After enduring the shock of league relegation, Bailieborough Shamrocks enter into 2009 looking to make their way straight back up to Division Two, while also making a realistic bid for the intermediate championship title after faltering to last year's winners, Redhills. Goalkeeper Alan O'Mara looks back on a mixed year for the club, which, in the end, has promised a bright future for the Shamrocks. Since their demotion from the top flight in 2005, Cavan's last representatives in an Ulster senior championship club final, Bailieborough Shamrocks, have struggled to make the thundering impact that was expected of them in the mid-tier, which has surprised many in Cavan GAA circles. Bailieborough have been, thus far, 'hit and miss' in their attempts to emerge from the intermediate grade and back into the esteemed senior ranks, with an early exit from the championship in 2006 followed by a genuine bid for a final place in '07 foiled by a resounding second-half performance in the last four from eventual county and provincial IFC champions Ballinagh. Bailieborough's county minor net-minder, Alan O'Mara, remembers '07 as a year that the Shamrocks came oh so close, but in the end he is realistic that perhaps his team came up against a Ballinagh side that had been knocking on the door for so long, and it wasn't their time. "Ballinagh were a good side and they showed that by going on to win Ulster but we pushed them all the way," says O'Mara. "Before that season we had been going through a really bad spell. We'd been relegated from the top tier in both league and championship and it looked as if the players had turned things around in 2007 but we haven't kicked on since then." Last year Bailieborough went into the new season looking for a fresh start, after almost suffering relegation in the league the previous term. Bailieborough's hopeful road to recovery started with a visit to the nearby Canningstown, where they took on old senior rivals Knockbride in an opening ACFL Division Two encounter. O'Mara was not between the posts that day for the Shamrocks, in fact the only county representative in attendance for a club that has boasted so many down the years was one of Donal Keogan's early recruits for the start of the inter-county season in the versatile David Rooney. It was the home side's former county star, Larry Reilly, who proved to be the ultimate tormentor though, with 1-4 on the day which spelled an early defeat in the league that would set the tone for Bailieborough's league positioning for the rest of the season. "At the start of the year, all in the club would have settled for a solid league campaign after just about avoiding relegation the year before," admits O'Mara. "To be honest we would have been focused a lot more on the championship side of things. In '07 we were desperately unlucky to lose at the semi-final stage, so naturally you want to come back and go one step further." Headed by Vincent Kelly for a second successive year, the senior side's backroom team was made up of Francis Clarke, Mickey Murtagh and Padraig Clarke. After 11 games in Division Two, which built up to his side's championship opener, Kelly's charges had gathered up just eight points, which wasn't enough to assure the team their Division Two status for another term before the championship got underway. Just three places from the bottom, the Shamrocks were considered by many as underdogs going into the first round of the championship as they faced a Killeshandra side that had already defeated them in the league just a few weeks prior. However, O'Mara explains that after the disappointment of 2007 the squad had put in a strong and collective effort in their preparations for the match, and were certainly not going to be taking a newly promoted side for granted. "The lads, like in most clubs I am sure, always up the ante for championship football," says O'Mara. "The squad knuckled down and put in the effort and there was a good atmosphere about the place. After being in the semi-finals in '07, the players were hungry to go a step further. "We knew Killeshandra were going to be difficult opponents. They were the promoted side after winning the junior (championship) the previous year and they were never going to roll over and die without a fight." O'Mara, who was forced to sit out the match through injury, watched from the sidelines at Breffni Park, as Paul Sharkey dispatched an impressive 1-4 past the Leaguers' defence to help setup a five-point victory that saw Kelly's men safely into the last eight on a score line of 1-9 to 0-7. While the result sent Bailieborough through to the quarter-finals, the players had to sit by for six weeks before their next clash in the IFC with Mickey Cadden's young Redhills side, who had been high-flying in Division Two all season long. A month-and-a-half on from the Killeshandra victory, Kelly's side travelled to