For the second time in three years, Moate All-Whites had to survive a relegation play-off to preserve their senior status. Midfielder Dermot Browne believes that a major improvement is required if Moate are to avoid a similar struggle in the season ahead. The top club in the county just six years ago, Moate All-Whites are better known nowadays as the supreme escapologists of the senior football championship. Having defeated arch-rivals Rosemount to hang onto senior status in 2000, the All-Whites performed another Houdini-like escape last season by getting the better of Ballynacargy in another relegation play-off tie. While Moate will be relieved to have consolidated their top flight status, they will, at the same time, realise that they cannot continue dicing with relegation. Last season, they finished bottom of Division 1 of the senior championship with not a win to their credit. Then they faced Ballynacargy in a relegation play-off where they had to pull out all the stops to secure a 1-13 to 1-11 victory. "We can't keep ending up in relegation play-offs because we will pay the price eventually," warns midfielder Dermot Browne. "For the past three years, we have really struggled and we can't allow a similar situation to develop this year. Another bad year and Moate's proud record as a senior club could come to an end. It's imperative that we get back to winning ways this year," he adds. Amazingly, Moate have failed to progress beyond the group stages of the championship since capturing the Flanagan Cup in 1997. They could have been facing their third relegation play-off on the trot last year had they not beaten Kilbeggan Shamrocks in the 2001 championship. Browne, who was a pivotal figure in the 1997 success, attributes Moate's decline to a lack of young talent coming through. "Over the past few years, the club has been paying a heavy price for neglecting its underage section. I don't think there is any doubt about that. "Our underage structures have improved greatly in more recent times, but it will probably be another four or five years before we reap the benefits. With one or two exceptions, our senior team is basically the same as it was in '97. If you don't have the young players coming through, it is inevitable that you will struggle. "It's no coincidence either than our decline has come at the same time as the Carmelite College closed its doors for the last time. History shows that when the Carmelite were winning All-Ireland titles, Moate were also enjoying a lot of success. The Carmelite was always a great breeding ground for players," he says. The tone for the year was set when Moate lost their first outing of the championship to south county rivals Athlone by 0-5 to 0-7. In a game of poor quality, Moate were denied victory when goalkeeper Richie Daly dived full length to keep out an audacious Ger Heavin effort in injury-time. What made the defeat all the more frustrating for Moate was the fact that they failed to capitalise on playing three-quarters of the game with an extra man after Athlone full forward Stephen Hahessy had received his marching orders. The Shannonsiders had their noses in front at half-time and maintained their advantage in the second half. The All-Whites suffered another agonising defeat on June 10 when they succumbed to Tyrrellspass by a single point. Moate led by 0-6 to 0-4 at the break, but a Kevin Connell goal shortly after the resumption put Tyrrellspass in the driving seat. Despite having county star Martin Flanagan dismissed late on, the 'Tidy Town' held on for a 1-9 to 0-11 victory. A remarkable statistic from the game was that all of Moate's scoring tally came from the boot of Ger Heavin. Castledaly added to Moate's misery when they inflicted a 2-3 to 1-10 defeat on them in round three at Pairc Chiarain. Moate got off to a dream start when Lar Gillivan's long delivery was fisted to the net by Dermot Browne after three minutes. Castledaly's response was emphatic, though, as they notched up 1-4 without reply. On the restart, Anthony Malone brought Moate back onto level terms when he scored their second goal. But an injury to Ger Heavin left Moate short on scoring power and it was their country neighbours who went on to claim a deserved win. Moate secured their only point of the group stages when Mickey Heavin's late equalizer earned them a 0-10 to 0-10 draw with The Downs on July 14. The Downs had a glorious chance to seal victory when James Conroy raced one-on-one with Moate 'keeper David Mackey, who produced an inspirational save, and the All-Whites launched one final attack which culminated in Heavin's equalizing point. Without Ger Heavin, Moate had established a 0-5 to 0-4 lead at half-time and they remained in control for much of the second half, until Tommy Cleary pushed The Downs in front as the game entered its closing stages. Conroy and Lar Gillivan then exchanged points before Heavin salvaged a share of the spoils for the All-Whites. Whatever hopes Moate had of avoiding the relegation play-off were dashed when they were humbled by St. Loman's in their final group game. St. Loman's stamped their authority on proceedings from the outset and were in no way flattered by their 0-11 to 0-3 winning margin. In a subsequent Feis Cup game, Moate gave a far better account of themselves against the Mullingar outfit before losing by 0-13 to 2-13 after extra-time. In the relegation play-off at Rochfortbridge, Moate were pitted against a Ballynacargy team that had also failed to win any of their group games. Moate got off to a flier with former county star John Murray blasting to the net after just 40 seconds. If this was meant to pave the way for a comfortable Moate victory, Ballynacargy were paying no heed. In the fifth minute, a well-worked move was finished to the net by Ger Heduvan. Dwayne Maher then edged Ballynacargy in front, but with Murray and Ger Heavin pulling the strings in their attack, Moate took a 1-7 to 1-4 lead into the break. The All-Whites put further daylight between the sides on the restart, but Bal' stuck to their task and trailed by just two points with 17 minutes remaining. Moate hit back to restore a five-point advantage by the 50th minute. Again, there was a response from Ballynacargy, and points from Maher, Liam Reilly, Willie Maguire and Liam Farrell, brought them within a point in stoppage-time. As Bal' tried desperately to engineer a score which would have earned them a replay, Moate's Jimmy Gillivan intercepted a free to fire over the insurance point. The final score was 1-13 to 1-11 in favour of a mightily relieved Moate side. Looking back on the campaign, Browne feels that Moate were a mite unlucky not to have taken full points from the games against Athlone, Tyrrellspass and The Downs. "If we had won those three games, we would have been in the shake-up for a place in the knock-out stages. It only serves to highlight the thin line that exists between success and failure." This year, Moate have appointed former Offaly selector Eamonn Mahon as their manager in succession to ex-Kildare full back Davy Dalton. Mahon, who will be assisted in the selectorial duties by Pat Malone and Tony McDermott, was in charge of the Shannonbridge team which won the Offaly SFC in 1996. "It would be great if Eamonn could repeat what he achieved during his time in charge of Shannonbridge with us," says Cork-based Browne, who recently underwent a second operation on his knee. "He has an excellent track record and hopefully, he will be able to get the best out of us. Kit Gillivan has been appointed team captain which I feel is also a very positive development." There has been much speculation locally about whether star forward Ger Heavin will be able to line out this year due to a recurring back problem. But Browne is hopeful that he will have a part to play in Moate's campaign. "Ger has been crippled by the back injury for the past year and it would be an awful blow to us if wasn't able to play this year. But he was back training with us at the start of the year and seems very keen to play. It will probably take more than a back injury to keep Ger down because he has always been a fiercely committed Moate clubman." So what's the target for Moate for the coming year? "Obviously, we'll be hoping for a big improvement on last year. The target must be to reach the knock-out stages, though given the tough group we have been drawn in, people will be making us favourites for relegation. But we intend to prove them wrong," he concludes. Tweet

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