With his 80th birthday coming up in April and as a current club vice President it is no exaggeration to suggest that Francie Quail has spent a lifetime supporting and working for Killeevan, writes John Graham. I think I was about seventeen when I attended my first meeting," which would have been in 1939, just two years after the club had won their second Owen Ward Cup and greater glory was to follow. "There used to be a lot of talk then about the great teams in the 20's but in 1944 the club had a great year and some great players. I remember Frank Meehan walking from Stonebridge to Newbliss for early morning training before going on to his work with the County Council, there was great commitment. The bonfires were lit after we beat C'Blayney, it wasn't a great game but we were county champions. It was some time after that until we won anything again, the fifties saw an intermediate championship in 1955 then in the 60's a junior championship but we went out of existence for a year or two then but came back to win the intermediate double in 1974. That was a great team, all strong men and some great forwards, Declan McCabe was a great player, one of the best I have seen with the club and we probably should have won a senior championship with that team. Francie has seen the lean times too and there was a big gap after 1974; "twenty years to be exact until we got to a final again, the junior final in 1994 which we won but came down again and this year we contested another final but lost to Doohamlet although we have had harder times." 2001 was a year that promised much at a certain time but ultimately ended in disappointment, defeat in the final of the junior championship and exiting the Dr. Ward Cup at the semi final stage to next door neighbours Eire Og but there is hope for the future with the club taking a county trophy at U15 level but again disappointment that the U16's didn't capitalise on the progress at U14 and U15 in the past couple of years. At U16 level there was an amalgamated with Currin and the team competed in Div. 2 and expectations were high as Killeevan had got to the semi final stages at U14 and U15 in both 1999 and 2000 and finished the league with eight pts but it wasn't enough to make the semi final, two narrow defeats by Truagh and Clontibret ruling qualification out. Farncie Quail was hopeful that things would improve in the U16 championship; boys like Anthony Freeman, Declan Tynan, Philip Graham, James Barry O'Reilly, Dermot Quigley and James Clerkin gave great strength. Things looked good in the game against Emyvale but in the end Killeevan lost out by four points although the quality of the players saw the County U16 team selectors call up Dermot Quigley who also made his senior debut this year; he is a player of great talent. But the U15's set the scene for everyone in the club when they lifted the Paddy McGuigan Cup the first final in any competition to be played in 2001. Playing in the 11 a side competition they emerged as favourites for the title with a one hundred per cent record after four games and despite being defeated by Oram in the final league game a semi final spot had been secured. Team mentors Padraig McCooey and John Quigley had their team in great shape for the semi final, Oram who had defeated them earlier providing the opposition but there was no slip up second time around. "We dominated throughout with players like Richard Burns scoring(2-3), Sean Clerkin (1-2), Jason Quigley (2-3) and Stuart Mc Donnell (1-1) saw us through to the final on a 7-9 to 2-4 scoreline. Shane Corr was unlucky when he sustained a broken arm during the game and missed the final which was played in Latton against Killanny. Captain Sean Clerkin put in an inspired performance that day and the whole team responded," said John Quigley. Anthony McGuirk was superb in goals with sound defensive work by Niall McCooey, Diego McAdoo and David Flynn denying Killanny any scoring chances. At the other end the forwards racked up the scores and we ran out easy winners by 7-10 to 0- 7, Richard Burns (3-2) Billy Hunt (2-1) Gary Mealiff (1-1) Jason Quigley (1-4) and Stuart McDonnell (0-2). Team: Anthony Mc Guirk, Diego McAdoo, Conor Mealiff, Sean Clerkin (Capt.), Niall McCooey, Stuart Mc Donnell, David Flynn, Richard Burns, Jason Quigley, Gary Mealiff, Billy Hunt, Subs: Shane Corr, Eugene Quigley, Tommy Quigley, Seamus Leonard, James Mc Dermott, Patrick McCabe, Lee McAdoo, Kevin McGinn, James Hunt. "We had no U14 team this year Francie Quail added," but the U13's and the U12's had some good games and with the right coaching structures put in place the future can be bright for Killeevan as many of these players will mature into senior players of the future and bring further success to the Club." At senior level Killeevan ended up as the nearly men, defeat in the junior championship final and at the semi final stage in the league leaving some soul searching to be done before 2002. "The sudden death of Aidan McFarland was a big blow to us at the start of the year and left an unsettled air about things for quite some time but fair play to Michael McCarville and John Quigley they came in and did a good job," said Francie. "Aidan had been a great servant and had won the intermediate double with us in 1974 and his experience would have been a big asset. We were always more or less in touch in the league but it came down to the last game as to whether we would be in the semi finals. We