Fergal Duffy makes no bones about it. 2005 will ask a lot of searching questions of Inniskeen as they attempt to bounce right back from the major disappointment of dropping down once again to intermediate ranks. Fergal Duffy, Inniskeen's 2003 Player of the Year, is unequivocal in stressing the importance to the Farneysiders of a quick return to the premier level. "I'd say what happened us in 2004 is the biggest disappointment the club has suffered in my time playing with the seniors. "We went into the start of the year on a high after winning the intermediate league the year but things didn't go our way during the season. "I hadn't been part of a relegated Inniskeen team before and it was a desperate feeling at the end of the year," Fergal explains. At 28, Fergal would have liked to have played out the remainder of his club career at the highest level. He certainly wasn't bargaining on making the drop just 12 months after experiencing the euphoria of capturing the Vincent McAviney Cup. Indeed, Fergal makes it quite clear that even the agonising defeat to Aghabog in their epic 2003 IFC semi-final clash didn't realise half the pain conjured up by relegation from senior ranks in 2004. Fergal insists that the players put everything into retaining their berth at the highest echelon of Monaghan football. Whereas in the summer of 2003, Aghabog were, he says, "cuter, more physical and more experienced", Inniskeen were outgunned in very few respects by very few of their opponents in '04. "There were a couple of controversial matches which we lost that had we won we would probably have stayed up. "We played Truagh in Inniskeen and lost after having goals disallowed which proved disastrous for us in the long run. "After that defeat our heads seemed to drop a bit. When you've only four or five games to play and you're fighting to get away from the relegation zone, points like that are crucial." And yet Inniskeen proceeded to get the Truagh result out of their system and shock 'Blayney away from home. Another good display against Carrick added to hopes among the Grattans that the trap door could indeed be avoided. "You couldn't fault the spirit in the camp. The lads fought hard for one another but we ran out of time . . .and points unfortunately," Fergal laments. Yes indeed. Defeat to Clontibret thereafter all but sealed Inniskeen's fate. If ever there was a must-win game that was it. Victory would have kept Inniskeen up and sent Seans down. "They (Clontibret) were up for it because they wanted to push on and make sure that they had a home match in the semi-final. "Having said that, we started well against them and with the breeze at our backs managed to go ahead by 2-2 to no-score. "I thought we were cruising at that stage but then Clontibret got a penalty and slowly but surely they turned things around after that." Morale must have plummeted? "The dressing-room was a like a morgue after the game was over and we knew we were down. "You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife," Fergal recalls. Those were depressing days for all belonging to Inniskeen Grattans GAA. Days later a reserve title win for the club's B team did help somewhat to lift spirits but not a lot, if the truth be told. "It was good for the lads involved in the B team and the club overall," Fergal affirms. Months later and the post-mortems into the relegation disaster are slowly abating. One wonders what does Fergal make of it all? "At the start of 2004 I felt that if everyone in the panel was totally commited we would do well enough and stay up with maybe a bit to spare. "What happened was that we didn't give it enough in the middle of the year and we paid the penalty at the end. "Our aim was to stay up but I don't think we had enough experience in the side. "We have a lot of young fellas in the team and then there's a big gap to the likes of me and Aidan Lynch. "There's not a lot of fellas in the in-between ages." Was 2004 as difficult as he imagined it would be in the wake of the club's McAviney Cup triumph in '03? "I wasn't surprised by the competition we came up against. I felt going into the year that we would have to be smarter, fitter and better at making our possession count. "If we had survived at senior in 2004 and bedded ourselves in for a couple of years, we would come on a lot as a team but there was a bit of commitment lacking on behalf of the players during the year and a couple of vital results went against us which cost us dear," the popular pipe fitter adds. 2004 was Fergal's worst year with Inniskeen over the course of his eleven year stint with the seniors. The past year contrasted sharply with the good times he