It's only three years ago that Slane reached the semi-finals of the Intermediate Football Championship, yet this year they found themselves in a battle for survival in the second highest grade - a battle that went all the way to a relegation play-off. By Paul Clarke. Thankfully for the boynesiders they reserved their one and only victory of the championship campaign until their eighth and last match when they got the better of Drumee in a do-or-die confrontation to decide who would remain in the intermediate ranks and who would suffer the painful drop to junior football. Slane last won the intermediate title in the GAA's centenary year, 1984, and stayed in the top flight until losing their status in 1999. They would obviously love to be back up there again, playing their football with the big boys, but since that progressive run in 2002 when they were beaten at the penultimate hurdle by eventual champions Ballivor it has been something of a struggle for the intermediate team. They failed to reach the knock-out stages of the championship in both 2003 and 2004, but the biggest battle of all came in the IFC campaign gone by when they struggled in the qualification stages and held onto their intermediate status in the last chance saloon that is the relegation play-off. Slane were drawn in Group A of the championship and it was clear from a look at the other teams in the section that they would have to produce something special to make it to the knock-out stages for the first time in three seasons. The group included Gaeil Colmcille, who were demoted from the senior ranks the previous autumn, the 2004 beaten finalists Duleek, Syddan, the fancies of many people to achieve outright success, an improving St. Colmcille's, the previous year's junior kingpins Ratoath, Na Fianna and Rathkenny. Facing Syddan in the opening round at Rathkenny on the second Sunday of April represented a serious early test and Slane certainly got off on the wrong footing as they lost heavily on a 1-3 to 0-18 score line. The match was over as a contest at the break after Declan Kearns had scored Slane's only point of the opening half from a free and Syddan held a commanding 0-12 to 0-1 advantage. Kearns added two more points in the second period and Stephen Goodwin scored a goal, but they were of little consequence as Syddan had 12 points to spare at the final whistle. After that very disappointing start Slane demonstrated considerable improvement in their second round outing against the Baconstown/Enfield combination, Na Fianna, at Dunsany, but it still wasn't enough as a point from Declan Brennan two minutes into injury time gave the south Meath side a dramatic 0-8 to 0-7 victory. It was a game Slane would most likely have won but for the brilliance of the winners goalkeeper Shane Geraghty who produced a couple of particularly superb saves. The sides were level (0-4 each) at the interval and the second half remained very tight until Na Fianna grabbed that late late winner. Seven points from Kearns weren't sufficient for Slane in the third round as they lost by two points (0-10 to 1-9) against Rathkenny at Kilberry and after this loss it was obvious that the losers were going to end up in a struggle to remain an intermediate club. That fact was confirmed when Slane suffered a fourth successive championship defeat, losing by 0-8 to 1-8 against Ratoath at Duleek. They trailed by 0-3 to 0-6 at half-time and even the best efforts of Colm Reilly, David and Stephen Gough, Stephen Carolan and Kearns weren't sufficient to rescue the situation in the second period. Duleek got their challenge for an eagerly awaited intermediate title firmly back on track when they met Slane in the fifth round at Donore as they won very comfortably by 1-13 to 0-6. Slane endured a thoroughly miserable first half and trailed by all of 12 points (0-0 to 1-9) at the break. They had drawn with Duleek in the 2004 championship, thanks to a late score from Kearns, but there was no danger of such an outcome on this occasion, even though they did improve somewhat during the second 30 minutes when they scored six times to Duleek's four. It became certain that Slane would be playing in a relegation play-off when they lost their sixth group match in succession, going down by 1-3 to 0-11 against St. Colmcille's, again at Donore. However, they made a particularly promising start to the game and an Eamonn Gibney goal helped them to a 1-1 to 0-0 advantage in the early stages. They were in front by 1-2 to 0-3 at the interval, but managed only a point in the second half as the seasiders notched eight to secure the win. Slane's final group assignment was against Gaeil Colmcille at Rathkenny and they suffered their seventh straight defeat, going under by 1-3 to 1-13. To lose their intermediate status six years after coming down from the senior grade would have been disastrous for Slane and there was obviously a determination to avoid such a situation as they prepared for the relegation play-off against Drumree at Bective on Sunday, 14th August. Both teams went into the game on the back of seven group defeats, but Slane had by far the better points average - minus 42, compared to Drumree's minus 85. And it was Drumree's seven-year stint at intermediate level that came to an end as Slane won by six points (1-10 to 2-1). They opened up a 0-2 to 0-0 lead in