Having surrendered their senior status at the first time of asking in 2003, Tyholland were doubly determined to avoid a repeat performance in '05. Taking their place at the top table by virtue of a second outright intermediate league success in three years, St Patricks went on to make history by consolidating senior status for the first time ever. Understandably, seasoned campaigner Peadar Farrelly looks back on the events of '05 with quite a degree of contentment. There was nothing complicated about the objectives Tyholland set out to achieve in 2005. Having changed grades for the fourth successive year, their aim was simply a bit of continuity. It was time to consolidate. They had failed to do so when taking their place in senior football in '03, but quickly put that disappointment behind them by reclaiming the IFL at the first attempt in 2004. Two-thousand-and-five would provide the litmus test. Were Tyholland destined to yo-yo between the two top grades for the rest of eternity or could they seize their own fate? Six straight defeats at the start of their senior league campaign confirmed that it wasn't going to be easy and even suggested that Tyholland were heading for an inevitable return to intermediate fare. However, the players and management were having none of that. Amazingly, they turned their season around, rising purposefully up the table with a searing late surge that culminated in a safe finish fourth from bottom of the pile. Thus, for the first time in their history, Tyholland will play senior football for successive years. This represents a truly wonderful accomplishment for the club, once a Monaghan GAA outpost but now putting the sense of close-knittedness and fierce spirit that comes with the territory to good effect. Tyholland have come a long way in a decade - against all odds, the 1996 Monaghan junior football champions are now a bona-fide senior force and the club is a credit to the community it represents. Tyholland's first team may not have secured any silverware in 2005, but the fact that the club will perform on a higher stage than clubs representing urban sprawls such as Carrickmacross and Monaghan town speaks for itself. Success stories are rarely more legitimate. Peadar Farrelly has been on the Tyholland team for twelve years now and also doubles up as club PRO. Looking back on the events of 2005, he feels the performance and the outcome were satisfactory: "We'd have to be happy enough in the end. We set out at the start of the year with the aim of staying up and we achieved that, so we're happy with that. "Having said that, we certainly went the hard way about it. We lost the first six games, but to stay up after such a poor start was a good recovery and sets us up nicely." At one stage, Tyholland looked certainties to make the drop. What led to the dramatic transformation in their fortunes? "We had a team meeting and were asked if we were going to show any fight at all. We had lost games by just a point or two and knew it wouldn't take a massive improvement to turn those performances into victories. Everybody decided to make a fight of it and the results improved." The turning point was a surprise victory over then county champions Magheracloone. That win gave the Tyholland lads all the belief they needed to go on and salvage their season: "We beat Magheracloone at home in the seventh round. They were regarded as the best team in the county and we felt that if we could beat them then we could beat anybody…" Confidence levels swelled and a tally of 15 points was secured - seven wins and a draw. It was a stunning revival and enough to earn seventh place on a table of ten clubs. Mission Accomplished! The championship was always going to be a secondary consideration. Tyholland lost their SFC opener to neighbours Truagh and bounced back with a good 0-14 to 0-9 defeat of Sean McDermotts at Scotstown before losing to Carrickmacross - a result that spelt elimination from the SFC equation. Peadar notes: "Survival was definitely our main objective and any win we got in the championship was going to be a bonus. It wasn't a priority. Carrickmacross were relegated this year and we didn't perform against them in the championship. Even though that performance was a little disappointing, we stayed up and that was the main thing." Tyrone man Cathal McAnenely, who guided Tyholland to senior football in the first place, took charge of team affairs again in 2005. As Fergal McCann moved on to train Tyrone to All-Ireland glory, yet another Tyrone man - Michael Donnelly - took over training duties in Tyholland. "He had big boots to fill but he more than did it," Peadar says. In 2006, Tyholland will bid to retain their senior status for a third successive year. It would be a remarkable feat considering the demographics of the area. "We're the smallest parish in the diocese of Clogher," Peadar Farrelly confirms. "We only have about 35 or 40 lads at the right age group to pick from, so even to go senior in the first place was a big thing. To stay there was an even better achievement. "We were knocking on the door for a few years before we went up in 2002. We were a bit naïve the first time and the heads dropped after we got off to a bad start. But we were older and wiser this time around and thankfully it turned out okay." A member of the first team since he was 17, Peadar admits that a lot has changed in Tyholland since the 1996 JFC victory: "The