Breffni Park once more where they would fall victim to an eight-point assault from Redhills' devastating forwards. The concession of two first-half goals had Bailieborough facing an uphill battle early on, and were always going to struggle to contain their opponents' genuine scoring forwards such as Packie Leddy, Colin Reilly and Paddy Gumley, who caused the Shamrocks plenty of trouble throughout that bleak September evening, helping put up 2-13 on Bailieborough's 0-11 final-score tally. "We beat Killeshandra comfortably in the preliminary round in Breffni Park but Redhills had too much in the tank for us in the next round," admits O'Mara. "We were beaten well and given a lesson or two by a good young team. It was disappointing that our season ended so early but that's twice in a row now we have been knocked out by the eventual winners. I'm glad they have decided to re-jig the championship this year. Last year when we beat Killeshandra we had roughly a six-week gap from that to the next championship match. That's the last thing a team wants in championship football." All hopes of a championship crown were for '08 were dashed, as Redhills' devastating forwards went on to slay Drumlane and Ballyhaise on their way to collecting the intermediate title. Bailieborough still had some work to do, however. After the championship, Kelly's men had two games left to try and rectify the situation and make sure that they wouldn't be playing their league football in Division Three for the 2009 season. A heavy defeat at the hands of Ramor, who would go on to achieve promotion, looked to provide the Shamrocks with the wake-up call they needed before a crunch derby with Shercock on the last day, where the loser would be playing in Division Three for the following year. "Despite our poor form in the league we still had the chance to save ourselves in the last game against Shercock," O'Mara recalls. "Whoever won that game stayed up, but we came out on the wrong end of things. It was a very tight, low scoring, scrappy game, as you would expect given it was a local derby with so much at stake. But these things happen and over the coming year we have to try and put things right." Bailieborough lost out by a single point (0-6 to 0-5) at home to their local rivals, which ultimately spelled relegation for the Shamrocks in the league. O'Mara struggles to narrow down a single reason as to why the team failed to pick up the sufficient results for safety, but admits that there are some contributing factors as to why Bailieborough finished second bottom of Division Two for 2008. "It's hard to pinpoint one single reason," he says. "We never really got a settled 15 and there were a couple of games we lost because we failed to take our chances or kill teams off. "At the end of the day, you know, people can make up whatever excuses they like - the fact is the league table doesn't lie at the end of the year. Now we're a Division Three team and we have to start building for the future." And "building for the future" is exactly what the Bailieborough Shamrocks club is doing at present. 2008 saw the club's Under 16 side steal the show, claiming an elusive double in both the league and championship in Division One, which has helped ease the pain of relegation for the club's followers. Managed by Paul Kelly, and his two committed assistants Tony Gregory and Seamus Sheridan, the team went unbeaten throughout their league and championship campaigns and claimed the Division One championship title after overcoming the might of Cavan Gaels in a replay last October. Both sides couldn't be separated after their first meeting, and travelled to Ramor Park, Virginia, for a final showdown to try and decide the Under 16 county champions for the 2008 season. Bailieborough - the defending champions - made the better start to the match and took in a 0-7 to 0-5 lead at the interval, thanks to the points of James Fulton, who top scored in the game with 0-6, Ciaran McCabe and Stephen Kierans. In the second-half, Kelly's youngsters pulled away from their opponents with Fulton and Eoin O'Sullivan hitting the forefront, and Conor Gilsenan and Marcus Clarke holding tight at the back for the eventual winners. The Gaels rallied late on through the points of Pauric and Darragh Sexton, and a goal from Andrew Graham to cut the gap down to the bare minimum, but Bailieborough's backs held firm again to help record back-to-back championship titles, 0-11 to 1-7. Bailieborough (U16 Div 1 Championship final v Cavan Gaels): Thomas Brady; Gerard Clarke, Conor Gilsenan, Christopher Tully; Ciaran McCabe (0-02), Marcus Clarke, Ian Shelkelton; Stephen Kierans (0-1), Niall Comey (0-1f); Eoin O'Sullivan (0-1), Conor Cronin, Gavin Clarke; James Fulton (0-6, 2f), Graham McCabe, Shane Kelly. Sub: Michael Argue. Three weeks later, and it was more nail-biting drama for the Shamrocks faithful as their team