For the Doohamlet club, the year 2005 has proven an extremely successful one, and certainly one of their finest in recent decades. A consistent league campaign was supplemented by a superb run in the Intermediate Football Championship that saw them go all the way to the County Final, only to lose out by the minimum margin to hot favourites Inniskeen, certainly no mean achievement for a club that has not been that many years in this particular grade. The perseverance over the past three or four years has finally paid off and Doohamlet are now regarded as one of the most successful clubs in the county. When the draws for the 2005 Intermediate Championship were made at the beginning of the year, Doohamlet were pitted against Aghabog, a task that Doohamlet knew full well would be a tough assignment, as Aghabog had only recently come down from Senior ranks and would be determined to regain their place in the premier arena of Monaghan football. Sunday 21st May was the date of their championship debut, but the rains poured down as followers and mentors made their way to St. Mary's Park in Scotstown for the clash with the men of Aghabog. The dreadful conditions militated against any semblance of good open football but the sides manfully struggled to overcome adversity and served up quite an enjoyable, if at times rugged, contest. In the end Doohamlet were deserving winners by 1-15 to 2-7 but they had to withstand a 'late late' challenge from the losers that yielded a goal and a point which narrowed the dividing gap considerably. Doohamlet were extremely positive in their play all through and adapted better to the conditions than did the opposition. Greg Duffy and Ciaran McManus were in superb form at centre-field and it was their dominance here that laid the foundations for a deserved victory. When Aghabog threatened their goal area Martin Hughes and Pauric Marray were always on hand to avert the danger. Aghabog had opened the scoring but Doohamlet soon got a grip on proceedings and went in at the break eight points in front, 1-7 to 0-2. The second period again saw Doohamlet on the offensive for most of the thirty minutes and, with time running out, they seemed to be 'home and dry' only for the losers to come with a strong late challenge, but Doohamlet held on and advanced to the next round. Doohamlet had lined out for that one as follows: - James Casey, Colin Connolly, Pauric Marray, Darren Connolly, Kevin McArdle (0-2), Martin Hughes, Shane Connolly, Greg Duffy (0-2), Ciaran McManus (1-1), Glen Cumiskey (0-3), Shane McManus, Ted Duffy (0-5), Gavin Duffy , Ollie Hughes and Niall Connolly (0-2). Subs used: Emmet McManus, Mark Murphy and Lorcan Duffy That win put Doohamlet into the second round and here they were up against one of the longest established and most famous of clubs in Monaghan, Donaghmoyne. The Fontenoys have always been a major force in championship football and their league campaign suggested that they were hell-bent on regaining senior status. It would not be easy, a fact that Doohamlet were well and truly aware of as they headed for St. Mary's Park, Castleblayney, on Saturday 13th August, but Doohamlet were determined not to be in any way overawed by the reputation or tradition of any opponents. The game turned out to be a low key affair with Doohamlet proving the faster and more purposeful side on the day and they went on to win convincingly by 2-10 to 0-8 a result that even surprised some of their own supporters. Paul McArdle gave them an early lead and they were never headed thereafter. A two goal spree in the space of five minutes midway through the opening half really settled the issue and put Doohamlet in such a strong position that the losers could never really come to terms with them from there to the end. Doohamlet led at the interval by 2-3 to 0-3 and were even more convincing in the second period when they tagged on another seven points against five for the opposition. Doohamlet's fifteen on this occasion read: - James Casey, Darren Connolly, Martin Hughes, Colin Connolly, Kevin McArdle, Ciaran McManus, Emmet McManus, Greg Duffy, Glen Cumiskey, Ted Duffy, Shane McManus, Niall Connolly, Paul McArdle, Ollie Hughes, Gavin Duffy. Subs used: Lorcan Duffy and Trevor Duffy. Their scores came from - Shane McManus (1-1), Paul McArdle (0-3), Greg Duffy (1-0), Ciaran McManus (0-2), Glen Cumiskey, Ted Duffy, Ollie Hughes and Lorcan Duffy (0-1 each) Doohamlet were now in the quarter-finals of the championship in which they would meet Clones and this turned to be an amazingly one sided game, Doohamlet winning rather easily by 2-13 to 0-4. To finish fifteen points in front at Clontibret on Sunday 21st August would probably