team has chanced a good bit in those ten years. Some young lads have come through and done a great job. A few young lads came into the team this year when we were depleted and they held their place for the rest of the year. Lads like Shane Treanor and Ronan McNally, who are still minor, made a huge difference and they retained their place on merit." Can new-look Tyholland survive again in '06? "We hope to make a better start and consolidate. We're not naïve enough to think we're going to start winning senior championships, because injuries and suspensions can really take their toll for a team like Tyholland, but we know we're good enough to stay in the top grade. "We have proved to ourselves and to other clubs that we are capable of playing senior football. There are a lot of big clubs below us and we can get a lot of satisfaction from that fact." Peadar has collected some prestigious medals during his twelve-year stint on the Tyholland team to date - a JFC in 1996, St Judes All-Ireland junior Sevens in '97, and intermediate leagues in 2002 and 2004. Any prospect of the club clinching some senior silverware? "It's hard to say. It wouldn't be easy but maybe with the right attitude and the luck of the draw there could be one big year in us - you never know." For the time being, however, Tyholland are just happy to have established themselves as a senior entity. The club's facilities are improving each year, with work on the new training pitch gathering pace as we speak, and the strong spirit that pervades throughout the parish has made its mark at county level. Peadar concludes: "Everybody grew up together and there's a close bond, which does help. If we were from an area with a larger population, maybe we wouldn't have that sense of togetherness. There's a real spirit in the team and that's our main strength. We all stand up together and help one another." It has been a winning formula for a decade and there's no reason why Tyholland's fantastic run can't continue. Tyholland in Seventh Heaven October 1st will live long in the memory in the minds of the girls from Tyholland. That was the day this wonder club lifted the All Ireland Ladies Seven's title at Naomh Mearnog. What a story this was indeed as just twenty four hours prior to the action getting underway the eventual winners name was far from been included in the competition. The Monaghan side were waiting on the wings in the reserve list hoping some team would withdraw but as the tournament grew closer that hope was fading further away. A phone call from the Ladies Football association office on the Friday morning rekindled their hope as a place had become available. However now the task of getting a team together began for the management team of Eileen and Owen McNally and Dwayne McCarey. Girls were already down to work on the Saturday and other plans were made but the love of the game is just flowing through the blood of the Tyholland players and all roadblocks were got past and a team of eleven girls were gathered together to set off on the Saturday morning. The thought of actually winning the competition was not in their minds just yet, as they knew so many top teams were there. Twenty-nine teams in all were to battle it out for the Senior title over a fantastic afternoons entertainment. Tyholland were placed in-group one and opened their campaign with victory over hosts Naomh Mearnog 6-03 to 1-03. Next up were Limerick's Athea who were also seen off 4-02 to 3-03 Their third outing saw them come face to face against the mighty St Brendan's of Galway. A tough outing it turned out to be but one that was overcome by the narrowest of margins with a final score of 5-03 to 4-05. It was a victory that secured qualification for the knockout stages despite having one further game in the group still to come. The final group match was a game Tyholland could ease off in and as it turned out they went down 2-06 to 5-07 to Tyrone side Aodh Ruadh. Into the knockout stages we went and Tyholland were also to have the advantage of avoiding a quarterfinal clash and straight into the semi-final against Clonee (Wexford). Confidence was high in the camp and belief of going all the way was now also filtering into their heads. The hurdle of Clonee was overcome 3-06 to 3-03 and suddenly the Monaghan girls were into the decider. In that final it again was to be Wexford opposition, this time in the form of Shelmaliers a team that lost out at this very stage just twelve months earlier. That same fate was to fall on them again as Tyholland played a very solid thirty minutes of football. Midway through the game the eventual champions had four points to spare. The Wexford girls cancelled that advantage out early into the second period but it was Tyholland that had more gas in the tank and finished strongly. They upped the tempo and for the first time ever the All Ireland Senior Seven's title was on its way back to Monaghan with a winning score line 6-06 to 3-08. Scorers in the final were: Therese McNally 2-03, Grainne McNally 2-03, Brenda McNally 1-00, Pamela Treanor 1-00 Hero's each and every one of the eleven girls were and the full list that led the Tyholland club to All Ireland Seven's champions are: Lisa Sherry (Captain) Brenda McNally Una McNally Therese McNally Grainne McNally Catherine West Maureen West Pamela Treanor Sinead McCooey Grainne Treanor Shauna McMahon Tweet

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