Kingscourt Stars, once the proud kingpins of Cavan football are hoping to rekindle those glory days this coming year. Having displayed signs of promise last season with a quarter-final replay berth against eventual county champions, Mullahoran and a strong league showing, the ingredients are there for a possible return to the top. By Tony Dunne. Victory in the 1A league final over Killygarry is another plus as they plan for the 2007 season. Acquiring the services of high profile manager, Paddy Bates is also a major plus. The proud tradition of Kingscourt's association with Cavan county teams has been well documented, with names like, Victor Sherlock, the Carolan brothers, Pat Tinnelly, the Murtaghs, the McCormacks, Jim Reilly, the Faulkner brothers, Barry McArdle, Joe Dillon, Aidan Tierney and Brendan McCormack. This proud tradition was enhanced with the recent appointment of clubman Phil Smith as Chairman of Cavan Co. Board GAA. The club also had Rosena Jordan as Irish Officer of the senior county board and is presently highly committed to Scor at Provincial level. As a club, the progress made over the past number of seasons has seen it provide one of the best facilities in the entire county. Indeed, Kingscourt Stars were the first club to provide full floodlights in Cavan. New County Chairman Kingscout Stars received another accolade with the appointment of one of their staunchest club members, Phil Smith, as the 21st Chairman of Cavan Co. Board. Phil who is a former chairman of the Youth Board comes to his new position with a wealth of experience. What Phil brings to the table is a committed passion, love of Gaelic games and a drive to see his county succeed. "On being appointed as Chairman at the County Convention last December Phil said: "I am delighted to be elected to such a high position in the GAA in Cavan and being the 21st Chairman of Cavan Co. Board is indeed something that I cherish. In particular it is a great honour to both my family and club. In my appointment a little piece of history was created as I am the first Chairman of the Co. Board to come from Dunaree." For all who know Phil, his commitment, drive and vision, will ensure that he will do everything in his power to create an atmosphere that will hopefully put Cavan back on the road to fame. Phil's appointment on the night of Convention brought great joy to his fellow club members, Jim McGovern, Frank Boylan, Sean Farrelly, Robbie O'Connell and Rosena Jordan who were present on that occasion. New Manager According to PRO Eugene Cunningham: The club suffered last year with the late appointment of a team manager. "While most clubs had settled on or retained their management structure we did not appoint a team manager until March. To his credit, Brian Cumiskey proved to be a good appointment and had a fair degree of success taking the club to a replay of the SFC quarter-final against Mullahoran, who went on to win the championship. We just missed out on a semi-final place in the league. His departure from the scene left the position vacant which this time around the club did not hesitate in filling. We have acquired the services of Paddy Bates, who managed the Monaghan county minors and had a successful stint with Drumgoon. Paddy will bring with him his commitment to achieve and will be aiming to go one better than last season." Kingscourt Stars have a relatively young squad and have been on the fringes of a break through for the past few seasons. With Paddy Bates, they have acquired a manager, who will not settle for mediocrity but will be pushing his charges to fulfill their potential and hopefully make the long climb back to the top. 1A League Victory Sporting a crop of young players, Kingscourt made the breakthrough in winning the junior 1A league title in a tightly fought final against Killygarry. This victory proved to be a sweet tonic as the club had lost to Cavan Gaels last year. While conditions on the day proved to be atrocious, Kingscourt must be commended on their approach and will to win. The final scoreline of 0-7 to 0-6 reflects just how close this game was as a contest and the manner in which the Stars held their nerve and emerged worthy winners on the day. Kingscourt Stars: Ronan Tinnelly, Conor McMahon, Colm Kierans, Darragh McMahon, Niall Smith, Paddy Clarke, Mark McGovern, Noel McIntyre (0-1), Diarmuid Murtagh, Dominic McDaniel, Sean Farrelly, Lorcan Sheanan, Mark McKeon (0-4), Joe McMahon (0-2), Drew McCabe (0-1). Subs: Fergal Malone for Colm Kierans, Joseph Farrelly for Drew McCabe. Club's Celebrations Last November Kingscourt Stars took a trip down memory lane with a specially held function in the Carrick Court Hotel, Carrickmacross to celebrate the great Cavan SFC victories of 1980 and 1981. Kingscourt defeated Crosserlough in 1980 and successfully defended their title again in 1981 when they overcame Drumalee. This was to herald