Ballinlough have had better years. Two-thousand-and-five descended into a real struggle for the north Meath club, who found themselves fighting relegation battles on both league and championship fronts. The form displayed over the course of the year wasn't the strain of consistency manager Gary McDonnell demanded, and it was all hands to the pump as Ballinlough's senior survival hung by a thread in late autumn. However, they pulled it out of the fire with a dramatic play-off victory over Dunderry at Athboy on Sunday October 23. Experienced campaigner Dan McCartan, who missed much of the season through injury, is hoping for a major upturn in fortunes in 2006. When new manager Gary McDonnell told the Ballinlough players at the start of the year that he wanted an extended championship run, he wasn't referring to a relegation dogfight. In their 14th successive year as a senior entity, surely there was no reason why the Reds couldn't make a bid for the latter stages of the SFC. As things transpired, Ballinlough's senior campaign extended into late October - the only problem was that the Keegan Cup was already nestling in Dunboyne by then! Cruel irony. For the 2005 Meath senior football championship, Ballinlough were pitted in the Group of Death, or was it the Group of Instant Demise? Four of the sides from Group A went on to reach the semi-finals of the competition, with Dunboyne beating Blackhall Gaels in the final in early October. Summerhill broke even, while Ballinlough, Cortown and Dunderry entered a three-way play-off to determine which would face Kilmainhamwood in the senior relegation final. What drama that would produce! Ballinlough opened and closed their '05 SFC odyssey with matches against Dunderry. They kicked off their programme brightly against the Dunderry men in Navan, but the concession of a few soft frees late on proved costly as they slipped to a one-point defeat, 0-8 to 0-7. Champions-elect Dunboyne proved far too strong in the second round (1-16 to 0-6) at Trim, before Navan O'Mahonys inflicted a third successive defeat, 0-9 to 0-5. A Padraig Muldoon goal finally got Ballinlough off the mark in Round Four in late July, as they defeated Cortown by 1-10 to 0-10 in Kells, but the group stage of the SFC ended on a disappointing note with three consecutive - and heavy - defeats at the hands of Summerhill (2-11 to 1-5), Trim (2-16 to 0-4) and Blackhall Gaels (2-10 to 1-3). Fortunately for Ballinlough, Cortown and Dunderry had also struggled to come to terms with the blistering standard in Group A and the three clubs finished level at the bottom of the table on two points apiece - a full eleven behind table-toppers Trim. This meant a three-way play-off to determine who would meet Kilmainhamwood in the relegation decider. Once more, Lady Fortune smiled favourably on the Ballinlough lads - they would get two shots at avoiding the relegation final and three in all (if required) at avoiding relegation. Cortown provided opposition in the first game of the three-way play-off, with the winners surviving and the losers going on to face Dunderry in the final game of the group. Ballinlough had to field without county player Peadar Byrne, who was injured. When Cortown recorded a 2-5 to 1-2 win at Kells on Sunday September 25, Ballinlough found themselves inadvertently closing in on last chance saloon. Still, if they beat Dunderry at Athboy on Sunday October 23, their senior status would remain intact. In obvious peril, Ballinlough enticed a couple of their more experienced names out of retirement and an excellent outright victory in the Carnaross Tournament offered encouragement going into the Dunderry match. The game was a cracker. It was level at full time, 1-7 to 0-10, and when extra time eventually got under way the tension was palpable. Ballinlough didn't score in the first period of extra time but Derek Muldoon's second goal of the match proved decisive as the north county men survived - but only just - on a scoreline of 2-8 to 0-13. It may have been a bit too close for comfort but the bottom line is that Ballinlough will play senior football again in 2006 and there are plenty of clubs in the county who would love to be doing likewise. Dan McCartan is one of Ballinlough's more experienced campaigners. A versatile and thoroughly dependable performer, he always plays with great heart and determination. A mainstay of the first team for the best part of a decade now, he began the 2005 season as club captain but handed the captaincy over to Karl Reilly after picking up an injury that sidelined him for much of the year. Though accepting that Ballinlough didn't exactly set the world alight in '05, Dan believes there were mitigating circumstances: "A lot of fellas retired at the start of the year and, even though some young lads came in and did their