edged the Killeshandra/Arva combo of St Joseph's after extra-time to claim the county Under 16 Division One league title. Played at Hugh O'Reilly Park, Cootehill, both sides served up an epic decider in front of the many in attendance, where the Shamrocks triumphed through the scores of Graham McCabe, Shane Kelly and Niall Comey in extra-time. The concession of four first-half goals looked to be Bailieborough's undoing in the game, but the young Shamrocks rallied in the second-half, conceding just two points, while notching a crucial goal through Comey six minutes from full-time, 1-12 to 4-3. The game went into extra-time, and saw Joseph's take the initiative at the break thanks to a major from lethal full-forward Kevin Bouchier, who finished on 3-3, that saw them lead by two points. In the game's final quarter Kelly got Bailieborough off the mark early before McCabe leveled matters with his fifth point of the afternoon. Bouchier handed the lead back to the Saints, and after that it looked as though the east Cavan side had let the title slip, but McCabe leveled and Kelly hit the lead point approaching injury-time, where Comey struck for the roof of the net to make sure the Under 16 double would be coming back to Bailieborough. "The Under 16's were an absolute credit to the club staying undefeated all year in both league and championship," says O'Mara. "No matter what level you play at - that's an extremely difficult thing to do. "Paul Kelly (Manager), Tony Gregory (Trainer), Seamus Sheridan (Selector) and everyone else who was involved with them have to be given great credit for the work they done with the boys. Some of those lads won their third Under 16 medal in three years so it shows the management team are doing something right at that level and there are a couple of handy players coming through. "Niall Comey, Ciaran McCabe, Conor Gilsenan, Conor Cronin, Shane Kelly and James Fulton were all important but it was a collective effort. Most of them have a big part to play in the club's future." A week prior to that memorable victory, the club was racking up more silverware as the senior second-string delivered the Junior C Championship title with a comfortable victory over Knockbride in the final. Ace forward Paddy Byrd, eligible after missing out on the intermediate championship, was the star against the Canningstown outfit in Kingscourt as he hit 2-5, which would slingshot the Shamrocks to a 3-8 to 0-13 victory. Bailieborough (Junior C Championship final v Knockbride): Alan O'Mara; Joe Lafferty, John Scanlon, Philip Sheridan; Kevin Kelleher, Francis Sheridan, Conor Tierney; Declan Delaney, Larry McMahon; Paddy Byrd (2-5), Michael Clynch, Pauric Brennan (0-1); Sean O'Reilly, Paul Cooney (1-0), Geoffrey Martin (0-1). Subs: Charles Clarke, Adrian Lambe (0-1); Francis Bird; Niall Kelly. O'Mara was Bailieborough's last line of defence that day, and admits that the win provided the perfect tonic for the team after suffering relegation from Division Two the week beforehand. "Our Junior final came the weekend after we had been relegated to Division Three so a win over our neighbours Knockbride was the best way to recover," he says. "I was glad to play some championship football for the club after missing the senior games through injury. For the bad day that it was, we played some really good football and fully deserved our win. Paddy Byrd was exceptional; I think he got 2-5 on the day. After such a bitter disappointment the week before; it was nice to end the year on a high." With a new team manager in Francis Clarke in place, and new club rooms and crowd stand at their home grounds in the pipeline, Bailieborough Shamrocks are truly changing their ways, and their young shot-stopper foresees a crucial year ahead for the future of the club. "The year ahead is an important one for the club," O'Mara stresses. "Francis (Clarke) along with Martin Sharkey and Mickey Murtagh will be looking to resurrect the club's fortunes. All three are clubman, know us all inside out at this stage and want the best for the club. They know where we are and are confident they can get us out of here. "I know a few of our older players have stepped aside so it's up to the younger lads to show what they can do. I think we'll take the league a lot more serious this time around than we have in previous seasons but getting promotion from Division Three is a lot harder than people think. "It is going to be difficult," he adds. "We are about as low as we can go now so we have to start making progressive steps, get a few younger lads coming through, and try to turn things around. Every club in Division Three will love playing Bailieborough this year and will be desperate to beat us. We're just going to have to get back to basics and try to make a habit of winning. This year we need to be coming out on top of those close games." Tweet

Most Read Stories