Corduff had the worst of bad luck in 2004. But seasoned campaigner George McKitterick is confident that this coming season will be a different story. George McKitterick almost visibly recoils as we rewind the happenings in Clontibret on Sunday 7th November last. That day Corduff allowed the JFL title to slip from their grasp like a child allows a melting 99 to crash to the ground. Corduff looked shoe-ins to win the replay as the game went into stoppage time with even the most blinkered of fans from the Scotshouse area experiencing chins-on-chest syndrome. In a disastrous climax to the replay, Currin turned the game on its head. Two minutes into stoppage time however Corduff had struck what looked like a winner when Martin McDermott was well placed with a good pass from a quick free. However fate had decreed that there was more in the cooking pot as Currin threw everything forward. As Corduff backpeddled furiously in the hope of shutting up shop, Currin were awarded a free which was floated into the Corduff goalmouth where it dropped to Gareth Beattie who fired to the net to send the big Corduff support into the depths of despair. The final was lost by dint of a 0-12 to 1-11 scoreline. Promotion back to intermediate ranks was scuppered. A couple of months on and George is still at pains to adequately explain Corduff's penchant for self-imploding. "We didn't convert as much as we should have but we made mistakes all around the field, not just up front," George believes. Certainly while Corduff were made to pay for a series of missed chances, including a couple for goals - when they were dominating the exchanges in the first half - a lack of concentration at times in defence came into play too. Reflecting on what transpired all those weeks ago, the long-time club servant and then full-forward is adamant that Corduff were "unlucky" and didn't "get what we deserved for our performances during the year." Certainly there's an argument to be said that the Farneysiders were the best bunch in junior ranks in 2004. The likes of Gareth Beattie, Dick Clerkin and Gerard O'Callaghan did the damage for Currin in that aforementioned JFL decider and while George doesn't begrudge the Scotshouse-based outfit their long-awaited success, he insists that it should have been Corduff's title. "We went through the whole season only losing one game which was the best record for any club in all three divisions. "Currin beat us earlier in the season but we were the most consistent team over the whole campaign, only dropping two points." Obviously losing the league was a sore one for George and co. He maintains that the club "needed to get out of junior ranks and to make the step up because everything else about the club, like the facilities is a class apart." Defeat in the 2004 JFL decider means that Corduff will have to overcome the best of the rest again next season. And George reckons that with Monaghan Harps and Drumhowan making the drop from intermediate, "it'll be probably even tougher to get promotion next year." But George and his team-mates are nothing if not battlers and a determined bunch. The sheeting and cladding contractor hopes that something positive can be extracted from the angst of the past year. "Being beaten in the league at the end of the year put the tin hat on it because we were all fairly confident of going up. " It looked as if we were going to get some consolation for going out in the championship which was our number one aim from day one. " I suppose we never really managed to play to our full potential for any length of time during the year," opines the seasoned Corduff gael who's now based in Dublin. In many ways the angst suffered by the Corduff players in going down to Currin in the league decider mirrored Corduff's late, late collapse to near-neighbours Killanny in the first round of the championship. Corduff, red hot favourites going into the game, were again on the receiving end of a sucker punch. Unlucky? " A bit. But, at the end of the day, we didn't just keep our concentration for the whole 60 minutes. "They got a goal with practically the last kick of the game," George recalls. But the back door conveniently came to Corduff's aid and a prospective bannana skin in the shape of Oram was avoided in 'Blayney. "The defeat to Killanny was a kick in the backside for us and everyone woke up for the Oram game. "We knew it was all or nothing and even though they got two goals in the first half we dug deep and showed a lot of character to win out in the end." Next around the corner was Cremartin. The Gaels had a better spring in their step following the win over Oram but when their semi-final tie came around "it just didn't happen." Corduff's 0-14 to 2-9 defeat naturally hit hard. "We were on top for most of the first half but two sloppy goals finished us," George recalls. It all added up to a sorry tale for George and his team-mates. And yet the 25-year old club stalwart genuinely can't fault with his team's effort in 2004. "We played well for the vast majority of the year. We put in a lot of work, attendances were good at training and you couldn't fault the team-management. "Michael (McEnaney), Dick (Complice) and Pat (Keenan) gave it 100% too." But with the bulk of the intermediate championship winning team of 1988 likely to be still in place next year, George remains confident that Corduff can make the step up to intermediate ranks. "The current panel should be at its peak in 2005. "We had seven minors on the team last year and we're not far away from being as good as the squad that won the intermediate in '98. "We'll have to beat a few strong teams next year to get out of junior. "The Harps and Drumhowan were both senior clubs not so long ago but if we can get a good start we have the ability to go on a winning run. "Winning breeds confidence and if we can get a good momentum going, we'll be hard to stop," enthuses George. Needless to say, George is eyeing up at least a JFC medal in the coming year. Recapturing the delight that comes with capturing an intermediate championship gong (1998) and an Ulster club JFC medal (2002) is what George is aiming to achieve in 2005. It seems the personable Corduff ace is convinced that the Gaels belong in a higher grade of football. And that is not him being disrepectful to the rest of the wannabes at junior level. "Improve our level of concentration and get that killer touch - that's what we'll be hoping for next season," George maintains. George, then employed predominately as a wing half-forward, was a member of the Monaghan under 21 squad that careered its way to the Ulster title (by beating Donegal in the decider) under Eamon McEneaney in 1999 only to lose out to Westmeath in the All-Ireland semi-final. Has he given up hope of getting a senior county call-up? "I don't know about that. I'm working away from home and even if I did get a call-up, I wouldn't have the time to commit myself to training. " It's every player's ambition to play for their county but I couldn't afford the time at the minute. "In an ideal world, I'd be doing a nine-to-five shift at home and it would be a different story." It seems in George's case, Monaghan's loss is Corduff's gain. Tweet

Most Read Stories