a golden era in the club's history as they became the dominant force in Cavan football throughout that era. Former Meath manager, Sean Boylan as special guest of honour made the presentation to the players of that era. Members of the Drumalee and Crosserlough teams of that period were also guests on the night. Handball Kingscourt, while prominent as a GAA football club have also been to the forefront in handball for many years. With a magnificent set-up in their clubrooms, the benefit of which has not been lost on one of their members on both the national and international scene. Michael Finnegan has shown himself to be one of the country's best exponents of the art of handball and has accumulated a honours that do himself, his family and club proud. Along with fellow Cavanman, Paul Brady, they were crowned US double champions. They also held the world doubles title along with numerous national titles. Underage Football When you talk about underage football at Kingscourt, the name that is intrinsically linked with the youth is that of former club legend, Pat Faulkner. Pat, has the unique distinction of having won eight Cavan senior football championship medals along with a small elect band at the club, in Michael Faulkner, Joe Dillon, Barry McArdle and Jim Reilly. When Pat speaks about underage football at the club, he resonates the same determination that helped him become such an influential player during the '80s and early '90s. "We are working hard in Kingscourt with the underage. We have to work hard as soccer is popular in the area so we have our work cut out. The club are fortunate to have such great workers at juvenile level in Brendan Farrelly, Simon Sheanon, Ciaran Lynch, Dave Burke and Patsy Sheridan. While we may not have set the world alight last season we did have our successes and feel that with our U-13 and U-16 squads we have the making of something special in the future. For many years now we have committed ourselves to participating at U-10 in the Newry tournament. This year we participated and while the competition is very strong (with over forty clubs) we did manage to get a reasonably good result. We reached the semi-final of the Shield which was a major achievement considering the quality of the teams involved. At U-12 we also had a relatively good run, reaching the semi-final of the league against Laragh. We had to face into that final short two of our most influential players and were just pipped by two points at the final whistle." Excellent result When Pat speaks about the club's U-13 side, he speaks with great pride and expectation that this young crop of players is that little bit special. "We won out the Bord Peil na nOg U-13 Roinn A championship when we overcame local rivals, Bailieborough in a titanic tussle with just two points separating us at the end - 1-11 to 1-9. A poor start saw us caught flat-footed and by the eighth minute we were down 1-3 to 0-0. It was eight points with seventeen minutes gone and it looked like we were going to get a drubbing. It took a second-half performance of real determination and no small measure of skill, to chip away at the Bailieboro lead and with just thirteen minutes of normal time remaining haul back the unseemingly large deficit to hit the front with the finishing post now in sight. It was all to play for and the sides deadlocked at 1-9 apiece, two late late points from James Farrelly and Joe Dillon gave the Stars victory." Kingscourt Stars: Shay Rooney, Greg Kelly, James Farrelly (0-1), Niall Reilly, Eoin Lynch, Cian McArdle, Reece McEnteer (0-1), Finian Farrelly (0-1), Joe Dillon (0-4), Padraig Faulkner (0-1), Michael Gargan (1-0), Ryan Carey (0-2), Robbie Rowntree (0-1), Jack Sheanon, Aaron Browne. Subs: Tomas Smith for Niall Reilly, Michael McDonald for Jack Sheanon, Aaron McMahon for James Farrelly (inj), James Farrelly for Tomas Smith. "At U-14 we are in a transition with many of the side underage again next year, while at U-16 we are in a similar situation. We came up against a very strong Redhills team in the semi-final and although we lost, we showed a great deal of promise. No doubt this team will be a force to reckon with this coming season. With many of our U-16s crossing over to the minor squad, we were really up against it and had to give way to much stronger outfits. Our U-21s exited out of the championship at the quarter-final stage to eventual winners Castlerahan," stated Pat. Hurling Kingscourt are among one of the new breed of clubs to foster an underage hurling nursery. Under the guidance of Willie Gaughran, the club are catering for the age groups, U-10 to U-14. Willie is a native of Ashbourne, Co. Meath, and is vehemently enthusiastic about the development of the game at the club and hopes that in the not too distant future, Kingscourt Stars will be force in Cavan hurling. Tweet

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