The black and amber of Corduff will be seen once again in the Intermediate ranks of Monaghan football in 2006, and if ever a team deserved promotion it surely is this great little club from the deep south of the county. By Seamus McCluskey Extremely unlucky in the championship, they crowned a great league campaign with a final victory over old rivals Drumhowan in the Dr. Ward Cup decider at Aughnamullen on the last Sunday of November. This was their third Dr Ward Cup title, and their first one since 1993, this fine victory sending them up to next year's Intermediate ranks along with Monaghan Harps. Corduff's first ever Monaghan title was as far back as 1926 when they won the Junior Championship, and they have again been very prominent in recent years, particularly during the 'nineties' when they scored a number of notable successes in both Junior and Intermediate grades. They certainly will be no strangers to the 'middle' grade of football and should be able to give a really good account of themselves against the other nine intermediate teams during the football year that lies ahead. Their championship campaign opened at Clontibret on Sunday evening 8th May when they faced the team that would eventually overcome in the Junior League decider much later in the year - Drumhowan. This turned out to be one of the closest games of the entire championship series and was remarkable for a storming finish that had the big crowd on tenterhook right up until the final whistle. Corduff looked the more consistent team all through, even though they had appeared somewhat shaky during the opening minutes when Drumhowan took an early lead. Four points adrift after only three minutes, it took the unerring boot of Mark Gilsenan to give them the confidence they needed when he sent over some fine points from placed balls. At half time they still trailed by the narrowest of margins, 0-5 to 1-3, but they lifted their game considerably during the second period and had six unanswered points during a fifteen minute spell of supremacy. Drumhowan staged a late recovery but Corduff held on grimly and emerged winners, if only by the narrowest of margins, on a final scoreline of 0-13 to 2-6. Corduff had lined out for that game thus: - Darren Byrne, Paddy McMahon, Louis King, Ciaran Malone, Ciaran Brennan, Gareth King, Gerry Mee, Raymond Byrne 0-1, Declan Larkin, Martin McDermott, Mark Gilsenan 0-7, Brendan Kerley 0-1, George McKetterick 0-1, Shane Malone (0-3) and Lee McGardle. Subs used Pauric Gollogly and Martin Mills That victory put Corduff into the quarter-finals against the red-hot favourites, Monaghan Harps. This one took place at Aughnamullen on Friday evening 8th July and, if ever a team had hard luck, Corduff had it on this occasion. Their tremendous closing rally, with two points coming in injury time, the second of which would surely have ended up in the Harps net, saw the game slip away from Corduff by the narrowest of margins. The county town side were most fortunate to have a defender get his fingertips to the ball as it was heading to the net for the goal that would have given Corduff a victory that would have been well deserved. This was a real cracker of a game with Corduff unlucky to concede a third minute penalty that put them in arrears from such an early stage. At half time the winners had their noses in front, 1-5 to 0-7, and it was again tit-for-tat in the second period. The nail biting finish saw Corduff losing by the minimum 1-10 to 0-12. This time Corduff had lined out - Darren Byrne, Paddy McMahon, Louis King, Gerry Mee, Colm Marron, Gareth King, Martin Mills, Lee McGardle, Declan Larkin, Pauric Gollogly 0-4, Raymond Byrne 0-3, Mark Gilsenan 0-1, Brendan Kerley 0-3, George McKetterick and Martin McDermott. Subs used: Aidan Marron 0-1, Shane McNally and Shane Malone The 'back door' now beckoned and Corduff made full use of it, overwhelming Blackhill by 1-12 to 0-6 in the first of the qualifiers at Castleblayney on 21st August. At times they struggled, however, and it was only in the second half that they really began to show the football they were capable of playing. At the halfway stage they were only two points to the good, 1-2 to 0-3 but midway through the second half they had extended that lead to seven. Fran Monaghan and Shane McNally started in defence in this one and Corduff finished well in front at the final whistle. The semi-final had now been reached and