has enjoyed with his native club when he won IFC medals (1994 and 2000) and intermediate league medals (2000 and 2003). Apart from 2001 when he took a year out to rest ankles and knees troubled by wear and tear, Fergal has been an ever-present on successive Inniskeen teams since the early nineties. He says that the team's championship performances in 2004 were a better reflection on the quality of the current Inniskeen team than their league exploits. "Although the back door came to our rescue after we lost to 'Blayney in the first round, everyone has benefited from it (the back door). "Beating Truagh in the second round got us up and running again and then we had a great result when we beat Clontibret in the quarter-final by seven or eight points. "Losing to Magheracloone in the semi-final was very disappointing but there was no disgrace in going down to them. "They were the better team on the day and we could have no complaints even though their goal just before half-time was a big blow to us and a turning point in the game. "We maybe didn't play to our potential and could have done a bit better on the day but they'd probably say the same." In looking ahead to the forthcoming season. Fergal truly believes that the onus will be on the younger fellas in the team to step up to the plate as they prepare to battle with the likes of Emyvale, Donaghmoyne, Aghabog and Rockcorry at intermediate level. It looks like the battle will be a finely-contested one. And Fergal reckons that the team showing the greater hunger and commitment will triumph. Interestingly, he is not prepared to be too critical if they don't come up to the mark. "The younger players will have to show the hunger and the fight to help get us back into senior ranks. "It'll take a big commitment from them but with college work and other priorities they mightn't be able to give the necessary commitment and who can blame them. "It's getting harder and harder for everyone to make the necessary commitment, even at club level. " It's a young, single man's game now and I think football is a lot more competitive than it was when I started off." As a teenager Fergal cut his teeth at senior level with Inniskeen in the company of such well-established club players as Joe Hoey, Gerry Hoey, Ollie Woods and Kieran McKenna. Does he feel club football in Monaghan sports the kind of quality players needed to make an impression at provincial level in the coming year? "It's hard to know but there's definitely a scarcity of players like Stephen McDonnell, Brendan Devenney and Kieran McGeeney around. "There's very few players who'd really stand out in the county right now and there is a big gap between Monaghan and the Armagh and Tyrones at the minute," avers Fergal who after playing with the county under 21s got a few runs with the Monaghan seniors in the late nineties when Eamon McEneaney was in charge. Considering his form over the last couple of years, one suspects he could well catch the eye of Seamus McEnaney in the coming months. Fergal isn't so sure whether even if an invitation to link up with the county squad came around, he would have the time to take up the offer. That being so, one suspects Monaghan's loss would be Inniskeen's gain. Ladies can look back on wonderful year The Inniskeen Ladies will look back on 2004 with very fond memories but also in the back of their mind they will think what might have been. By Alan Gunn. Back in February as the girls from south Monaghan took to Grattan Park for their first training session of the year, they dreamt of been part of an All-Ireland final come November, and little did they know that it would come through. The journey began on those cold winter nights but the real championship action on the field didn't start until the summer month of July. That took them to Emyvale for the opening round of the Monaghan Junior Championship. It was game the girls from Patrick Kavanagh country were lucky to survive after trailing at the interval. However they recovered to march on to the last four and a meeting with Donaghmoyne 'B' side. This turned out to an easy evenings work as the girls in Green and Red went to town hammering in seven goals and cruised to a thirty six point victory. Into the county final they went and hoping to go a step further then 2003. Standing in their way was Aughnamullen. The venue was Killanny, the date Saturday 21st August, the day the Inniskeen girls were to claim the Junior crown. Another convincing performance saw them sail to victory and once again they took it out on the net as they struck seven times. With the first major hurdle cleared and the county cup received the thoughts turned to their