Killucan had a quiet year on the playing front in 2003 but it was a different story off the field as club chairman Ber Murtagh explains. Months of negotiations with the County Council and landowners in the area have resulted in the club being handed a 99-year lease on ten acres of land in Killucan village. Although the club must finance the development of the grounds, which will be of huge expense, they are delighted to finally have the chance of being in their own grounds. For many years Killucan and their sister club Raharney have shared the grounds at Joristown while the local camogie club have also been tenants of the pitch. With so many teams to cater for in all grades, one pitch in Joristown is not enough and the development of new pitches in the village will be of great benefit to all. "The committee have worked hard in the past year and we must have attended 60 meetings with the Council and various other parties concerned, but thankfully it has been all worth it now," said Ber "The population of Killucan has risen from 400 to 800 over the past few years and is expected to rise to 2,500 in the next ten years, so surely the club will benefit from that. "The development of the grounds is expected to start later this year and all going to plan, we should be playing our first match there next year," added Ber. "A lot of work will have to be done this year in order to finance this project and we are hoping to get a grant from the lottery and any other source that will fund us. "We have been putting a few euro away every week for a while now and the club's finances are in a good shape at the moment, so that will ease the burden a little." Killucan have contributed their fair share of players to county teams down through the years as their excellent underage structure has seen the club's adult teams and Westmeath benefit. Only recently 65 kids from under-8 to under-12 were brought on a tour of Croke Park as part of an incentive to keep the youngsters interested in the game. Many of these young players will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of players like Noel Lynch, John Shaw, Padraig Leavy, Conor Jordan and Paul Greville in wearing the maroon and white at some level. "We are quite proud of the fact that the club has always been represented in the county jersey at some level and this is due to the many people that have looked after our underage teams down through the years," stressed Ber. "We were beaten in last year's minor semi-final and really we expected to go all the way in that but it just wasn't meant to be. Hopefully we can go one step further this time round." In the intermediate championship Killucan can count themselves unfortunate not to have gone all the way as eventual winners Ballymore beat them in the quarter-final of the championship. For 2003 former county star Dermot Brady was appointed as team trainer and the introduction of such an established footballer saw the players turn out in large numbers. "Dermot Brady was approached to train the team and we knew that he would have plenty to offer as he has trained under a few good managers, picking up plenty of experience along the way. We averaged around 35 or 36 players at training throughout the year and this helped in our preparation for the championship," pointed out the former referee. Killucan were placed in the same group as Shandonagh, Bunbrosna, Miltownpass, Castletown Finea, Tang and St Loman's for the early stages of the championship. They met Milltownpass in their first match and got off to the perfect start with a three point win over their neighbours on a scoreline of 2-7 to 1-7. In their second outing, the Saffron's secured another two points with a 1-10 to 1-07 win over Tang. Having won their opening two matches, Killucan went into their match with group favourites Shandonagh full of confidence but they needed all their resolve to come away with a draw. Shandonagh had the better start in the first half and led by three points at the interval. In the second half Killucan upped their performance and made things more difficult for Shandonagh. A fortunate goal for the Joristown outfit brought them level and a nail biting finish was in store for all present in Cusack Park. Credit must go to both sides for some tenacious battling towards the end of the match and a draw was probably the fairest outcome in the game. The club's only setback in the group stages of the championship came at the hands of Castletown Finea/Coole/Whitehall who struggled to make any real impact during the campaign. The opening 30 minutes were a tight affair with Finea going in at half time one point to the good. Killucan came out strongly in the second period and immediately scored two points to put themselves back in the lead. A goal for Castletown Finea late on saw Killucan throw everything they had at them in the closing stages but they could not get the decisive scores and came away from the match with nothing. A win over Bunbrosna and a walk over from St Loman's completed Killucan's group matches and left them second in the group behind Shandonagh. Now they would meet Ballymore in the quarter-final. "We were very confident going into the quarter-final against Ballymore and our aim every year is to win the intermediate championship. Seven of our intermediate team is minor so maybe we lacked a bit of experience this year, but it is a good start to build for the future," said Ber. Ballinagore was the venue for the quarter-final with Killucan showing despite their youthful look they were not overawed by their more experienced opponents. The North Westmeath side began the match brightly and registered their first score after only 48 seconds when wing forward Brendan McKeogh pointed. Five minutes later they doubled their advantage when centre back John Shaw surged up field and scored an excellent point. Ballymore opened their account after seven minutes but just 60 seconds later Conor Jordan restored parity between the sides with a pointed free. The same player stretched Killucan's lead shortly after when he was accurate from a placed ball once again. Noel Lynch cancelled out a Ballymore point in the 15th minute while John Shaw did likewise as the sides exchanged scores with the half drawing to a close. Ballymore were beginning to settle into the match and two further points by them left the sides level at half time and an exciting second half was in store. The Saffron's scored three unanswered points at the start of the second half to put them in the driving seat. Paul Briody, Shaw and Jordan raising the white flag. Ballymore came back strongly and they were level with 15 minutes remaining after they scored three points and with Killucan fading their opponents took the initiative and led by two points with just three minutes remaining. Killucan substitute James Nugent narrowed the deficit to one point with two minutes remaining as they went all out for the crucial score but despite a late effort from Noel Lynch, Ballymore held on for a narrow win. "It's exciting times around the parish at the moment and everyone is looking forward to 2004 both on and off the field. There is no doubt that our aim is to win the intermediate championship and we feel that there is a side emerging at the moment that can match the best at this grade," stressed Ber. "We held on their our place in Division Two of the league and that was very important because when you play a higher standard of football it helps when you play in the championship. So all in all we can be very happy at the club at present." For the record the Killucan team that lost the IFC quarter-final was: David Bryan, Kevin McKeogh, Barry Nea, Brian Nugent, Francis Boyle, John Shaw (0-3), Donie Carey, Padraig Leavy (0-1), Noel Lynch (0-1), Conor Jordan (0-3), Paul Greville, Brendan McKeogh (0-3), Noel Croash, Stephen Morley, Paul Briody (0-1). Subs used: Nick Weir for D Carey, Brian Smyth for S Morley, James Nugent for P Briody, Shane Leavy for P Leavy. Tweet

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