Killeevan it all behind
November 27, 2011Killeevan only played twice in the 2011 Monaghan JFC and were beaten on both occasions. In the preliminary round at Ballybay on Sunday May 29th, they slipped to an agonising 0-12 to 0-11 defeat to neighbour Clones. Killeevan led by three points with three-quarters of the match played, and had the wind at their backs. They should have gone on to win from there but let the town side back into it, going behind for the first time in the final minute of normal time.
It was a hard defeat to swallow and it consigned the Sarsfields to the back-door route, where they were paired with fellow league strugglers Killanny. But it was the south county men who won easily - 2-14 to 0-9 at Drumhowan on Sunday June 26th. That defeat effectively spelled the end of Killeevan's season.
Here's the team that was on duty against Clones in the preliminary round: A McAviney; C Kilpatrick, G Hughes (captain), J McGuirk; F Smith, N McCooey, P O'Reilly; K McGinn (0-1), S Clerkin; G McKenna, D Quigley (0-2), D Flynn (0-2); J Quigley, S Corr, N Smith (0-6). Subs: I Larmer for Corr (42), D Clerkin for J Quigley (55).
Full back Gerard Hughes - who was unluckily sent off at a critical juncture in the Clones match - was delighted to act as club captain again in 2001: "It was my second year as captain and it's always a real honour to be captain of your local club," he says. "We got to the semi-final in 2010 and this year we were trying to get a bit further, but a lot of boys were away and lads had college commitments, so it was difficult to get a team out.
"With a small club with a small pick, and the job situation in Ireland being what it is, things can be difficult. We had lads in the States and we had others doing accountancy exams up in Dublin. With the economy the way it is, lads have to go where the work is. Even some of our players went back to college this year. That's the reality - guys have to put their careers first and the football comes second, which can be a big problem when you've only got a small squad to begin with.
"When you have a small pick, you need everybody available, but we started to struggle for numbers early on and we were down to 16 or 17 players for league games by July, so we were down to our bare bones. Interest levels dropped once we went out of the championship and that's difficult to understand. Monaghan is different to most other counties in that you can be promoted to intermediate football via either the league or championship, so full commitment should be given for the entire year.
"In fact, the league represents the best chance of securing promotion. A championship is very difficult to win. Especially with the back-door system, the best team in the county will nearly always come out on top. But this isn't necessarily the case with the league. A lesser team can win the league once they show a bit of consistency."
Killeevan also had a few injuries at bad times during the year and Gerard is quick to point out that commitment levels from the players weren't actually too bad. It was just a case of players finding it hard to juggle football with all their other commitments. Even from a personal point of view, he had started a new job in Dublin and was unable to get back for training twice a week. Friday nights were manageable but Tuesdays were impossible.
"The County Board hasn't helped football in the county," the Killeevan captain continues. "I only started my job in Dublin in January and they were fixing league games for Wednesday evenings at 7.30. Two boys were late getting to a game in Toome and it wasn't their fault. Lads have to work. The County Board should be taking the economic situation into account and games should be played at weekends. Somebody could be killed busting himself to get down the road on time.
"Luckily enough one of our midweek games was in Killanny, which is about halfway between Dublin and Newbliss, but last year we played Corduff in the championship at 7.30 on a Friday. It's not ideal for lads to be driving for 90 minutes and then hopping out of their cars to play a game of football. And the reality is that people don't live at home anymore. The work is in Dublin - and Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim and Longford are the counties that are suffering. More effort must be made to protect the grassroots of the game.
"When you're already down to 16 or 17 players, you can't afford to be without one of them. We had some young lads who came through onto the team this year and only for them we'd have been in serious bother. Ideally, you'd like time to groom these lads and ease them into it, but we had to throw them in at the deep end and they acquitted themselves well. Ian McConnon, Gerard Graham, Finian Smith and Christopher Kilpatrick are all playing good stuff and doing well for themselves. But they'll be doing their Leaving Certs next year and will they be able to put in the same effort again? These are challenging times for the small clubs in Monaghan and this thing of games at half-seven on a Wednesday is a big problem."
Gerard admits that Killeevan just didn't get going in the JFC this year. "The first championship match, we should have beaten Clones and then in the back door we just didn't get going against Killanny. I was sent off in a case of mistaken identity against Clones, but you just have to live with these decisions.
"In the league, people are saying we had a bad year but it really boiled down to two defeats to Blackhill. With four points from those games, we could have been challenging. But these so-called weaker teams are getting fitter and the bar is being raised all the time. In order to match them, you have to be at least as fit if not fitter."
Gerard has been on the first team for seven years now and has been on the losing side in three league finals. His goal is to play at the highest level possible with Killeevan, which means promotion to intermediate grade first and foremost. "After seeing these new young lads coming on, I think that if 20 players can convene at the start of the year and continue to put in the effort for a whole season, then we can compete and move up to intermediate. Our minor team did well this year, amalgamated with Rockcorry, and that's encouraging as it means we have more talent coming through. Darren Quigley and Kevin McGinn are two other young lads who are key to our future.
"On previous teams, we had great individual players like Ian Larmer, Vincent Martin and Darren Greenan and the two Lynches, who gave serious commitment. If a couple of the fresh faces can replace them, then we'll be happy. I believe football in Monaghan has become weaker and junior football is weaker. The teams that come down from intermediate aren't that imposing anymore, so everybody has a chance.
"James Lovett came on board last year as manager and he instilled a level of professionalism in the club that we hadn't seen before and that gave us impetus. Hopefully, we can build on that and move forward." Tweet
