Ballymore endured a most disappointing 2002, with a poor championship campaign being followed by relegation from Division 1. Not surprisingly, goalkeeper and club PRO Ciaran McCormack is expecting a big improvement in the coming season. Ballymore are probably glad to see the back of 2002. Considered livewire contenders for the intermediate championship at the outset of the year, they failed to live up to expectations and duly crashed out of the title race in the preliminary round stages. To compound matters, the green and golds were also relegated from Division 1 of the All-County League after a campaign which brought just one victory against intermediate rivals Rosemount. While noting that the club was not helped by the absence of key players Derek Cuffe and Damien Fanning last season, goalkeeper and PRO Ciaran McCormack admits that some of Ballymore's performances were unacceptable. "It was a very poor year overall," the trainee garda says. "We had expected to be in the shake-up for the intermediate title at the start of the year, but that never looked likely. The least we would have expected was to get out of the group, but the defeats to Tubberclair and Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall proved extremely costly. "On top of that, we lost our Division 1 status, despite some encouraging displays against The Downs, Garrycastle and Tyrrellspass. It goes without saying that we'll be looking for a big improvement in the coming year," he adds. McCormack pulls no punches when he claims that a lack of commitment on the players' part contributed to their poor year. "The only explanation I can offer for our dip in form is that the players didn't put the effort in. We appointed Jody Gunning (the former Offaly player) as our manager at the start of the year, but he just didn't get the proper response from the players and decided to step down. "John McNeill took over the training duties after that, and in fairness to him, he did a very good job in the circumstances. But I've no doubt that Jody Gunning would have seen out the year if the players had put the effort in," he explains. Ballymore opened their championship campaign on April 27 when they drew 0-5 apiece with Tang. Despite dominating the first half, the green and golds were just a point to the good, 0-2 to 0-1, at the interval. The introduction of county player David Hughes for the second half was expected to give Ballymore a boost, but in the end, they needed a late point from Louis Meares to claim a share of the spoils. Tubberclair was the venue for Ballymore's second outing which resulted in a 2-10 to 2-8 victory over Athlone's second team. Meares was top scorer for the winners with 0-4, while Dermot Farrell and Vinny McCormack accounted for their goals. A second successive win was secured on June 9 when the green and golds walloped St. Loman's by 4-17 to 0-2. In one of the most one-sided games you are ever likely to see, the Ballymore attack ran riot with Vinny McCormack bagging 2-4, and Derek Molloy and Patrick Lynch also finding the net. Two weeks later, Ballymore suffered their first defeat when Tubberclair edged them out on a 1-10 to 2-6 scoreline. Despite falling behind early on, Ballymore recovered to lead by 1-6 to 0-5 at the break. However, Tubberclair came more into the game in the second half and had drawn level with five minutes remaining. Then, with virtually the last kick of the game, Francis Spollen landed the winning point to condemn Ballymore to a heartbreaking defeat. "Looking back on the championship, that was the game that really cost us," McCormack recalls. "We had played some great football in the first half and should have been more than four points ahead at half-time. Tubberclair came back at us in the second half, but we still should have taken something from the game." Ballymore's hopes of reaching the knock-out stages were dealt another severe blow when they lost to championship surprise-packets Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall by 0-7 to 1-7 at Springfield. That result left them needing to beat Ballinagore in their final outing of the group to claim a quarter-final spot. But on a scorching hot day in Tang, the best they could manage was a 2-6 to 1-9 draw. Ballinagore raced into an early 0-4 to 0-1 lead, but were pegged back by a Ballymore goal. In the second half, the green and golds opened up a four-point lead and looked to be on course for victory. However, Ballinagore fought back to level before Ciaran McCormack made the long trek upfield to restore Ballymore's lead from a '45'. But, with the knock-out stages beckoning, county player Michael Ennis kicked a late point to deny Ballymore victory. While the intermediate team disappointed, the year wasn't without its highlights. At underage level, Millmore Gaels (a combination of Ballymore and Milltown) claimed their first ever title when they powered to a 4-7 to 1-4 victory over Ballycomoyle in the under 14 'C' championship final at Cusack Park. Under the tutelage of John McNeill, Martin Wilson and Mick Eivers, Millmore Gaels laid the foundations for their win in the first half when they established a 3-4 to 0-1 lead. Their north county opponents improved on the restart, but never looked like making up the deficit. The writing was on the wall for Ballycomoyle after just four minutes when full forward Joe Kenny scored the opening goal. Kenny and Alan Slevin added further goals before the break to give Millmore Gaels a commanding lead. Ballycomoyle succeeded in reducing the deficit in the second half, but a second goal from Slevin two minutes from the end sealed an impressive victory for the combination side. "The under 14 success was a big boost to both Ballymore and Milltown," McCormack reckons. "Because of the decrease in population in the area, joining forces was the only option for the two clubs at underage level. It was great to get an underage title under our belts after a few barren years and hopefully the amalgamation can go from strength to strength. "While the under 14s stole the limelight, the minor and under 16s went to semi-finals of their championships. With a bit of luck, they could have gone further." For the coming season, Ballymore have appointed Joe Mulvihill as their manager. Mulvihill, who is also in charge of the Longford under 21s this year, will hope to oversee a major improvement in the club's fortunes with an intermediate championship the number one objective. "Joe comes to the club with a good track record and will be demanding an intermediate title from us. David Hughes' transfer to Cooley Kickhams in Louth is a massive blow because he was one of our best players over the past 10 years. "But we made a good start to the year in the Galvin Cup and Denis Eivers' switch to midfield (where he filled Hughes' boots) worked well for us in that that particular competition. We are determined to put last year behind us, and assuming everyone puts in the effort, I think we have the potential to achieve our goal," the 27-year-old concludes. Tweet

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