The year may not have gone quite according to script for Doohamlet - who were relegated back to intermediate status - but club captain Glen Cumiskey says the spirit in the village club remains outstanding. Having won the Monaghan IFC in 2010, there's no reason why the O'Neills can't repeat the dose in 2012. Even though the 2011 senior football league campaign was disappointing, Doohamlet have plenty of reason for optimism going forward.

If 2010 was a historic year for Doohamlet O'Neills - who won the Monaghan IFC and reached an Ulster club final against Lisnaskea - then 2011 was an anticlimax as the club surrendered their newfound senior status at the first time of asking. They performed reasonably well in the SFC, despite losing both their outings, but finished well off the pace in the league, ending up second from bottom with just five points from 18 games.
These points were secured courtesy of a 1-16 to 2-8 victory over Inniskeen in the second round on Wednesday, April 20th and a 2-14 to 0-7 defeat of the same side at Pairc Grattan on Wednesday, June 15th as well as a draw with Truagh on Saturday, August 27th - 3-9 to 2-12. Apart from those results, it was a frustrating year for the club at adult level, but the experience should serve them well in years to come.
The team on duty for Doohamlet's return to the top flight, when they faced Monaghan Harps in the first round of the league at home on April 17th was: J Casey; G Casey, M Hughes, S J Connolly; J McElroy, C Walshe, D Connolly; G Cumiskey (captain, 0-1), C McManus; O Hughes, T Duffy (0-5), Greg Duffy; M Murphy (0-2), S McManus (0-1), N J Connolly. Subs: S Gilsenan for G Duffy (37); B Murphy for O Hughes (39); Gavin Duffy for McElroy (42); C Malone for D Connolly (50).
Having gone senior for the first time in 2006, Doohamlet were relegated in 2009. They bounced straight back by winning the 2010 IFC, only to go straight back down, and hopes are high that they can stage another instant return in 2012. Centre back Glen Cumiskey, who captained his club to county intermediate glory just over twelve months ago, notes:
"We're upbeat and looking forward to the new season. We were a bit unlucky with various things during the year but there's definitely another intermediate in this team and hopefully we can bounce straight back.
"This year didn't go the way we planned it but we had a lot of injuries and that doesn't help when you have a small club. If we have everybody available in 2012, we can get back to winning ways."
Numbers-wise, Doohamlet aren't in too bad a position for a small rural club, but they still need all their key men available if they're to fire on full cylinders. "We'd have around 25 lads to draw from but the problem is that some of them are still fairly young lads who are only starting to come through and they wouldn't have had any senior experience. But we'll be a year older and wiser next year and the experience gained in 2011 will definitely serve the club well.
"The encouraging thing about the year was that, even though we finished so low in the senior league table, we weren't really getting hammered. We competed well in most of our games and we lost a lot of matches by one or two points, so there's plenty there to work with."
If Doohamlet showed us anything in 2010, it was that they are a strong championship side first and foremost and this quality was evident again in the 2011 SFC as they really put it up to two of the biggest names in Monaghan club football - champions-elect Latton and perennial challengers Magheracloone.
In the first round of the competition at Ballybay on Saturday July 23rd, Doohamlet pushed Latton all the way before losing by three points - 0-12 to 0-9. The quality of that performance was placed in perspective as the O'Rahillys went on to collect the silverware.
In the back door section, at Corduff on Saturday, August 13th, the O'Neills again delivered a resolute display against 2010 SFC finalists Magheracloone, who they took to extra time before losing by 1-17 to 1-10. More than any, those two performances showed that Doohamlet can put it up to any team in Monaghan on their day. Unfortunately, a rash of injuries left them fielding a depleted side for most of the season and this made their task all the more difficult.
The mood in the clubhouse is positive, however, and it's full steam ahead for 2012: "We should have everybody back and hopefully we can push on again. We're well fit for another intermediate championship, with all the same fellas still available that won it last year. We will be at least as strong as we were in 2010 and the experience of an extra year at senior is bound to help."
Finbarr Finnegan and Tony Brady were in charge of the team in 2011 and training was intense at times as the players were pushed hard to achieve their prime goal for the year. "Our first target was to stay up and then to see how we would go after than," Glen reveals. "We were looking forward to senior football and we had nothing to lose. We fancied our chances of doing reasonably well."
Glen Cumiskey has been on the Doohamlet first team for twelve or 13 years now, since he was 15 or 16. The highlight of his career so far came in 2010 when he captained the club to intermediate glory and to an Ulster final appearance. The former county minor and U21 (who played alongside Paul Finlay against Tyrone in an Ulster MFC final) is itching to get back into action in 2012:
"It's been a while since we've had such a long break; we're mad to get back to it. I can't wait to get back in and have a bit of craic with the lads and play some football. Doohamlet is a great wee village club and we all get along the best. Everybody works hard for everybody else and the spirit in the team is very good."
Safe to say Doohamlet will be going all out for the IFC crown next year, then? "I think so. It's only a year since we won it and we hope to have all our players back fit at the start of the year. We'd want to get straight back up. Anything less than that would be a big disappointment."
Doohamlet's reserves did well in 2011, qualifying for a semi-final meeting with Ballybay after beating Carrickmacross by two points, while the U15s brought some smiles to the club with wins over Cremartin, Latton, Emyvale and Clontibret to win an U15 blitz under lights in Cloghan. The panel for that success was: Conor Marray, Barry McGinn, Jamie Walshe, Damian Ward, John Duffy, Ryan Ingram, Matthew Byrne, Ryan McManus, Mark Connolly, MJ O'Connor and Hugh McGinn.
Meanwhile, the school team, captained by Dermot Kelly, defeated Killeevan in the final to collect the Division Four title. That panel included Shane Leer, Sean Markey, Dermot Kelly, Matthew McKenna, Ackinwale David, Oisin O'Neill, Stefan Farrell, Oisin Fee, Adam Crosby, Ryan Murphy, Dylan Shevlin, Graeme Burns, Daniel Connolly, Cillian Walshe, Dara Rudden, Jack Treanor, Liam Ingram, Joseph Ryan and Richard Farkas.
A very strong U16 team competed well and were unlucky to come out of the season with no honours, losing a league final replay (4-8 to 2-11) and a championship semi-final (3-14 to 1-12) to Blackhill. With the slightest bit of luck, this crop could have garnered a major trophy. The U16 panel comprised: Sean Loughman, Matthew Byrne, John Duffy, Ryan Ingram, Jamie Walshe, Damien Ward, Barry McGinn, Conor Marray, Barry McBennett, Nathan Connolly, Mark Connolly, Andrew Casey, Ryan McManus, MJ O'Connor, Caolan Cumiskey and Hugh McGinn. Tweet

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