Drumbaragh GFC have just completed another year's competition which saw them reach the quarter-finals of the Junior 'A' championship. Although defeat there to Kilmainham was a disappointment, club secretary Barry Monaghan believes there are many positives to take from 2005. Caught between four big clubs, Ballinlough, Carnaross, Gael Colmcille and Cortown, the Drumbaragh club are left with a very small catchment to choose from, however this has not hindered their progress as an up and coming outfit. To prove that the small rural club are heading in the right direction, Barry revealed that planning permission has been recently obtained to build a new club house at their grounds. "It's hard being caught between four senior clubs, but we have managed so far and we have between 30 and 40 adult players, which is not bad for a club our size. We also have planning permission to build a new club house and hopefully that will begin during the course of 2006," said Barry. Following the draw for this year's championship, Barry admitted that Drumbaragh were quietly confident of doing well in the group and looked for qualification to the last eight at the very least. However, previous year's performances suggested that avoiding relegation would be their main priority. "We started training back in mid-January and first and foremost our aim was to avoid a relegation battle. When the draw was made, we were confident that we could make an impact and looked at only two teams that worried us, St Michael's and St Ultan's," added Barry. Long serving player, Christy Carry was once again handed the task of training the side and the turn out was favourable right from the start. Dunshaughlin were the first opponents in the championship and as is always the case with bigger clubs, Drumbaragh had no idea of what to expect when they met. "We have played Dunshaughlin a number of times in the championship over the last few years and you just never know what sort of team they will have. The game itself was a dour affair, but we were happy to come away with a two-point win as it's important to start the campaign with a victory," he stressed. The next match saw the Drums play Bective and a 1-15 to 1-7 win was recorded, while this was followed up by a comprehensive 2-20 to 0-3 victory over Dunderry and Barry revealed that the scoreline against the black and whites was very important. "We expected to beat Bective, but their results later in the year proved that they were not a bad side. The Dunderry match showed that the lads had the hunger to do well as they kept the pressure going for the full hour. As scoring averages come into use in the championship, it was great to record such a high score." Three wins out of three left Drumbaragh in a very comfortable position in the table leading up to their clash with Ballinabrackey. In arguably their best performance of the year, Drumbaragh saw off the challenge of their more physically strong opponents to record a narrow 0-10 to 0-9 win. As Barry stated earlier St Ultan's and St Michael's were seen as the main threats in the group. The former were next on the list and Drumbaragh entered the match as underdogs. St Ultan's are annual favourites to do well in the junior championship since their relegation a couple of years ago, but they had just too much experience for Christy Carry charges on the day. "We set out to win our first four matches before the St Ultan's match and that's what we did. So, the lads were very confident going into that match. Things didn't go right for us on the day and we lost by a goal (2-6 to 1-6), but there was still plenty of positives to take from the game," revealed Barry. Sandwiched between the St Ultan's match and the clash with St Michael's was the meeting with St Vincent's. Having played the same side in a league match a week earlier and recording a comfortable win, Drumbaragh entered the match expecting a similar result. That was not the case as St Vincent's put on a determined display and Drumbaragh were forced to call on all their reserves to record a 0-15 to 0-14 win. That near defeat almost cost Drumbaragh dearly and with St Michael's next, it was of the utmost importance to remain focused. A win over the Carlanstown outfit would have guaranteed Drumbaragh a place in the quarterfinals, while defeat would see them into a play-off if St Ultan's beat Bective. "The game against St Ultan's was a great game of football and many people commented that it was the best they had seen all year in any grade. We trailed by five points as the game entered its final stages, but the introduction of Christy Carry turned things around and I'm certain that if we had enough time, we would have beaten them, but they held on for 0-15 to 0-13 win," said Barry. As expected St Ultan's defeated Bective to leave Drumbaragh in third place in the group having won five and lost two of their seven matches. St Mary's would be the opposition in the play-off and Barry pointed out that the sides know each other considerably well having met regularly over the years. In a scrappy tense affair, the standard of football was not the best, but Drumbaragh came out on top by three points to set up a quarterfinal clash with neighbours Kilmainham. "Drumbaragh were very confident going into the quarterfinal as we felt that we had the better players overall. Training had been going very well and you could see the players were determined to do well." Drumbaragh looked dead and buried by half time as they trailed by ten points. Their cause was not helped by a penalty miss just before half time. The second half saw a major turn around in proceedings as the green and reds gradually clawed their way back into the match and forced the game into extra time. Kilmainham forged their way ahead by the end of the first period of extra time and despite constant pressure by Drumbaragh in the final ten minutes, it was a questionable free awarded to Kilmainham in the last minute that saw them through to the semi-final. Alas it was not to be for Christy Carry's troops, but their displays in the championship proved that Drumbaragh will soon be a force to be reckoned with in the junior championship. "Our squad is very young with the majority of the lads in the early twenties. We have been making progress in the last few years and it's important to build on this year's performances. It was disappointing to lose to Kilmainham, but looking back the year has been a great success," added Barry. "We also have to make a bigger effort in the league. We have been in Division 4 for the last ten years and now it's time to move up to a higher level, which will stand to us in the championship. "There are a lot of talented players coming through the ranks and in the last two years we have had players on the county minor team. Seanie Bennett and Peter Carry have been involved with Meath and they may be young but they have plenty of experience and we are already looking forward to next year," concluded Barry. Tweet

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