prove a bit misleading for Doohamlet however as, strangely enough, they would be up against the same opposition in the very next round a few weeks later. However, on this occasion Doohamlet proved far too strong and led from start to finish in what most people regarded as a somewhat disappointing contest, but that didn't worry the Doohamlet men. Leading by 0-6 to 0-3 at the half-way stage, Doohamlet lined out - James Casey, Colin Connolly, Martin Hughes, Darren Connolly, Kevin McArdle, Ciaran McManus 1-2, Emmet McManus, Greg Duffy 0-1, Glen Cumiskey, Paul McArdle 0-1, Ollie Hughes 1-2, Ted Duffy 0-4, Gavin Duffy, Shane McManus 0-2, Niall Connolly 0-1. Subs used: Niall J Connolly, Trevor Duffy, Rory McManus and Enda Connolly. By a strange twist the 'back door' system threw up some unusual results and Clones found themselves back in contention, but up against the Doohamlet men for the second time, in the semi-final at Scotstown on Sunday 2nd October. Fifteen points may have separated the teams in their earlier clash but there was to be no repeat of that one-sided scoreline as the sides finished level, 1-9 to 0-12, in a highly entertaining game on this occasion. Perhaps Doohamlet had been somewhat misled by their earlier result but, whatever it was, they had no the same easy passage that pundits had predicted. Doohamlet started well and had the better of exchanges in the first quarter, but found themselves on the defensive during the second fifteen minutes. Three points up after only five minutes, Doohamlet still found themselves in arrears at the interval, 0-5 to 1-5. It was very much tit-for-tat during the second period with both sides scoring some glorious scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, Doohamlet had to play the final twenty minutes a man short, but they coped with the situation extremely well and held out for a deserved draw, Shane McManus sending over the equaliser with time running out. This time the line-round read: James Casey, Darren Connolly, Martin Hughes, Colin Connolly, Kevin McArdle, Ciaran McManus, Shane Connolly, Greg Duffy 0-1, Glen Cumiskey, Ted Duffy (0-1), Shane McManus (0-4), Niall Connolly 0-1, Paul McArdle (0-4), Ollie Hughes (0-1) and Gavin Duffy. Subs used: Emmet McManus, Lorcan Duffy, Pauric Marray, Trevor Duffy. It was back to Scotstown the following week-end for the replay, and this again proved to be a tremendous contest with both sides hell-bent on making it through to the Intermediate Final. There was a nerve-wracking conclusion to this one but Doohamlet held out to win by the minimum margin, 1-11 to 1-10. There was also only the minimum between them at the half-way stage, Doohamlet in front by 0-6 to 0-5 but the eventual winners then struck a purple patch early in the second half and went six points clear. At that stage Clones had a man red-carded, but that only seemed to rouse them to supreme efforts and from there to the end, our men were put under severe pressure. Thankfully however, they held on. Emmet McManus and Pauric Marray were on from the beginning of this one, as the side lined out: - James Casey, Emmet McManus, Pauric Marray, Colin Connolly, Kevin McArdle, Ciaran McManus, Shane Connolly, Greg Duffy, Glen Cumiskey, Ted Duffy, Shane McManus (1-3), Niall Connolly 0-1, Paul McArdle 0-5, Ollie Hughes and Niall J Connolly 0-1. Subs used: Lorcan Duffy 0-1 for Trevor Duffy and Gavin Duffy All roads now led to Clontibret for the Intermediate Championship Final against Inniskeen on Sunday 9th October and what a humdinger this turned out to be. Doohamlet were equal to the task during the opening half, but still went in at half-time three points in arrears, six to nine. Unfortunately, the third quarter proved something of a disaster and they fell eight points behind. It was only then that they began to play the real football that we all knew they were capable of playing and produced a final quarter display that rocked the Inniskeen men to their very foundations. The gap was narrowed to the very minimum but the long whistle sounded just that little big too early and the final tally read: Inniskeen 1-13, Doohamlet 2-9. Despite defeat and the ensuing disappointment, this was a great championship performance by Doohamlet, and the side that did us all proud in that Intermediate Final read as follows: James Casey, Darren Connolly, Pauric Marray, Colin Connolly, Niall Connolly 0-1, Ciaran McManus, Shane Connolly, Greg Duffy 1-0, Glen Cumiskey 0-2, Ted Duffy 0-1, Shane McManus 1-2, Niall J Connolly, Paul McArdle 0-3, Ollie Hughes and Emmet McManus. Subs used: Martin Hughes, Lorcan Duffy, Trevor Duffy and Gavin Duffy. Tweet

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