Winners of the 2009 Monaghan JFC, Emyvale were relegated back to the bottom grade at the end of the ensuing season. Their goal for 2011 was clear: to regain promotion to intermediate level. The north county men set about that task convincingly, mounting a determined two-pronged attack, but came unstuck at the semi-final stage of both the junior championship and league, losing both those matches by a single point, against Clones and Cremartin respectively

For most of the season, it looked like Emyvale were on course for a return to the middle rung. Their championship campaign yielded victories over Blackhill and Toome before Clones won a hard-fought JFC semi-final at Truagh by 1-9 to 1-8 in mid-August.
Rather than sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, Ciaran Brennan's charges continued to kick on in the league, stringing together a series of impressive results (including wins over Oram, Aghabog and Cremartin) to finish second on the final table, which meant a semi-final date with junior champions Cremartin. A win would have left Emyvale an hour away from intermediate football but they were again beaten by the narrowest of margins - 0-12 to 1-8 at St Oliver Plunkett Park on Sunday, October 16th
So how do we reflect on Emyvale's season? Were they unlucky in that they showed a decent level of consistency before falling to two agonising semi-final defeats? Or were they lacking something considering that they got themselves into a winning position in both competitions but ultimately hadn't got the quality to get themselves over the line? The answer, as always, probably lies somewhere in between…
After a 0-11 to 0-7 first-round win over Blackhill in Monaghan on Friday June 10th, Emyvale produced one of their best performances of the season in their JFC quarter-final against high-flying Toome, prevailing by 2-9 to 1-11 in a real cracker at Clontibret on Sunday, July 3rd. In a repeat of the 2009 championship decider, the first half was fairly even but a brace of Daniel McMahon goals - one from the penalty spot - helped Emyvale to a six-point lead at the three-quarters stage before Toome rallied to lead for the first time - by a point - with just three minutes left. However, speedy substitute Cillian McCarron and captain Martin McAree (free) hit late clinching scores to book a semi-final berth.
The Emyvale side that beat Toome in the 2011 Monaghan JFC was: Matthew McAree; C Connolly, E Colleran, K McKenna; S Downey, D McKernan, G Devlin; J Bellew (0-2), B McKenna; P McCarron, S McMeel, C McKenna (0-2); D McMahon (2-0), R McHugh, Martin McAree (captain, 0-4). Subs: C McCarron (0-1) for P McCarron (36); G McKernan for C McKenna (47).
Unfortunately, Clones shaded the semi-final at Truagh on Sunday, August 14th.
In the league, Emyvale qualified to face double-chasing Cremartin at the semi-final stage. The teams had finished level on the league table, with both notching up 23 points, Emyvale recording a double-scores victory at home to the junior championship winners under lights in September. Midfielder Benny McKenna, who had missed the JFC semi-final due to holidays, was back on board and Emyvale went into the game with everything to gain. But it wasn't to be as Cremartin won by a single point.
The Emyvale team in the junior league semi-final was: Matthew McAree; Ciaran Connolly, Emmett Colleran, Killian McKenna; Greg Devlin, Robbie McHugh, Sean McMeel; Benny McKenna, Darren McKernan; Marty McAree, James Bellew, Gareth McQuaid; Danny McMahon (0-7), Gerard McCaffrey (0-1), Gavin McKernan (1-0). Subs: Cillian McCarron for Gareth McQuaid; Paddy McCarron for Gerard McCaffrey.
The reserve team went through the league unbeaten but were pipped by Killeevan in the Division Three semi-final, 1-8 to 0-8. That result typified a season of near misses for the north county club.
Casting his mind back to the first team's two semi-final defeats, manager Ciaran Brennan admits that he could have no complaints: "It wasn't bad luck. We just didn't play on either day. Cremartin and Clones both deserved to beat us on the day and we couldn't have any complaints. We played well all year, especially in the league, but we just didn't perform in those semi-finals.
"Having said that, we have a lot of young lads in the team and the experience will stand to them. They should be an even better team next year."
The Clontibret man admits that promotion was top of the Emyvale 'Wanted' list for 2011: "After being relegated the previous year, they hoped to get back up again, but things don't always work out the way you plan. That's football. You never know for sure and you just have to get back up and give it another go next year."
To what would the manager attribute Emyvale's inability to get beyond the semi-final stage? "A lack of experience might have been part of it but they had done it in 2009 so perhaps more than anything it was the fact that we didn't take our goal chances when they came along, particularly in the league semi-final. We had three clear goal chances against Cremartin that day and didn't take any of them. When you're on top, you have to make it count and we failed to do that. If we'd taken our chances, we would have progressed."
As for the championship, Emyvale's challenge came unstuck in a really dark week for the club. "It was a disaster of a week in every way," Ciaran recalls. "First of all, we had the tragic death of Enda Watterson in Emyvale, which caused the semi-final to be put back a week; then we were missing four lads for the following weekend. Things just didn't work out for us. We lost our midfielder James Bellew to two yellow cards and centre back Robbie McHugh, who'd been playing well, was forced off through injury in the first half. It was just a bad week.
"But we brushed ourselves down and kept going in the league. Midfielder Bob O'Brien went to New Zealand for eight months and we missed him in the latter stages of the season. I know it happens in every club, but it's difficult to compete when you're missing key men."
What was the overall mood in the clubhouse at the end of the season, considering that Emyvale had started the year as one of the favourites to go up but had fallen short? Frustration? Disappointment? Encouragement? "We were definitely disappointed but we were also realistic - you don't always get out of football what you expect. You just have to regroup and move on again next year. There's no point looking back or you'll just walk straight into something. You have to look forward and plan your next season.
"The 'B' team did really well this year and it's good that the younger lads will be playing a more competitive brand of football with them next season. Emyvale have a lot of young players - the majority of them are under 24 - and three or four came out of minor last year - so they can get stronger over the next few years."
Ciaran was joined on the senior management team by Stephen McAree and Brendan Keenan, both Emyvale men. He says they are "very good lads with great knowledge of the game". All in all, he believes it was a team effort from everybody in 2011 and reckons the club is in good hands: "As far as I'm concerned, you win together and you lose together. We missed out in 2011 and it's everybody's fault. We went down together. The atmosphere in the club is good and everybody is working together.
"They fielded three teams this year and there's a fair squad there. You would have 25 or 30 lads at training most nights during the summer, which is a good turn-out, but when college starts up a lot of lads would be in Dublin, Belfast and Sligo during the week. But they all gave good commitment this year and I'm sure Emyvale will only improve." Tweet

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