Drumalee GAA has enjoyed a high-profile at underage level for quite a while now. But 2003 brought something extra-special! Drumalee's haughty reputation in the underage football sphere was magnified ten-fold last November when it scooped the Under 21 Division Two Championship title - the club's first-ever Under 21 football title. Gaels across the county will tell you that, apart from the Cavan Senior Football Championship, most of the county's top football competitions were extremely difficult to call at the start of 2003. The starting line was jam-packed with potential winners and picking the one likely to get the roset was akin to trying to pick the winning lottery numbers. In the race to win the Under 21 Division Two Championship title, for instance, punters were agog at the line-up with defending champions Lavey, Denn, Ballinagh and Cootehill Celtic (dark horses) all vying for a place in the winner's enclosure. Oh, and then there was Drumalee of course, perennial underage title challengers, and the team those with the smart money laid reckoned to be the team to beat. And so it proved, even if their first round display against Butlersbridge at the Ballyhaise venue didn't exactly inspire confidence in those who had put their money where their mouths were as club secretary John Denning readily admits. "It definitely wasn't one of the team's finest performances of the campaign. "It all looked fairly easy for the first twenty minutes or so. "We were in control at that stage but then for ten minutes either side of the half-time break, the 'Bridge really put it up to us. "The 'Bridge put in a big effort and came within a point of us which left us looking fairly shaky. "But the switch of Rossa Gaffney into midfield made a big difference and we went onto win by five points, a flattering winning margin in fairness." The bit of luck that all would-be champions need to climb to the summit may have helped Drumalee out in getting over the first hurdle. However for the quarter-final tie against Denn - their conquerors in 2002 - it was good old grit, determination and not a little bit of polish either which constituted the winning formula. "I thought of all the matches that the one with Denn marked the team's best display of the year. "Every team we played in the competition had maybe six or seven star players but we showed in beating Denn by five points that we had a very balanced side. "We had fifteen very good footballers with another three or four on the subs bench ready and able to come on and do equally as good a job as the fella they were replacing. "But the fellas also had the ambition and the will-to-win to go along with their talent and potential. "The players showed a great attitude all year and their appetite was there for all to see in the Denn game at Terry Coyle Park when not too many people would have tipped them to win. "We felt at the start of the year that they would probably be one of the teams we'd have to overcome if we were to win the competition. "They beat us in 2002 so we knew they'd be tough to beat." However as things panned out, Drumalee team-manager Ger Shaughnessy and selectors Martin Sexton and Michael Lyons plus team-trainer Vinny Connolly couldn't have been happier with the way their charges played in gaining revenge over the Crosskeys-based outfit. "I think the lads themselves knew that they had fallen short of the mark in 2002 and had let themselves down so they really played against Denn like a team with something to prove." Victory over Denn served to secure a semi-final berth against surprise packets, Redhills, who shocked a fancied Templeport side in their quarter-final clash. In the event there was never a semblance of a shock in the pipeline after the opening whistle in the penultimate round clash between the champions-elect and Redhills at the Ballyhaise venue on November 2nd last. The final scoreline of 4-10 to 0-2 in Drumalee's favour said it all in a nutshell. Drumalee were on top from the off and were already four points to no-score in front by the time the would-be winners began a move from their own goal which eventually finished with Finbar Donoghue flashing the ball to the back of the Redhills net with 13 minutes gone. Goals thereafter by Gary Malone and Gary Ferncombe helped catapult Drumalee into a soaring lead and then on the stroke of half-time, Gary Malone sent a '45 all the way to the Redhills net to leave Drumalee ahead by 4-7 to 0-0 at the interval. And that was basically that. A plethora of changes in the Drumalee team, a brave backs-to-the-wall display by Redhills and an alarming drop in the tempo of the game in the second half helped to limit the scoring recorded by Drumalee in the second half. "Redhills tried as hard as they could but it was a real mis-match and probably didn't do any team much good. "Having said that we were delighted to have reached the final though," the hard-working Drumalee club secretary admits. Bogey team Ballinagh now awaited Drumalee in the final in late November at Killygarry. "We were confident going into the final and we had around ten of the lads who played in the intermediate championship on board so we knew they wouldn't freeze as such. "But Ballinagh traditionally had the measure of us at underage level on a few occasions so we knew it would be close," John says. Indeed at the end of an enthralling encounter, only a single point separated the sides with Drumalee delighting in easing home by 2-6 to 2-5. In careering to their first-ever Under 21 title triumph, Drumalee had to really dig in over the course of the closing moments after Ballinagh notched a dramatic goal five minutes into injury time. Drumalee posted notice of their intentions with a rip-roaring start to the game with a 14th minute goal by Finbar Donoghue hoisting Drumalee into a more than useful 1-2 to 0-0 lead after a glorious six man move up the field. However slowly but surely Ballinagh got a foothold in the match and a fine opportunist goal by Ruairi Brennan in the 22nd minute helped reduce Drumalee's lead to just a single point, 1-4 to 1-3 at the interval. The second half saw the tempo of the game visibly increase as each side adopted an almost cavalier policy. Numerous chances were created at either end of the field but stout defence by both sides served to limit any great scoring spree. "I thought our lads over-elaborated at times," John notes. That said, Drumalee's Donoghue and his opposite number Alan Durkin continued to find the mark with some regularity. It was Donoghue and co. however who enjoyed the better of the exchanges in the third-quarter and when Donoghue goaled - after fine work by Colm Caffrey - in the 41st minute, it appeared as if Ballinagh were heading for certain defeat. However Drumalee failed to hammer home their outfield supremacy and in the dying minutes of the match, the town team pushed forward with renewed intent as they attempted to haul in Drumalee's four point lead. As the game entered added-on time, Ballinagh got a massive boost when, after Alan Durkin's attempt at a goal from close-range was blocked, Enda Brady fired home from close range to leave just the minimum between the sides. Drumalee regained the initiative in the third quarter though, going five points in front, thanks to an opportunist goal from the impressive Finbar Donoghue. The Drumalee dynamos seemed home and dry at that juncture. However, nothing had yet been settled and in the closing minutes of the contest, Ballinagh 'threw caution to the wind' and two pointed frees from Alan Durkin left them only three points adrift with five minutes of normal time still to play. Ballinagh pressed forward right to the long whistle but Drumalee weren't to be denied. History had been achieved. The future looks rosy for Drumalee, John Denning suggests. "The management team set out their stall at the start of the year and the winning of the Under 21 championship had been mentioned as a realistic target. "The club did well in the league and not too bad in the championship either but the under 21s surpassed those campaigns. "We view the under 21 win as an adult title success and if we can keep the panel together and make sure the fellas at college stick with it, we could have a bright future ahead of us," John concludes. Drumalee's heroes against Ballinagh in the Under 21 Division Two Championship final were; Peter McGinnity; Enda McCormack, Colin McCaffrey, Sean Lee; Tony McCaffrey, Colm Caffrey, Gary Ferncombe; Gary Malone, Kevin Donohoe; Brian Dolan, Finbar Donoghue (2-3), Francis Cleary; Timmy Looney, Daragh Gaffney (0-3), Shane Downey. Sub: - Rossa Gaffney for Timmy Looney. Tweet

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