The 2007 season will provide the Gaels of Kildallan with joy, satisfaction and a great deal of hope for the future. Winning the Division 6 league title earned this group of players their own piece of club history. According to club PRO Thomas Cassidy: "We have not won any silverware at the club for a long time. We last won the championship some thirty years ago. We also have to look back as far as 1985 since we last won a league title. So the significance of winning this piece of silverware was extremely important for us as a club. The manner in which we won it was also significant as we remained unbeaten throughout our league campaign. Indeed our only defeat was at the hands of Arva in the championship, so defeating them in the league final, helped reverse that result. This Division 6 league victory was to prove the jewel in the crown for the West Cavan club," stated the affable PRO. Thomas Cassidy, according to his own admission is PRO at the club for longer than he cares to remember. "I have acted in most capacities at club level throughout my time here from hand-washing the club jerseys to the present day position of PRO. The feel good factor of winning the Division 6 league at the end of 2007 gave not only the club great hope and joy but also created a magnificent buzz in the community. I hope that the feeling of winning will have embedded itself in the psyche of the players and help create an environment whereby they will make a serious bid at winning the junior championship. We certainly have the players capable of achieving this. We have a very young panel at our disposal. Indeed we fielded our own U-21 team this year for the first time in many years. The return of Ronan O'Reilly towards the end of 2007 was a deciding factor in our victory. With the return of the Wynne brothers from Amercia and Colm O'Hara, from Newbridge Sarsfields, the club can take a realistic look at 2008 and approach it with the belief that they can be a serious threat in both league and championship," stated Thomas. While Thomas was elated at the club's victory he is pragmatic in his outlook towards 2008. With the club's first team competing in Division 3 of the A.C.F.L. only two points separated them from second place promotion winners, Killeshandra. "We ended up with sixteen points in the Division 3 league and I feel that only for the poor start we got we certainly could have been there or thereabouts. As I already stated, with the return of a number of our more experienced players, I would feel we are certainly now in a position to think along positive lines of gaining promotion. We will need to be focused for the entire campaign as the Division 3 league is quite competitive. Our second team have been promoted to Division 5 which is unchartered waters for that team. We have a pretty young squad of mostly minors and I would hope that we can hold our own there. The experience at this level will only be of great benefit to them. The fact that they won out in Division 6 should give them the confidence of knowing that they can win. Indeed the winning factor created such a great buzz throughout the parish that I hope it has rubbed off on the players. With the Division 6 team gaining promotion to Division 5 and our first team competing in Division 3 it will be interesting to see how the county board manage the fixture programme. The logistics of fielding two teams on different days at the weekend could be a problem," stated the club PRO. Division 6 final Kildallan's Division 6 team proved to be the 'high flyers' of this division where they played thirteen games, winning them all. Not only did they gain promotion to Division 5 by virtue of their great league run but also overcame second placed Arva in a thrilling league final. Indeed they were only team in all six division not to drop a point throughout the entire season. This in itself speaks volumes about the team and its team management. Kildallan met and overcame Arva in the Division 6 league final, at Bawnboy by 0-7 to 0-5 in a fiercely contested game. It was Kildallan's greater punch up front that finally settled this absorbing contest as both sides battled to gain the upperhand throughout this exciting final. Conitions of rain, wind and biting cold, did little to dampen the exchanges as both sides set about the task of being crowned Division 6 champions. Kildallan opened with flurry and showed their intentions from the start. Ronan Reilly opened their account with a point in the second minute. The game, which was played at a frenetic pace, saw both defences limiting any clearcut chances for the respective forward divisions. With defences on top and chances to the minimum it was not until the twelfth minute of the opening half before the next score was registered, a point by Kildallan's Wayne O'Grady. While Kildallan were winning the possesion stakes a resolute and determined Arva made it difficult for the Kildallan attack to get any worthwhile penetration and curtailed any worthwhile clear chances. Arva did open their account with just nine minutes of the half remaining when they fired over a point. A minute later, Thomas Brady had the sides level at 0-2 apiece. With a minute of injury time and the half-time whistle about to sound, Jason Curry fired over Kildallan's third point which gave the West Cavan side a slender 0-3 to 0-2 lead at the break. The continuous rain and wind made underfoot conditions difficult but it was the eventual winners who adopted better as they literally sprinted out of the blocks at the start of the second-half. Showing great determination and no shortage of skill, the 'will to win' was etched on their opening twelve minute assault on the Arva defence where they recorded three answered points in what was to prove to be a winning lead as they now had a four point advantage over their rivals 0-6 to 0-2. The Kildallan second-half resurgence was lead by Ronan O'Reilly who fired over two of the points while Ciaran O'Neill tagged on the other in that blistering spell. In fairness to Arva, they responded with determination and went in search of a goal to try and rescue this final and wrestle the title back in their favour. Try as they did, Kildallan's goalkeeper, John Conaty was in superb form