the early stages as Kearns and Aidan McMenamin scored the points, but Drumree then rocked them with a goal as George Troy found the net in impressive fashion to edge his side ahead. But Slane continued to enjoy the better of the exchanges and were in a favourable position at the break when they held a 0-9 to 1-0 advantage. Kearns missed a penalty in the second period and they also had Stephen Carolan sent off. However, a Kearns goal secured their IFC survival and a late goal by Niall McCarrick was of no use to Drumree. The Slane team which guaranteed their place in the intermediate ranks for the 2006 season was - C. Reilly; S. Coyle, W. Clarke, D. Carolan; R. Finnegan, S. Gough, J. Cullen; T. Macken (0-1), B. Loughran; A. McMenamin (0-3), B. Moore (0-1), C. Wogan; S. Carolan, D. Kearns (1-4), E. Gibney (0-1). Subs - M. McWeeney for D. Carolan, A. Reilly for Wogan. "We never had any doubt that we would survive," commented club PRO Michael Scully as he reflected on the campaign and looked ahead to 2006 with optimism. "The reason we were in a relegation situation was of our own making. The players are capable of producing better than they did. "A lack of appetite and commitment was the basic problem. But once they found themselves in that situation they responded very well to retrieve it. I don't think they felt a lot of pressure going into the Drumree game. They had upped the effort and commitment in training before that match. David Beggy came in to advise us as to the urgency of the situation and how to gain a victory. "It's a lesson learned. From here on, as a result of the response we got going into the relegation play-off, we would expect a big improvement next year. Our aim will be to qualify from our group. "We have six or seven new faces coming through. There are the old reliables like Johnny Cullen, Eamonn Gibney, David Gough, Stephen Gough and Declan Kearns who have played senior championship football and know what it's about and younger lads like Rory Finnegan, Willie Clarke, Tommy Macken and Brendan Loughran, so there's a decent mix of youth and experience capable of mounting a challenge next year after learning the lesson from this year. "At under-age level there is a tremendous effort going in under the Bru na Boinne umbrella. They got to their under-16 final this year and that's a good sign. This year they had training sessions on Sunday mornings and up to 50 or 60 players attended. An in-club tournament was held - the Breen's Pharmacy Mini-League - and it was a big success. "There are also new people moving into the area who are getting involved with the club and that's also a good sign." GAA Awareness Week Slane GFC held a GAA awareness week from 12th to 18th June this year which proved to be an outstanding success. It commenced on the Sunday with a sports day in the playing pitch at Rossin and a number of games were staged in the Breen's Pharmacy Mini-League. There were also under-age races of all descriptions and numerous side shows for adults and children. Great credit must go to the juvenile committee and their trusty aides for making the day such a success. The new website, www.slanegfc.com, was launched on Wednesday night, 15th June and all possible club news and data is available on the website for a worldwide audience. Bobby Tallon set the whole thing in motion and the club is indebted to Bobby who gave so much of his time over many weeks to bring this wonderful addition to fruition. A new club logo was also launched, the design being created by Flann Fitzpatrick. It incorporates a number of symbols synonymous with the village of Slane and will appear on all new club jerseys and club correspondence from now on. The club committee is very grateful to Flann for his work on the logo and for his contribution on the launch night in a packed Village Inn. The club history was filmed over four nights in the local National School and almost 200 people visited the school to view the photographs and newspaper clippings that adorned one of the walls. There were many contributions from former club players and members covering many decades of GAA history in the village. The table quiz held on the Friday night in the Village Inn was a big success. Gerry Hand provided an interesting set of questions and he was thanked, as were Eilish Kiernan and Anne Courtney who acted as supervisors. The week's events concluded with an outstanding social night in the Conyngham Arms Hotel. All-Ireland-winning Meath senior captains Brian Smyth, Peter McDermott, Peter Darby and Tommy Dowd, along with Martin O'Connell, all participated in the club draw for the unique Royal County jersey which was won by Luke Harding from Ferndale, Navan. Co. Board chairman Fintan Ginnity addressed the gathering and praised the club for its support to the board fundraising and for its contribution to GAA activities in the county down through the years. A specially commissioned piece of Newgrange Crystal, with the new club logo engraved, was presented to each of the special guests, including Dermot O'Brien, Louth's 1957 All-Ireland-winning captain, who provided the entertainment on the night. Club chairman Wayne Harding acted as MC for the raffle and thanked all those who bought or sold tickets in order to help the club raise badly needed funds. Tweet

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