made the semi final but again came up against Eire Og who had beaten us in the championship and while we played well enough in the first half and might well have gone in ahead at half time we fell away badly in the second. "We won our first championship game against Currin but got a bit of a setback against Eire Og. The back door let us in again and we beat Aughnamullen by a goal to go into the semi final against Cremartin. I thought we were going out in that game, we were behind by six points with about five or six minutes to go but the boys staged a great comeback to snatch victory and Dermot Lynch's two goals brought them back in and Noel Smith got the winner." "It was a great performance and the team showed great spirit but Doohamlet were a different kettle of fish in the final. They were a better all round team and had some excellent performances that had them in almost total control for the entire second-half during which we could only manage two points and at the finish it made even worse when we missed a penalty almost on the stroke of time. It was all over at that stage anyway but a goal would have made the score board look a little bit more respectable but we were a well beaten team in the end and we can offer no excuses." After the championship defeat Killeevan were determined to make some amends in the semi final of the league but Eire Og again proved the bogey team, running out winners by 1-12 to 0-6 to bring down the curtain on a frustrating and at times dramatic season. Away from the playing end of things Killeevan had another busy and successful year with the drive to provide better facilities seeing work completed on the club's new stand and the renovation work on the club rooms seeing a major transformation of the building that was constructed in 1982. Francie Quail remembers the days when Killeevan had various places they called home, Ulster finals were played at Newbliss, well Corkeeran to be exact and a very short distance from the present pitch, they had pitches in Drumskelt, and for many years the Quigley family at Boughill gave them use of a field and later they moved to the field beside the parochial house at Lislea and then were homeless for a while before moving to Guardhill, beside the school. That was in the 1974/'75 season and really work has been going on since "The new dressing rooms were opened in July of 1983, Bishop Joseph Duffy, whose uncles I remember playing for Killeevan, performed the blessing ceremony and Monaghan played Meath in a challenge game. With those facilities completed attention then turned to improving the playing surface so the decision was taken to install a Prunty style pitch. It has been a great success but work of that nature though is expensive and it is to the eternal credit of those involved at that time that a major fund rising drive was undertaken with the introduction of a club lottery and through the input of a great number of people many, many thousands of pounds were generated that paid for the new playing pitch and full marks to all those who work at the Lotto especially Tom Graham, Jane Flynn and Gerry and Mary Freeman. Two years ago it was decided to build a new stand and renovate the dressing rooms and we were very lucky that Eamonn McGurk gave such a generous donation to us. His father played with the club and won an U16 medal in 1960 but then went to England and he would be proud of the way he is remembered here." The club rooms were beginning to show signs of wear and tear after almost twenty years so it was decided to start that aspect of things when they had completed the covered stand and the final touch was put in place with the new scoreboard. Here again Killeevan were lucky as Paddy Freeman of the Paragon Bar in Clones sponsored the new scoreboard and that along with our new stand makes Sarsfield Park as good as any club ground in the county, something that makes Francie Quail a very proud man. "I have seen some fierce changes over the years but the football was always a big part of life in Killeevan. "It's not going to be easy, young people have a lot of things taking them away form the games and everyone will have to work very hard but Killeevan have good young players and a good set up so there is no reason why we should not be winning titles in the years ahead. The Killeevan team for the JFC final lined out as follows: Brian Conlon, Kieran Quigley, Gavin McKenna, Adrian Quigley, Fabian Greenan, Vincent Martin 0-1, Emmet Rae, Ian Larmer 0-4, Darren Greenan, Colin Quigley, Kenny Larmer, Casement Lynch 0-2, Noel Smith, Declan Clerkin, Dermot Lynch 0-1. Subs: Andrew Maguire for F. Greenan, Dermot Quigley for N. Smith, Ciaran Rae for E. Rae, Paul O'Reilly for C. Lynch, Johnny McGurk for Kenny Larmer. KILLEEVAN OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE FOR 2001 President Fr. Peadar Corrigan Vice Presidents Francie Quail, Sean Leonard, Tommy Mc Carville, Benny McGuirk, Pat Tynan, Gerard Fitzpatrick, John Mc Donnell. Chairman Tom Graham Vice Chairperson Peter Mc Gurk Secretary Gerry Freeman Ass. Secretary Patricia Smith Treasurer Jane Flynn Ass. Treasurer Mary Freeman P.R.O. Brendan Tynan Registrar Kevin Quail Committee Eugene Greenan, Tommy Mc Garvey, J.J. O'Reilly, Mattie Quigley, Padraig Mc Cooey, Noel Smith, Patrick Leonard, Brendan Mc Geough, John Kirwan, Jim Graham, Brian Mc Guirk. Groundsmen Anthony Mc Kenna & John Kirwan Tweet

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