making a number of crucial saves and frustrating the the efforts of the losers. Arva battled on and by the forty-ninth minute, had reduced Kildallan's lead to just two points 0-6 to 0-4. It was during this period that Kildallan showed why they had not lost a game in the league as they remained composed under the threat of the Arva attack and soaked up the pressure with keeper, John Conaty, Niall Crowe and Michael Power showing great presence and coolness under the Arva onslaught. With chances now down to a minimum, Kildallan's Ciaran O'Neill steadied nerves and increased his side's lead when he shot over a well taken point. With just six minutes left on the clock, Arva went in search of scores and when David Bouchier fired over a point to leave just the bare minimum between the sides 0-6 to 0-5 a tense and nail biting finale was assured. Once again it was Kildallan who proved to be more astute and cooler under pressure and with Ronan O'Reilly in superb form, Kildallan had the insurance point when he chipped over the Arva bar to guarantee that the silverware was destined for West Cavan. With the clock now running down, Arva showed great battling qualities as they tried in vain to get scores but a resolute Kildallan defence stood and firm and ran out deserving winners. This final was a fitting epitaph to a flawless season for this group of Kildallan players. Kildallan: John Conaty, Padraig Neary, Darren Duignan, Donal Fee, Colm Reilly, Michael Power, Niall Crowe, Stephen Crowe, Fergal Maguire, Ciaran O'Neill (0-1), Ronan O'Reilly (0-4) Wayne O'Grady (0-1), Danny Conaty, James Curry (0-1), James Jameson. Subs used: Liam Martin and Conor Keaney. Juvenile Football "Over the past number of years we have made great progress at juvenile level winning a number of titles. The club's U-16 side also made it to the Division 3 league final only to literally see victory being denied them when Arva brokered a 'late late' goal in injury time to take the title by a mere two points. While it was a cruel way to lose out nevertheless we did make it to the final," stated Thomas. Kildallan U-16s could deem themselves unlucky to have lost the Division 3 league title when they met Arva at O'Connell Park, Drumlane. Leading by a point with injury time almost up, Arva caught the west Cavan side with a late goal and had no time to respond to this cruel setback. Leading 1-9 to 1-8 it looked like Kildallan would be crowned champions but for a cruel twist of fate that wrecked havoc with any hopes of victory. Kildallan started this final in determined mood and were the dominant side throughout the opening quarter. Daragh McGovern opened the scoring for Kildallan with a converted free. Arva fought back and a point by Peter Morris and a goal from Brian Ellis put Kildallan on the back foot as the first half closed out. Niall Cassidy reduced Arva's lead when he fired over a point, leaving Kildallan trailing by just two points. Two further Arva points left Kildallan trailing by 1-3 to 0-2 at half-time. From the restart of the second half, Kildallan pressed hard to gain parity, with midfielder John Ross firing over two points and Daragh McGovern converting a free after Killian Doonan had been brought down. A spirited and rejuvenated Kildallan shot to the front when Darragh McGovern registered two points to give them a one point lead. From here on in it was nip and tuck as the sides exchanged points but it was Kildallan who looked set for victory when in the twenty-first minute, Shane McPartland hit a superb shot to the back of the Arva net to put his side two points up. Spurred on by this goal, Kildallan won the kickout and Niall Cassidy fired over another point. A spirited reply from Arva saw them shoot over a point but with the now entering injury time it looked like Kildallan had done just about enough to claim the title when the cruellest of blows was delivered by Arva as they blasted the ball to the back of the Kildallan net. This killer blow coming at the end of the game did not allow Kildallan any time to mount a meaningful counter attack. Kildallan: R. Fitzpatrick, M. Curry, N. O'Gara, K. Duignan, S. McPartland (1-0), C. Sheridan, N. Martin, J. Ross, (0-2), C. Johnston, K. Doonan, N. Cassidy (0-2), P. Reilly, D. McGovern (0-5). Team manager When talking about the club's progress throughout 2007, Thomas is quick to point out the part played by the team management of Emmet Curry and his selectors, Gabriel O'Neill and Noel Maguire. "It is no coincidence that Emmet and Noel worked with many of the present senior squad throughout the juvenile ranks. They would have handled most of the players and have an intimate knowledge of them. Emmet who is a native of Derrylin has immersed himself in the club. His wife, Sharon, is secretary of Kildallan G.F.C. while his son, Jason is a current senior player," stated Thomas. Hurling According to the club PRO Kildallan is a bastion of hurling in West Cavan. For many years now they have been one of the leading exponents of hurling in Cavan. The drive and work put in by people like Peadar Neary is highly commendable. Their love for the game is a major factor in helping keep Kildallan among the top hurling contenders in the county each year. "The club received a singular honour during 2007 with the selection of Daithi Neary on the Nicky Rackard Cup 'Champion 15'. This was a great honour not only for Daithi but also for all those involved with hurling at Woodford Gaels. Daithi is one of the club's top exponents of the game and is currently a member of the Cavan senior hurling team," stated Thomas. Ladies football Thomas said that he would also like to pay tribute to the people who work tirelessly at promoting ladies football at the club. "We have a vibrant ladies section here at Kildallan and field teams in the underage section. At senior level we join and play with Templeport. It is great to see the women of the parish involved. We made a special presentation to one of our long-term female members Aine Connolly at our dinner dance. Aine who works with the club as physio has been an ardent follower of the club for many years and her professional expertise has been of invaluable service to us here at Kildallan," stated Thomas. Tweet

Most Read Stories