Ulster campaign. They boarded the bus to Donegal on a cold Autumn day with the wind and rain blowing in from the sea. They got on with the job and safely accomplished the weather and what Kilcar threw at them. The quarter final was also to see them on their travels again, this time to neighbouring county Cavan and a visit to Lavey. They witnessed very few problems there and confidence was growing as they marched on to Moy in Tyrone for a last four meeting. This proved a much tougher assignment but one that was passed on a scoreline of 3-08 to 1-03. The final trip of the Ulster race took them to Clones and a clash with St Paul's of Antrim. Inniskeen went into the game as strong favourites but as it turned out they were pushed all the way. It wasn't until the final ten minutes that the eventual winners pulled away to record their six-point victory 0-10 to 0-04. The performance on the day wasn't their best but Isobel Kierans was one of their stars with an excellent performance. Inniskeen (v St Paul's): Karen Quigley, Amanda McArdle, Aine Quigley, Siobhan Casey, Linda Callan, Josie Fitzpatrick, Edel Kierans, Imelda Smyth (0-01), Isobel Kierans (0-01), Rachel Rice (0-01), Aisling McGeeney, Katrina Byrne (0-03), Carol McGahan (0-01), Linda McGahan (0-02), Voreen Quigley (0-01) Subs: Maraid McGahan, Laura Kelly Now it was time to start thinking of an All-Ireland with both the County and Ulster titles claimed. At last the girls were rewarded with a home tie against Kilkenny champions Railyard in the All-Ireland quarter final. Lady luck shined brightly on the home side as they used their 'Get out of Jail card'. It was always expected to be a close one and it was a titanic struggle from start to finish. The Kilkenny girls enjoyed a 1-02 to 1-01 interval lead after a first half which saw the home side miss a penalty. Railyard continued to lead with just ten minutes left on the clock when Linda McGahan struck with a goal to edge Inniskeen in front. Back came the visitors with two points to level matters. However their was to be another twist and a great intervention from Edel Kierans to break up a Railyard attack suddenly sent Katrina Byrne clear at the other end to point. The victory was sealed soon after when Isobel Kierans split the posts to leave Inniskeen into the last four on a score of 2-04 to 1-05. Only one more obstacle separated them from a place in the All Ireland decider and an easy one on paper as Emerald Gaels of Manchester was that hurdle. They got over it without a halt as they blew them away 5-16 to 0-04. The final leg of their fantastic journey through 2004 took them to St Brendan's Park, Birr and an All Ireland Junior Club Final with Kerry side Abbeydorney. November the 28th was the day and the sun was shining as the roar of the Inniskeen crowd greeted their hero's onto the field for their big day out. Despite falling behind to an early point a goal from Voreen Quigley on five minutes soon had them in front. The lead was short lived however as star of the show Noreen Fealy responded with a goal at the other end. Fealy and the excellent Rachel Rice exchanged points and with a further point a piece for either side, Rice with the Inniskeen score it remained a one point game with five minutes of the first half remaining. A goal at this stage from team captain Quigley edged Inniskeen in front but back came Abbeydorney with a goal and a point. Katrina Byrne and Quigley hit points to leave it 2-04 to 2-04 at the break. Disaster struck after the break as Fealy hammered in 3-04 to her name and with it the game had slipped away from Inniskeen. They never lay down and were rewarded with 1-03 without reply at the end, with Martina Quigley notching the goal. It was bitter disappointment in the end but still a year to remember for the Grattan club. They may have been defeated by 5-09 to 3-08 in the decider but as they look back they will have many fond memories of a year that started on Grattan Park and via Emyvale, Killanny, Kilcar, Lavey, Moy, Clones, Dublin and finally Birr, they picked up a county and Ulster crown on the way. Inniskeen (v Abbeydorney): Karen Quigley, Amanda McArdle, Aine Quigley, Siobhan Casey, Linda Callan, Josie Fitzpatrick, Edel Kierans, Imelda Smyth, Isobel Kierans, Rachel Rice (0-04), Katrina Byrne (0-03), Linda McGahan, Carol McGahan, Voreen Quigley (2-01), Aisling McGeeney Subs used: Martina Quigley (1-00), Maraid McGahan, Laura Kelly Rest of Panel: Tracey McGeeney, Leona McKenna, Darragh O'Callaghan, Sharon McGahan The club also secured the Minor (11-a-side) title with Laura Kelly receiving the player of the match award. Tweet

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