Club Chairman Dan O'Reilly vows not to dwell upon what proved a largely frustrating season for Ballymachugh but instead to look forward with optimism to the joys that 2002 promises. A charge of setting the Cavan GAA world alight during the course of the 2001 season would never stick against Ballymachugh GFC. Nonetheless, the club did garner an U14 championship [as reported elsewhere in this edition] and the seniors performed reasonably well in the face of crippling injury adversity. Missing three of their most influential players for the entire year, the 1999 intermediate champions could never have been reasonably expected to make a major impression in the premier competition but they did manage to preserve their senior status via an impressive play-off victory over Knockbride and - provided they can go into the new season with a clean bill of health - now have every reason to look forward to 2002 with renewed optimism. Two-thousand-and-one saw Ballymachugh play out of Section 3 of the senior championship. Their first outing was against Crosserlough and they lost by 2-8 to 0-7. Next up were Kingscourt and a heavy defeat (1-13 to 0-5) preceded a four point losing margin in their ultimate group fixture against Killinkere. This poor form condemned Ballymac' to a relegation play-off against Knockbride, a game they won by 1-10 to 0-10 to ensure themselves of a berth in next year's Cavan SFC. While naturally disappointed by the cruel hand dealt by fate vis-a-vis injuries in '01, the instantly-likeable club Chairman Dan O'Reilly is upbeat about the year gone by . . . and even more so when glancing ahead to 2002. "We're happy enough with how things worked out in what proved a difficult year due to injuries," he admits. "We prepared well for the championship and we could have beaten Crosserlough in the first game - an assertion which I'm sure many neutrals would agree with. We missed two very good goalscoring opportunities just after half time and if we'd taken them then Crosserlough would've been put away. "But we missed them and then two mistakes from our goalkeeper gifted them two soft goals and put a completely different perspective on the match." Ballymachugh could certainly have done with getting the breaks on the day, considering the dent that had been placed in their team by a horrendous injury list. Three of their most influential players - the Plunkett brothers Gerard and Henry as well as Padraig Cullen - were ruled out for the year with cruciate ligament injuries, while county player Brian Fitzsimons only came back from injury towards the end of the season. It was wretched luck for a decidedly youthful team that could never have envisioned so many serious injuries in one season: "The positive thing is that the team is still very young and time is very much on our side. The injuries will clear up and we have every reason to look forward to next year. The return of Brian [Fitzsimons] towards the end of the year was a boost and left us with a stronger team for the play-off against Knockbride. "The team is very young, with an average age of 22-23. It's virtually the same team that won the 1999 intermediate final. More or less the same group of players also got to the county under 21 final that year against Mullahoran." Expect a vastly improved Ballymachugh to take to the field in '02. Last year was one when everything seemed to go wrong and is a season they should have no difficulty putting behind them. The mix-up relating to the Kingscourt championship game was surely enough to let everyone associated with the club know it was going to be one of those years. As Dan recalls: "There was a mix-up and the offshot of it was that eight of our players ended up with their holidays booked for the weekend of the Kingscourt game - which they had thought was going to be a free weekend. They couldn't do anything else only go on their holidays and the result was that we had a severely depleted side. We had a stronger team again for Killinkere and did much better and we were even stronger for the play-off which we won convincingly. "We were very happy with that performance and the result. Knockbride were recognised as one of the stronger sides in the competition and many had felt that they'd go close to winning it. They were intermediate champions and had won the league the previous year, so it was a difficult game. But we were more than able for them. We'd played and beaten them in the group stages of the 1999 intermediate championship and we were familiar with them, so I guess you could say we had our homework done." Senior team affairs were looked after in 2001 by Brian Comiskey (who took care of the football end of things), Michael Tynan (physical trainer) and Owensie Smith (team manager). Brian stepped down after the Knockbride game but Michael and Owensie were unanimously returned at the club's AGM on Sunday December 9th and will enlist the aid of an additional selector for the forthcoming campaign. Looking to 2002, what's a realistic target for Ballymachugh? The club Chairman replies: "Realistically, if we have all the players back, we'd be looking to get out of Division Two and perhaps