best, the balance wasn't right. We didn't have the right blend. We draw from a small pool of players and can't really afford to lose anybody." For a club already with limited playing resources, injuries and suspensions invariably tend to take a more destructive toll and the overall effect was that Ballinlough seemed to look under strength throughout the season. But Dan is confident they can turn the corner: "In a couple of years, the younger lads will be stronger and more experienced. They'll hopefully take on a bit more responsibility and the team as a unit should get its balance back. We're in a bit of a transitional stage at the moment, but that won't last forever." How did training and general team preparations go in the north Meath camp? "Probably the same as for every country team. It started really well and a lot of work was put in at the start, but the numbers dropped off during the summer. It's always a struggle with numbers. We play off a panel of 20 or 25 lads tops, and you can't afford to be short anyone…" What target was set out at the start of the year? Okay, their season may have been an action-packed, dramatic one in hindsight but, presumably, Ballinlough had their sights set on bigger and better things? "Each player has his own individual thoughts on that but I'd say most of us felt we could qualify from the group. Personally, that's what I was looking at, but you need a bit of luck and we never got it. Lads retired and we had some injuries, so the season never took off at all. "Even though we only won one of our seven games in the group, it probably wasn't as bad as it sounds. We beat Cortown, we ran Dunderry within a point in the first game and there were a couple of other games where we were in contention until the closing stages, so it wasn't all bad. We need to take the positives from our year and build on them. "Nobody likes to find themselves in a relegation battle. We were without Peadar Byrne for the first play-off against Cortown and that was a huge blow to us as well as a boost to them. We were on the back foot straight away and we never got into that game. "But at least we had two more chances to stay senior and fortunately we did it at the second time of asking." It was vital that Ballinlough somehow managed to stay up. Once a team starts slipping down through the grades, it can be nigh on impossible to arrest the slide. All too often, the next stop after intermediate fare is junior football! But the extra-time defeat of Dunderry on the penultimate Sunday of October 2005 ensured that such an ignominy remains a long way off for Ballinlough. Winner of Division One (1997, 1999) and Division Two league medals during his tenure on the Ballinlough first team, Dan McCartan refuses to accept that the club is a spent force. He chooses to look to the future with optimism: "We can turn it around again. At one stage during the year, we had an average age of 22, so it looks good if we can hold these lads together. "I think the rural teams have lost a bit of ground. The teams from the country used to have an edge because we were physically very fit and that natural strength used to shine through. But that seems to be gone now because there are very few farmers left. A lot of rural lads are working in the towns now or studying and we've definitely lost a bit of our edge." When it came down to October, faced by the looming spectre of relegation, Ballinlough's overriding ambition was to live to fight another day. They rallied the troops, determined to salvage their standing at the Royal County's top table and earn a place in the draw for the 2006 SFC. Now, they can sit back and relax, waiting to see what the draw throws up… Dan McCartan has never known anything other than senior football with Ballinlough and he's in no mood for trying something new! Ballinlough capture 2004 Under 17 Div 4 title Ballinlough won the Under 17 Division 4 title in 2004 when they accounted for a galent Castletown side in the final played in Moynalty. Their 4-8 to 2-12 in an entraling contest with the Castletown side. The cliche that goals win games was never more evident with Alan Smith netting twice and Dess "Junior" O'Reilly and Cian Mullen also finding the net. Constant performers during the successful campaign were Robbie Farrell, Padraig Ryan, Lorcan Maguire, Cian and Colm Mallen, Alan Smith and skipper Des O'Reilly. Final team: James Higgins, Robbie Farrelly, Padraig Ryan, Andrew Hyland, Lorcan Maguire (0-1), Joe Gaynor, Cian Mallen (1-2), Des Junior O'Reilly 1-1, Colm Mallen 0-2, Mickey McGrane, Joe Farrelly 0-1, Alan Smith 2-1, Donal Doyle. Subs: Anthony Lynch for Doyle, Matthew Brady, David McCabe, Jason Fogarty. Team Mentors: Hugh McDonnell, Garry Corcoran, Pat Smith and Gerry McNamee Tweet

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