2008 marks Padraig Sheridan's third year as Secretary of Bailieboro Shamrocks but there's still no sign of the honeymoon period coming to a close. We consider ourselves to be a senior club and playing senior championship football is what we want to be doing every year and that's what the players want too." One suspects that equivocation and Padraig Sheridan will never be found in the same bed. At least where his beloved Bailieboro Shamrocks is concerned. Padraig is in absolutely no doubt but that the red and white brigade is heading up the county's pecking order and that the club is "on the up and up and on the right road." With all the enthusiasm of a rookie but with the realism of a gael with feet firmly rooted to terra firma, Padraig talks up the east Cavan club's recent past as much as its future. "There's a good buzz in the club at the minute," he explains. "2007 was a very good year for us, at all levels really and we're hoping to build on the success and progress we've made. Padraig speaks glowingly of the success enjoyed by the Shamrocks' under 14 league and championship winning crew (Feile winners also) and the under 16 division one winners. The club was re-acquainted with bringing home silverware at adult level too with the sterling reserves lifting the Division Five League title - the first such success in a handful of years. "You can't beat winning something to get a buzz going around a club and we got our hands on a few pieces of silverware in 2007 and fair play to everyone involved," Padraig adds. Bailieboro's flagship intermediate side doesn't escape a petal or two off Padraig's bouquet either and he delights in waxing lyrical about how the team's fortunes around. "The lads did great to reach the (intermediate) championship semi-final and considering how well Ballinagh have done since, it was no shame to lose out to them (in the semi-final). "We played them in the first round in July and even though we lost by a couple of points, you could see our lads were very determined and had the bit between their teeth. "Ballinagh were the better team by a long way in the first half but we came back strongly after half-time and gave as good as we got but then the semi-final was more or less the same. "We weren't at our best in the first half and inside a five minute burst, they got 1-3 which knocked the stuffing out of the lads a bit and we ended up losing by four points." Certainly, Bailieboro surprised quite a few pundits around the county by the powerful nature of their challenge to championship favourites Ballinagh. In a game which saw Bailieboro eventually lose out by 2-7 to 2-11, eight yellow cards were handed with Ballinagh's Anthony Gaynor dismissed also ten minutes into the second half. Gaynor did quite a bit of damage prior to being sent off as he helped set up a crucial goal in the 15th minute which left Bailieboro chasing a 0-2 to 1-6 deficit. Bailieboro proved themselves doubty opponents and they hit back with a 1-2 tally inside a four minute spell to cut Ballinagh's lead to just two points, 1-6 to 1-4 at the interval. The Shamrocks were a revelation at times and by the 42nd minute they had managed to steer themselves into the lead, 2-6 to 1-7, for the first time in the match. As the game entered the final quarter, the spoils dangled tantalisingly in front of the combatants but a second goal by Ballinagh seven minutes from time proved pivotal. "The lads gave it their all against Ballinagh and they went down fighting and only Ballinagh got their second goal so near the end, who knows what might have happened. "There was definitely no shame in defeat; we let it slip in the last ten minutes but the players were able to hold their heads up high after the championship. "They showed their worth in the championship especially. They beat Ballymachugh and Swanlinbar and then Ballyhaise in the quarter-final which was a good run of results. "At the start of the year, the plan would have been to make sure and retain our intermediate status in the league and the championship and that was done fairly easily. "You'd have to say the young players who were brought into the team last year really stepped up to the plate and the team did much better than a lot of us would have expected. "We hadn't a great year in 2006 and it was a struggle for most of it with attendances at training not great and results in the matches even worse to 2007 was a great turnaround." The team management of Vincent Kelly, Francis Clarke, Mickey Murtagh and Paddy Sheanon also stepped up to the mark and Padraig is pleased they will be back in place in '08. "The management team did great to turn things around with the seniors last year. When you can get around 25 players out training in November you're not doing too badly." Looking ahead to the intermediate campaigns for 2008, Padraig is hugely optimistic that the club can go close to going the distance on both league and championship fronts. "I think getting into the top two of the league is a realistic target and we showed last year in getting to the semi-finals that we're not that far away from the top in the championship. "The championship won't be easy to win because the likes of Drumalee, Drumlane and Cootehill will be going all out as well to win it but we're as good as any of them. "We're going to have a lot of local derbies in the league so we're in for a fairly tough year but I'm sure the players are looking forward to the season getting up and running." Padraig believes the club's trip to Spain last October was a great idea and proved to be a great 'bonding' trip with 22 players in total helping to make up the 30-strong touring party. The experienced club official says the feel-good factor in Bailieboro Shamrocks' circles last year was enhanced by the under 21 team's achievement in reaching the county semis. After reaching the penultimate round of the competition for the first time since 1994, 'boro sadly came up short against Ballinagh in a match played in dreadful weather in Templeport. Brother of club stalwarts Francis and Damien, the 24-year old efficient Secretary says the promise shown by various underage teams in the club augurs well for the future. Padraig - son of the late Ted Sheridan, former long-time Bailieboro Shamrocks club Treasurer - delights in recalling county triumphs at under 14 and under 16 levels in recent years. He pays great tribute to all the coaches involved with the underage and adult teams and is looking forward to the club matching on-field work with off-the-field endeavours. In that respect, Padraig (of T&M shop and filling station, Cavan Road, Bailieboro) reckons the club committee is showing a lot of ambition by planning a 1.6 million euros project. The planned development will see a new complex being built behind the current terraced stand which will incorporate four new dressing-rooms, a function room, gym, etc etc. "It'll cost a lot of money but the club is determined to push ahead with the development and we've already raised over 40,000 euros with our corporate night in the Ripley Court. "We also have 111 members who have pledged to contribute 500 euros each year for the next five years which will go a long way too to helping defray the costs." Padraig hadn't held any position on the executive prior to being elected Treasurer in 2006 but despite being thrown in at the deep end he has played a big role in shaping the club. After a playing career cut short by injury, Padraig says he was glad to become involved in administration matters at the club, especially as there's a "great committee in place." Although reluctant to delve too much into the crystal ball game, he re-iterates his confidence in the ability of the club to improve its standing in the county in the coming season. "When we got relegated to division two, that was a very low point for the club but we're slowly but surely getting back up to where we belong," Padraig concludes. On the evidence of 2007 alone, it would be difficult to counter that assertion. Tweet

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