of the year. But they needn't worry, as they will be back. While Ballivor were obviously disappointed at missing out on Intermediate Football Championship glory in 2000 they can take an amount of pride of being involved in what was arguably the very best game seen on Meath GAA playing fields during the year. That was the first of the IFC semi-finals when the side in maroon and white outpointed St. Colmcille's by 0-18 to 0-14 in an encounter, which like the SFC decider a few weeks later, produced a series of splendid scores with the winners getting on target 17 times from play. Although Ballivor did not produce anything near that kind of flamboyant form when losing the final to St. Patrick's, they may be nearer to crossing the bridge over to senior status than they have been in a number of years. They last played in the SFC in 1986 when in the same division as Harps, Nobber, Trim and Seneschalstown and failed to gain a single victory. Although making a senior final appearance in 1973 when O'Mahonys proved too strong for them, Ballivor have spent most of their footballing years in intermediate ranks, taking the IFC title in 1948, '71 and '81. Ballivor is also well known for producing players to Meath All-Ireland winning teams. The achievements of players like Paddy Dixon, Patsy McGearty, Bertie Cunningham and Conor Martin gave the club reasons to be proud Before the 1996 final against Mayo, MJ McGearty pointed out that Ballivor had supplied players to the Meath teams which won the All-Ireland senior, junior and minor All-Ireland titles for the first time, Willie Rispin (junior in 1947), Paddy Dixon (senior in '49) and Bertie Cunningham (minor in '57). In the 1973 Keegan Cup decider Ballivor had a Kealy-like family presence with five Dempsey brothers and an uncle of the same surname on the squad. Noel, Brendan, Michael and Martin were on the team along with uncle Gerry while a fifth brother, Dermot, was among the substitutes. The previous year there was an unusual occurrence when Gerry and Martin Dempsey were in the Meath team which won the Leinster minor title for the first time since '57. More recently Terry Connor brought distinction to the south county club when part of All-Ireland minor and under 21 successes in the '90s. Perhaps some of the present crop of Ballivor footballers will emulate by the players mentioned above but the main priority is obviously to take their bid to lift the Mattie McDonnell Cup another step forward. St. Pat's proved their bogey team in the last two campaigns, denying them at the penultimate hurdle in the 1999 and proving two points too good at the final fence in September 2000. Ballivor showed mixed form in the first IFC of the new century. They played nine games of which they won four, drew four and lost one. It is certainly unusual to finish level in four matches in a club championship but St. Michael's, Duleek, Carnaross and Drumree all held the men in maroon to equal scoring. Coached by former Seneschalstown forward Pat Carey, in his first year with the club, the south county side did very well to reach the final, considering the goings and comings of players plus injuries over the last few months. Daniel Fagan emigrated to Boston after the opening round against Drumconrath and was followed over to the North American city by Darren Davis and Brian Perry after the round three clash with Duleek. Jamie Keogh later went to Australia for a period. Damien Mitchell finished up as Ballivor's second highest scorer of the campaign despite picking up a knee injury in the fourth round tie against Castletown. Another Damien, Cunningham, was sidelined following a league game after the fifth round of the championship schedule and returned in a substitutes role for the semi-final and final. Keogh started in both of the latter ties, having journeyed back from down under. Also Conor Martin, who has played in goals and in outfield positions for his club, did not figure all year, having lost his appetite for the game. Efficient club secretary and PRO Caroline Burke pointed out that most of the Ballivor intermediate players were dual players, hurling with Kildalkey and Killyon and the fact that they were playing both games tended to cause complications. There were occasions when players would line out in hurling one day and played football 24 hours later. "Considering that there were so many obstacles in the way, it was a great achievement to get so far in the intermediate championship. The lads showed a lot of heart and plenty of determination. They did much better than anticipated," remarked Caroline Burke. Still when Ballivor