Kingscourt began their new life in Division 2 this year uncomforted by some surprising defeats, but club PRO Niall Reilly knows that promotion back to the top tier in the county will be the Stars' priority in 2009. In the past years Kingscourt Stars were always a side that looked to be punching perfectly at their own weight in Cavan's senior football league, but ravage injury accompanied by a total loss of form saw them relegated form the top tier in the county in 2007, after falling in a play-off replay to Lacken. Paddy Bates' side had been the only team from the Breffni County to defeat eventual double winners' Cavan Gaels that season, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to save them from the drop. This year the Stars were profoundly fancied to make the leap straight back up with the likes of the Gaels, Mullahoran and Gowna, but a few testing derby encounters as well as some tough challenges away from home meant that Kingscourt wouldn't even be safe from dropping-off to Division Three before their '08 senior championship campaign was finished. "The aim was to get back up to Division One this year after being relegated," admitted PRO Niall Reilly. "We started off poorly, and it's hard to know why really. We would have had our fair share of injuries like any club, but that wasn't the reason why we were so poor. We were just too inconsistent at the start ever to get promoted and we never really got going throughout." The Stars first lesson in Division 2 started back in March, coming from eventual junior champions Drung at O'Raghallaigh Park. The two teams played out a draw (0-14 to 1-11) that surely would have been welcomed by the visiting Bunnoe contingent, but not by the hosts that were seeking the points to help them into poll-position early on. A defeat away to Drumgoon left Bates' men with just a point coming into April where they eventually hit some promotion form by defeating Cavan Gaels, Drumlane and rivals Bailieborough consecutively. Based on those results it looked as though the east Cavan side had got over their early blip, but defeats away to Killeshandra and Killinkere were followed up by a three-goal trouncing while hosting Ramor, effectively ended any chance of promotion for the Stars for the year. It was a vital win away to near-neighbours Shercock that eased worries over league relegation somewhat, before entering into what looked like a daunting task at this stage in the county's senior football championship in late July. Back in February, Kingscourt drew Castlerahan out of the hat for an opening round clash in the Cavan SFC and despite some of the supporters in concern over the league form portrayed Reilly explains that the squad always had the confidence in themselves going into the game. "I think most people within the club would have been concerned going into the Castlerahan game," said Reilly. "There was no platform there to build on from the league really to expect a win. The management and players knew that the team had the ability though and that it was just a matter of getting it together. Outside the team, people had their doubts but credit to the players and management because the team gave in a great performance that day." It was Kingscourt who had raced out of the traps faster that day in Virginia than they had all season long, with Seán Óg Gargan's early goal seeing them into a six-point advantage on the quarter hour mark with Castlerahan yet to register a score. The Ballyjamesduff outfit did respond with scores from county duo Cian Mackey and Ronan Flanagan, but it was Kingscourt who would hold a 1-7 to 0-4 lead at half-time thanks to the points of Ryan McCormack and Gavin Sheehan. In the second-half, Stars' full-forward Philip Smith led the way on the scoring front for his side, but a goal from Paddy Cusack coming into the game's final quarter left things very much on a knife edge for Kingscourt. Castlerahan attacked in capacity and went very close to stealing it when Brian Coleman's effort was brilliantly stopped by Mark Cunningham, but Gargan's 45 metre free at the other end ensured a 1-14 to 1-11 victory came with the resolute performance, and along with it, a place in the last eight of the Cavan SFC. "We kind of blitzed them (Castlerahan) in the first few minutes to our surprise as much as theirs," Reilly recalls about the game. "Seán Óg Gargan was moved out to the centre of the field early on, a place where he usually wouldn't be associated with playing too often, and it proved a masterstroke by the management because he scored a cracking goal early on. Philly Smith was also kicking points over from all angles that day and it really lifted the team. "They got a goal late on in the game and threatened another and you'd think that a side not playing well in Division Two would have fallen apart, but the defence, in particular Thomas Wakely and Daire McMahon, held strong and we came through in the end with a good performance." With that Kingscourt were into the quarter-finals where they would meet a Ramor United side off the back of defeating Gowna, Lacken and Castlerahan respectively to emerge from the qualifiers to take on a side five weeks in the wait of a competitive game. However, Reilly was adamant that the players in the team were still confident of a win against the Virginia men, despite having lost them already twice beforehand in '08. "Again the mood was good before the game within in the squad," he said. "They had beaten us in a challenge match earlier in the summer and in the league as well, but we were still going into the game with confidence on the back of a good win in our previous championship game." Despite their promising win over Castlerahan, the Stars' poor league form of the past months began to rear its ugly head again, and the unprofitable wait of five weeks became apparent to many the many in attendance at Kingspan Breffni Park as Ramor took in an unassailable 1-13 to 1-4 half-time lead. A Tomás Malone goal salvaged a tiny bit of hope for Kingscourt on that bleak September evening but it was Ramor's outstanding full-forward line that compiled 1-15 of their side's 1-19 total that proved the Stars' undoing. The Stars only outscored the impressive Virginia men in the second-half due to a late Philip Smith's goal, and realistically once Ryan McCormack's penalty had been saved by