We reflect on a year that promised much but delivered little for the Sarsfields. Whether it is in the short term or in some future years, when people sit down to review 2002 as far as the Killeevan Sarsfields GAA club was concerned, it will be seen as a year that proved disappointing in many regards, a year that promised much at the start but ultimately delivered little. It was a year when Killeevan should have been capitalising on getting to the junior championship final in 2001, even though they suffered quite a heavy defeat at the hands of Doohamlet. It was a year as well that should have seen the club building on some of the work that had been done with all under age teams and at providing and setting up structures and facilities that would serve the needs of the club for the foreseeable future. The annual general meeting saw the officers who had served the club for the past number of years returned but there were signs of unrest and that air of unease was to affect quite a bit of the club's activities over the year. Club chairman Tom Graham is stepping down after a stint in office that has seen quite a lot achieved, particularly in the provision of facilities. He is stepping down with a slight feeling of disenchantment at some of the problems that the committee had to deal with during the year. "Having reached the junior championship final last year we felt that we should be challenging for honours this year but we just simply did not do enough". In the championship Killeevan had two good victories over Cremartin and Currin but ultimately came a cropper in the semi-final against Aughnamullen in Scotstown when we simply failed to do ourselves justice. "The championship started well enough with a good win over Cremartin, a team that was to later get to the final of the Dr. Ward Cup, and the team showed great character in holding out in a strong finish. The Currin game was the usual local derby, we always had the upper hand but there was a lingering feeling that had Currin been able to push home their advantage at times they might have run it closer. In the semi final against Aughnamullen we pushed it all the way in a pulsating and dramatic finish in Scotstown on Sunday August 25th. Entering the final quarter we were a point in front and Aughnamullen down to 14 players but we allowed them in for a goal to give them the lead again. We increased the pressure and might well have snatched victory in a tense finish had we capitalised on a number of clear-cut chances. We went three points down early in the game but took the lead with a great goal by Dermot Lynch in the eighth minute and we should have gone further ahead before Aughnamullen scored again in the 14th minute to level the game at four points apiece and those misses cost us later on. In the second quarter it was a real nip and tuck affair with Aughnamullen punishing us on breaks on a number of occasions to open a two points lead by the 23rd minute. Our full back line was struggling a bit but we should not have been six points adrift at the break, 1-8 to 1-2. We got off to a brilliant start to the second half with two goals inside a minute by the Lynch brothers, Dermot and Casement, to wipe out that six points half-time deficit and throw the game wide open. Aughnamullen were rattled now and we pushed home our advantage as Ian Larmer put us back in the lead with a point in ninth minute. Later, when they were down to 14 men, we should have put them under pressure but instead found ourselves fighting a rearguard action after Alan Duffy crashed the ball to the net to restore his side to the lead, a lead we could never wipe out although we put them to the pin of their collars in a very close finish, and if we had made a few changes earlier than we did it might have worked out differently. In the league we put together some good results but ultimately fell short of finishing in the top four but we did find out during the year that we have some very good young players coming through and the future can be promising but only if their commitment and their ability is maximised on. We could look back now at the end of the year and say if only this or if only we had done that but we do have to learn lessons from this year if we are to avoid some of the pitfalls that definitely affected us both on and off the field in the years to come. The promise of good things to come and better times ahead is borne out by the performance of some of the under age teams, Killeevan fielded teams in under 12, under 14, under 16, minor and U21 and were probably a bit unlucky that they did not figure somewhere among the silverware particularly with the under 12s. Noel McConnon, Dermot Lynch and Noel Smith put in a lot of work with the under 12s to reach the final of the Magill Cup where they played Currin in Smithboro' on Saturday July 6th. "We had beaten Currin earlier in the competition by a couple of points and probably went into the game as slight favourites but on the day we did not produce a good enough performance and we ended up being beaten by eight points. We did well enough but we conceded goals at vital times and we struggled a bit in midfield." Nevertheless great credit is due to all the boys and girls who took part in that competition and produced many exciting and enjoyable matches. Goals from Craig Mealiff and Aaron McAdoo helped Killeevan to a 2-3 to 1-4 lead about midway through the first half but Currin came back strongly to hit a goal and three points without reply to go on to lead by 2-7 to 2-3 at the break. Joe Hunt got a great goal early in the second half but almost immediately we conceded another to fall into arrears of five points. We tried everything and made substitutions but we just could turn it around and then we conceded a goal right at the end to make it look a bit more one sided than it actually was on a final score of Killeevan 3-7, Currin 4-12. The Killeevan U12 team and subs was as follows: Paul Leonard, Ciaran Rudden, Brian Deery, Craig Mealiff 1-0, Ryan Corr, Darren Quigley 0-1, Michael McCarville 0-3, Joe Hunt 1-3, Darren McConnon, Paul Flynn, Aaron McAdoo 1-0. Subs: Aidan McDonnell, Carmel Connolly, Christopher Kilpatrick, Jennifer Hurson, Jenny McAviney, Steven Hunt, Noeleen McGurk, Carmel McGurk, Nigel Quigley, Glen Brogan, Dean Brogan, Pierce Leonard, Tanika Moore. The under 14 team which did include a number of the under 12 players did very well to get to the semi-final but came up against a very strong Corduff team although the experience gained will certainly stand to those boys in the years ahead. The under 16s had no luck at all; like the under 14s they got to the semi-final but again had to suffer the disappointment of defeat. The minors were also out of luck in the St. Dympna's Cup in a section along with Eire Og, Monaghan Harps, Rockcorry, Sean McDermott's and Tyholland. At under 21 level Killeevan played in the Flanagan Cup in a section along with Doohamlet, Drumhowan, Eire Og and Clones who all proved too strong and Killeevan were out of the running for a play-off place before the preliminary section was completed. The disappointment of the playing season had barely abated when the club had to endure a very difficult and soul searching period with attempts by a number of people to pre-empt any change at national level to Rules 42 and 44 of The Official Guide by seeking permission to play soccer on the gaelic pitch. It was certainly a problem that the club's administrators could have done without according to chairman Tom Graham and secretary Gerry Freeman: "The club was unequivocal in its stance on the issue that as the unit of the association that controlled the pitch and the ancillary facilities at the present time, facilities that had been put in place by the club and the club alone at considerable expense over a number of years, we had no option but to apply the rule strictly and abide by it. It was something that in our hundred plus years of existence we had never experienced before and it certainly led to some soul searching on the part of the officers and committee members. Membership of the GAA makes it incumbent that the rules as they are at any given time are accepted and abided by and hopefully the whole sorry saga can now be forgotten and will not adversely affect the future well-being of the Killeevan GAA club. We have a long and proud history in the annals of the GAA in Monaghan and we cannot allow that proud record to be eroded by some short term agenda. Too many people have made too many sacrifices over the years for us to allow that and if sacrifices need to be made in the future to protect it then the members of the Killeevan club will not be found wanting". TEAM AND SCORERS V. AUGHNAMULLEN: Brian Conlon, Mark Duffy, Darren Greenan, Patrick McDonnell, Emmet Rae, Adrian Quigley, Mark McQuaid, Declan Clerkin, Vincent Martin, Dermot Lynch 2-1, Ian Larmer 0-4, Noel Smith, Dermot Quigley, Gavin McKenna, Casement Lynch 1-0. Subs: Johnny McGurk for M. Duffy, Philip Graham for P. McDonnell, Ciaran O'Reilly for D. Quigley. Tweet

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