took the field for their opening IFC game against Drumconrath in Walterstown last April they started with no fewer than 13 of the side which lost to St. Patrick's by 0-8 to 0-12 at the penultimate hurdle the previous autumn. Drawn in what looked the more tricky of the two divisions, Ballivor were delighted to get away to a winning start on a 2-12 to 2-9 scoreline. Damien Mitchell shot both of the winners goals and young Mairtin Doran scored four points. Stylish county minor Doran would go on to be his side's main marksman in the nine games, scoring a total of 1-40 overall. St. Michael's provided the second round opposition and Damien Mitchell netted again as his side gained a 1-9 apiece draw in Kells. Then when Ballivor drew 0-11 each with Duleek at Walterstown the sides were level on 11 occasions. This time Mitchell sent over three points and Doran hit four including a 58th minute leveller. In the fourth round tie against Castletown in Kells Ballivor were forced to battle back from a 0-5 to 0-10 deficit in the second half to record as 0-12 to 0-10 victory. A point from Padraig Geoghegan started the maroons revival, that score was followed by five points from another teenager, Mairtin Doran, and then goalkeeper Raymond McKeown, who had switched to an outfield role, shot his side's last minor. Carnaross became the third team to hold Ballivor to level scoring with a 2-7 to 1-10 draw in Kells. A took a late equalising point from Noel Davis to preserve the south county side's unbeaten record. A goal from Terry Connor after 55 minutes had put them into a two point advantage. The only onesided encounter of Pat Carey's charges' campaign was in the 2-18 to 0-6 victory over Moynalty in Athboy. Doran put his name on 1-7 of the big total with Fergus McMahon sending over six points. 'Long faces as Ballivor Advance' read a heading in one of the local newspapers after the 2-5 each draw with Drumree in the last round of the group at Summerhill. Castletown and Duleek club members travelled to that game in the hope of seeing Drumree record a victory, which would mean a three way play off for second place in Division A. The 'neutral' onlookers had reason to be hopeful when the competitions surprise packets, who were already through to the 'semis', led by 2-3 to 0-2 in the first half. Goals from Terry Connor and James Mitchell left it all square, 2-3 each, at the interval. At the end Ballivor had edged in front before a late leveller from Evan Kelly meant that both sides left Summerhill with their unbeaten records intact. 'Ballivor Best in Feast of Football' stated a headline after the victory over St Colmcille's in the aforementioned thrilling semi-final. Seventeen of the winners' points came from play and eight Ballivor players got among the marksmen. Both sides held the initiative in a seesaw struggle but Ballivor got on top after being on level terms, 0-7 each, at the break. They were five points to the good near the end of the third quarter. Padraig Geoghegan took the individual plaudits with five points, Doran sent over three and Brian Flynn hit a couple of crucial scores in the closing stages. After their sparkling forward showing in the penultimate round Ballivor only managed seven points in the final to nine by St. Patrick's in what was a disappointing final for everybody except those associated with the winners. Five of the losers' points came from Doran, four of them from frees, with captain Trevor Smith and Terry Connor getting the other two. So it was disappointing for Ballivor, who were appearing in the IFC decider for the first time since defeating Wolfe Tones in 1981. While getting back to the last round of the race for the Mattie McDonnell Cup could prove difficult, Caroline Burke hopes that the Ballivor players can take encouragement from St Patrick's who eventually crossed the bridge over to senior ranks after so many near misses. 'The Pat's team must have great heart to come back and take the title after the disappointments they went through. I hope our lads can do the same. We should have a stronger panel next year and it would be great to go one better," she remarked. The Ballivor team which lost out in the 2000 IFC final was: Raymond McKeown, Ciaran Connor, Padraig Carroll, Tony Fox, Jamie Keogh, Paul Feeney, Patrick Kavanagh, Noel Davis, Fergus McMahon, Trevor Smith, James Mitchell, Mairtin Doran, Brian Flynn, Terry Connor, Padraig Geoghegan. Subs - Damien Cunningham, Darren Davis, Keith Martin, Seamus Dunne. Selectors were Pat Carey, Jimmy Kelly, Terry Smith and Johnny Corrigan. Tweet

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