Aodghan Cahill six minutes into the restart the writing was on the wall for Kingscourt as from there they edged closer and closer to eventual elimination from the championship for another year at the quarter-finals stage. Kingscourt (SFC v Ramor Utd): Dara McKenna; Daire McMahon, Thomas Wakely, Colm Kierans; Colm Smith, Padraig Crosby, JP Reilly; Gavin Sheenan (0-1), Seán Óg Gargan (0-1); Alan Clarke, Joe McMahon, Tomás Malone (1-0); Ryan McCormack (0-7) (3f), Philip Smith (1-1), Mark McKeon. Subs: Patrick Farrelly for Colm Kierans, Mark McGovern for Padraig Crosby. "From what I can remember about the game itself was that while we were completely overrun at midfield in the first half, both sides full-back lines were quite poor that day and it was just the fact that we couldn't get as much ball into our full forward line, as they did - I think the following round against Cavan Gaels (where Ramor suffered a 2-15 to 0-7 loss to the eventual champions) proved that. "It's hard to pick out who had played well that day for us. Ryan McCormack won plenty of ball up front for us, but he wasn't getting the same support. The fact that we had been idle for five weeks while Ramor had three tough games was a big factor but three times during the year, Ramor beat us comfortably enough, so we can have no complaints," Reilly pointed out. Kingscourt's season with regards to championship may have been over with that discouraging defeat, but they still had to assure themselves of league safety for the following term. A visit to Ballymachugh in mid-October, where the hosts would be generating one last effort to try and leap from the bottom of the table, was a test that the Stars simply needed to pass if they were to brush aside any worries of the club playing Division Three league football in 2009. An early goal from Colm Smith got Kingscourt off to an ideal start in the match and their second major through Philly Smith setup a 2-4 to 0-4 half-time lead in their favour. The game ended with a lacklustre finish, but it suited senior outfit perfectly as they ran-out 2-8 to 0-7 winners to secure their place in Division Two for next season, while Ballymachugh were officially doomed to relegation with a game left to play. "Unfortunately, this year, there was perhaps a kind of an assumption among some players there that we'd continue that good finish we had to the league last year and get promoted straight back to Division One," admitted Reilly. "But we were coming up against sides hungrier to beat Kingscourt than Kingscourt were to beat them." Reilly recalls the team's visit to Killinkere as a game that covered all the negative aspects about Kingscourt's 2008 season. "They (Killinkere) were far the hungrier team that day," he admitted. "Hardly any of those Killinkere lads would never have played against Kingscourt before and no doubt the majority of our lads weren't up for it, and it was a major embarrassment." However, with a whole new season in front of them, who can deny that Kingscourt Stars won't make the potent leap back to Division Two that was expected of them this season. The surprise element of the second-tier is now long gone from their point of view, and they are sure to be among the favourites in '09 to gain promotion to top flight status in Cavan for the decade's turn. Division Four Once again, the Stars held their own in the Division Four league this year around the top end of the table, after fears among some members of the club that last year's relegation for the first team would see a clash of fixtures at the weekend between Division Two and Four. Juveniles Kingscourt's minors faired well this season, competing well in the league before losing out to eventual finalists St Joseph's by a single point in the Division One Championship. They were also represented on Mickey Graham's Cavan minor panel this by Barry Reilly and Colm Smith, both members of the Stars' senior team. Under 14's reach championship final The club's Under 14 side reached the Division Two championship final in August this year, and after scoring a convincing win over them in the league, they suffered a hear-breaking loss to Castlerahan in the decider. Having made lacklustre start to the game, Kingscourt fell behind and Castlerahan hit the front early and in truth, a comeback never looked to be on. A tour-de-force at full forward from Enda Flanagan saw Kingscourt unable to compete and his 2-8 tally that helped the Ballyjamesduff side to a fully-served 3-13 to 2-7 victory. It was a disappointing end to the season for the Under 14's after their great semi-final victory but between league, championship and the Féile there was many highlights along the way. The same side were also knocked out of this year's Féile finals by the Kerry champions, which Kingscourt played host to at O'Raghallaigh Park. Club website The club's launch of www.kingscourtstars.ie recently has proved a massive success, generating 10,000 hits to date. It is a unique site in that it features video clips of the Under 12 final of 1985 with interviews from the players, as well as the 1990 county final where some of the same players were featured years later. Another clip set to go up is the 1987 Ulster club semi-final when Kingscourt took on Dungiven which features Jim Reilly (Kingscourt and Cavan) and a young Joe Brolly (Derry All-Ireland winner). The site is getting more and more popular since Kingscourt people abroad in US and Australia can now sign up for the online lotto and the weekly newsletters to keep up with happenings of the club. The work on the website is constantly updated by Niall Reilly and Conor McMahon. Two chairman representatives After the appointment of native clubman Philip Smith as Cavan County Board chairman in 2007, this past year saw Kingscourt claim another position in the high ranks within in their town parish. Willie Gaughan assumed the role as Cavan Hurling Board chairman in a year that saw the Breffni hurlers improve by winning their opening National League game against Leitrim and putting in a decent Ulster Championship performance against neighbours Monaghan, where they were unlucky to lose out to a late goal. Having chairman representatives on both the Football and Hurling County Boards at the same time is a rare attainment that surely only Kingscourt Stars can boast in Cavan. Tweet

Most Read Stories