progress to the knock-out stages of the championship. "What happened in 2001 was frustrating because we won the 1999 intermediate championship with 13 U21s and we also had an excellent under 21 team that year and nobody could have predicted that we'd have to go almost two full years without three or four of our best players. But they've all had their operations now and things are looking good. "We got to the league (Division Two) semi-final in 2001 and we're hoping to take that a step further next year and move up to the top division. A run in the championship would represent real progress and our long-term aim is to give it a real crack in two or three years when the team has matured and the average age of the players is around 25 or 26." Dan himself played for the club in the late 'eighties/early 'nineties and was manager between 1997 and 2000, so he has a fair idea of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the team. This year (2002) is his third as club Chairman. The rest of the committee comprises Eamonn Flood (Secretary), Norbert Reilly (Treasurer), Tony Tierney (Vice Chairman), Peter Brady (Assistant Secretary) and Mary Smith (Assistant Treasurer). Mary is Owensie's wife and Dan points out: "The Smith family is steeped in Ballymachugh GAA. They have done an awful lot for the club over the years and haven't always got the credit they deserve." Another man who has done a great deal of work behind the scenes is Eugene Kiernan, Chairman of the club's juvenile section and co-manager (along with Dan O'Reilly) of the 2001 U14 Roinn D championship-winning side. In their quest for a famous double, that under 14 side also made it to the league semi-final only to lose marginally to a very strong Cuchullains outfit. Ballymachugh already have all the facilities they require in place to assure their future. In terms of development, they plan to fit out a gym in 2002 and also to install an all-weather racing track around the field. They are moving - inexorably - in the right direction. By way of signing off for the time being, club Chairman Dan O'Reilly states: "I'd like to thank the committee for their support and also the people of the area for buying the lotto tickets and going out and supporting the club in rain, hail or shine." Great underage boost In years to come the gaels of Ballymachugh may have reason to look back on 2001 as representative of a watershed in the growth and development of their club. Yes, the success of their under 14 footballers could be that significant. In winning the Under 14 Roinn D championship title at the expense of a plucky Shannon Gaels team last November, the latest starlets to emerge over Ballyheelan way demonstrated the sort of potential which could yet see them progress to lift other titles in the years ahead. Played at Breffni Park on a perfect day for football, Ballymachugh grabbed an early lead with two points being scored by Barry Kiernan in a fine opening spell. However the Gaels proved worthy opponents and a similar brace of scores levelled matters as the game gathered pace. Ballymachugh began to play some fine, attacking football at this juncture and a neat point by Padraig Kelly added to the team's momentum as play swung from end to end with gay abandon. The west Cavan side defended stubbornly and were a potent force on the break. Their chief scoregetter Enda McHugh was particularly potent and a hat-trick of points by him over the course of the first half gave his side increased confidence. For their part, Ballymachugh never looked like affording their opponents a decisive lead. Indeed, a point apiece by Barry Harten and Padraig Kelly reduced Shannon Gaels' cushion at the interval to leave Ballymachugh trailing by just the odd point in eleven at half-time. It was in the opening minutes after the restart that Ballymachugh really began to look like true champions. The would-be winners took control of matters as the half progressed with Padraig Galligan banging in a great goal after a tremendous passing movement involving Brian Kiernan, Sheana Kiernan and Shane Kelly. Shannon Gaels refused to lie down and roll over though and an equally fine goal for them catapulted them right back into contention for the title. They could even have nicked another goal moments later but Aoghan Kiernan effected a tremendous interception to prevent a certain three-pointer. As things transpired, the Gaels did indeed get through for another goal minutes later when Ronan McCaffrey fired home to leave Ballymachugh trailing by a point as the game entered injury time. With great determination and ambition, Ballymachugh pushed forward in great numbers and an inspirational point by Barry Kiernan levelled the game once more. Seconds later the same player popped up again to score the winning point in a hugely dramatic finale to a terrificly exciting match. The following is the all-conquering Ballymachugh team and scorers: D. Lynch, V. Ellis, P. Smith, A. Kiernan, B. O'Reilly, S. Smith, B. Kiernan, capt, (0-6), B. Kiernan, S. Kiernan, P. Galligan (1-1), S. Kelly, B. Harten (0-1), P. Kelly (0-2). Tweet

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