Aughnamullen would provide the opposition at Clontibret on Sunday 4th September. Corduff may have hard luck in their previous outing against Monaghan Harps, but it was even worse on this occasion, as they again suffered the narrowest of agonising defeats, 1-10 to 0-11, the Aughnamullen goal coming in the final two minutes of normal time. The line out that figured in this their last championship outing read - Darren Byrne, Paddy McMahon, Louis King, Gerry Mee, Fran Monaghan, Gareth King, Shane McNally, George McKetterick, Declan Larkin, Martin Mills, Raymond Byrne 0-6, Brendan Kerley, Colm Marron, Mark Gilsenan 0-4 and Martin McDermott. Subs used: Lee McGardle 0-1, Mickey Keenan, Ciaran McKeown and Stephen Hamilton. The championship hopes may have been shattered but the League (Dr Ward Cup) was still there for the taking. From the very first outing of the year in this competition, Corduff had maintained their place in the 'Top Four' and were in second place for most of the season, breathing down hard on the necks of leaders Monaghan Harps. In the opening contest they defeated Blackhill 3-8 to 1-3 and looked highly impressive. This was followed by an away win at Oram, 0-12 to 0-7 and the good form was maintained at Drumhowan, but the first points lost were to Monaghan Harps on 23rd April. It was then back to winning ways with a 2-11 to 1-7 victory over Aughnamullen and then a 1-9 to 1-6 win at Killeevan. Full points from Killanny and Toome brought them to the half-way stage and still in second position. The second half of the league followed a similar pattern as the first half, one of their best wins coming at home against Oram when they triumphed by 1-12 to 1-6. Monaghan Harps again proved the stumbling block, followed by a draw with Aughnamullen and then a surprise defeat by Killeevan, but they recovered well and when the final league table appeared, Corduff were still in that second position. The semi-final pitted them against Killeevan at Donaghmoyne on 19th November and it took a real 'late late' show to succeed on this occasion. Trailing by three points with barely five minutes left, Corduff put in storming finish that rocked the opposition and brought victory by the convincing margin of 4-7 to 0-9, In the League final, played at Aughnamullen on Sunday 27th November, Corduff lined out against their old rivals from Drumhowan, whom they had met so often during the season. This game turned out to be a real tit-for-tat affair with play swinging from end to end. The first fifteen minutes were scoreless and by the half way stage, there were still very few figures on the scoreboard. Corduff, with their noses in front by 0-4 to 0-3. That lead was short-lived in the second half when Drumhowan scored an early goal, but great work by George McKetterick in the middle of the field soon swung matters Corduff's way again. The concluding stages very much belonged to Corduff, and when Declan Larkin scored a brilliant goal ten minutes from time, the title and promotion were both on their way to Corduff. Despite all of Drumhowan's fine efforts, Corduff held on to win by 1-12 to 2-6 and brought the Dr Ward Cup home for the third time. The team that did duty for Corduff on that occasion and one which will surely be remembered in this small south county citadel for many years to come was as follows: Mark Gilsenan, Paddy McMahon, Gerry Mee, Ciaran Malone, Gareth King, Declan Larkin 1-0, Shane McNally 0-1, George McKetterick 0-5, Fran Monaghan, Martin Mills, Raymond Byrne 0-2, Colm Marron, Lee McGardle 0-1, Louis King 0-3, Brendan Kerley. Subs used: Aidan Marron and Seamus McConnon To say that Corduff will be a 'force to be reckoned with' in next year's Intermediate Championship and Fr. Hackett Cup competitions is surely an understatement, and the current occupants of that particular grade of football will certainly find out that they have a dangerous force to cope with next year. The feeling in the camp is that what they accomplished in 1998, when they defeated Inniskeen in the final of that year's Intermediate Football Championship and qualified for promotion to senior ranks for the first time in their proud history, can be accomplished again. They should have every reason to believe in themselves as this is an even stronger team than that which won out in 1998 and who is to say that 2006 could or could not bring a similar ending? Tweet

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