When Lacken bit the relegation bullet at the end of the 2003 season, the doomsayers were standing by with chisels in hand, ready to carve the club's epitaph in stone. However, the cynics could be standing idle for quite some time as Lacken GFC are down but not out … they still have plenty to offer the Breffni County GAA scene and are going great guns on a number of fronts. Lacken's tumble from senior football in 2003 wasn't quite what the doctor ordered, but the symptoms of demotion are mild and a remedy is just around the corner. With numerous county players (of various grades) at their disposal, the club possesses the wherewithal to bounce straight back to the top table during the months ahead. And the development work carried out to remarkable effect during '03 means that Joe Crowe Memorial Park is now one of the most resplendent venues in all of Cavan. Thus, it is with exuberance rather than heavy hearts that the Sky Blues face into the imminent challenge of intermediate/Division Two football - and the progressive club will continue to show a strong hand at all levels. Little wonder chairman Johnny Lynch is upbeat! Lacken could consider themselves somewhat unfortunate to have lost their senior status. At the tail-end of 2003. But somebody had to go down and they can have no complaints with the manner of their relegation play-off final defeat. They were pitted against both Cavan Gaels (who went on to win the championship) and Crosserlough in a very difficult Section A of the '03 SFC and their hopes of reaching the knock-out stages were effectively smothered in the cradle when Lacken narrowly lost their first group outing to Ballymachugh, 1-11 to 2-5. This meant they were in a struggle for survival from the word go. Crosserlough (1-13 to 0-8) and the rampant Gaels (2-15 to 0-10) each recorded their expected victories to consign Lacken to the relegation play-offs. In the play-off semi-final, Lacken faced Ramor. The first game finished level (Lacken 1-9, Ramor 0-12) before the lakesiders came out on top in the replay, 1-11 to 3-3. Lacken's penchant for nicking goals hadn't been enough to save them and in the relegation play-off decider, they were on the receiving end of a glut of three-pointers themselves Killygarry produced their best performance of the year and four second-half majors propelled them to a 4-11 to 1-5 success. Lacken had lost their senior status. But it's not all doom and gloom by any stretch of the imagination. The club has senior intercounty quality in the persons of Finbar O'Reilly and Trevor Crowe, while a number of players were also making their presence felt with Cavan at under 21 level at the time of writing. Throw in the redevelopment work carried out on the field in 2003 and it's easy to see why all Lacken followers are still sleeping soundly after sundown! The ongoing redevelopment of Joe Crowe Memorial Park (now nearing completion) is a big story. In 1999, Lacken GFC purchased a plot of land adjoining their existing playing field. To finance the cost of developing the new pitch, the club set about the task of running a novel fundraiser to coincide with the Millennium celebrations. The fundraiser was a resounding success and the club brought in a local contractor to develop the field into a training pitch. The expertise of the contractor allied to the immense voluntary contributions of a host of local helpers meant the field was a tremendous success and a development of which Lacken GFC is rightly proud. Once the training field was up and running, the committee decided to upgrade the existing playing pitch and preparations on that particular project were soon underway. Again, the club had to take to the country to raise funds. A draw for a car was organised - with tickets costing a mere €25 each - and this was also a big success, generating considerable profit. Physical work began on the field in June 2003 under the expert direction of the same contractor who had developed the training pitch and, with the extremely good weather and a phenomenal level of voluntary work, the surface had been completely enhanced by the end of October. Club chairman Johnny Lynch is proud of the work that has been done to date, but is also mindful of the fact that there's still plenty more to do: "A lot of ancillary work still needs to be done around the field and the club is actively continuing to raise funds to finance this, in particular through our weekly lotto. "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everybody who has helped with the field in any way to date. The community really got behind us and they have made this project the success it is. The contractor was wonderful and we now have facilities to be proud of at Joe Crowe Memorial Park. There's a bit of work remaining to be done, including a perimeter wall, just to finish it off nicely - but we'll get there eventually." Meanwhile, on the actual field of play, there is also cause for optimism despite the disappointment of relegation to IFC/Div 2 level, as the club chairman explains: "We're under new management in Timmy Fitzpatrick of Gowna fame and his selectors are Pat Smith, Ben Corr and David Donoghue. We're looking forward to getting started and I'm sure that, with players of the calibre of Finbar and Trevor, we can more than hold our own. "We also have four lads - Joe Shanaghy, Shane Sheridan, Colm Sheridan and Terry Hyland - who were called in by the county U21s at the start of the year . With all those players - as well as the return of Eddie Sheridan (who missed most of the '03 season) from injury - we can give a good account of ourselves. We're looking forward to competing in both the league and championship this year and I think we're definitely good enough to make an impression… "Our aim is to win the intermediate championship and go straight back up, which isn't beyond us." Does the chairman feel that Lacken were unfortunate to lose their senior standing in the first place? "Not really. The results speak for themselves. We only won two or three games all year and we had a lot of injuries. We're a small parish with a limited pick and we need to have the full team available. But hopefully with the new management team in place we'll be able to put it together this year. "We're not going to throw in the towel. There are a lot of housing developments along the borders of the parish and inside it, and we've already picked up a few players through this. The development isn't on a massive scale but it's ongoing and hopefully we can gain some players along the way. The work we've done on the pitch should make playing for Lacken GFC a more attractive proposition and I'm sure we'll be back playing senior football sooner rather than later." Tweet

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