At the end of the 2006 season club chairman Pat McGearty believed that the Killeshandra Leaguers were moving in the right direction and would be approaching 2007 confident and in a determined mood. With a new management structure in place, Tom Downes acting as manager assisted by Stephen King and Junior McKiernan, the prospects of creating something special was always on the cards. However, when the annals for 2007 are written into the club's history, the achievements accrued during the 2007 campaign will have etched its own glorious record. A junior championship crown, and promotion from Division 3 to Division 2 was just reward for this committed and talented group of Leaguers. Chairman Pat McGearty can look back on his own belief about the Leaguers and see his prophetic words as those of a Solomon rather than a mere chairman. Judging the sense of euphoria generated by the club's phenomal achievements is easy to grasp when you talk with the ebullient and accommodating PRO Sean Feeney. Sean's joy is reality based and his recounting of the Leaguers exploits is a vivid and happy recall. "As a senior club we last won a championship title back in 1991 and by any stretch of the imagination that is a long time ago. It is ironic that on that occasion we won the Intermediate championship when we beat Munterconnaught and I captained that side. We were relegated to Division 2 back in 1992 and by 1996 we had slipped down to Division 3. The following year there was a bit of a revival when we won the league title in 1997 and promotion back to Division 2 where we remained for many years before once again being relegated down to Division 3 where we stayed until this year when we gained promotion back to the higher level division," stated Sean. Good Omen "At the beginning of 2007 I always felt that with the group of players at our disposal and the team management we had in place, we were now in a position to create an environment to propel this group of talented players on their way to success. The club's year got off to a really good start with the juveniles setting the standard for the rest to follow. "Our U-13s captured the Roinn C title when they overcame Butlersbridge at Kingspan Breffni Park. In retrospect this would seem to have been a good omen as it was the first underage title the club had won in nineteen years," stated the PRO. "We were slow to start our campaign and lost our first two games in the league against Munterconnaught and Cornafean. Once again our neighbours were proving to be somewhat of a bogey team for us. Despite these early setbacks, the belief in the team and team management began to emerge and we started to string a number of good league victories back to back. We were on a winning league run when we approached the championship and looked forward to commencement of the premier competition in the county for our Division. "We played Shercock in the first round and found ourselves at the wrong end of the result at the final whistle. This setback was a severe blow but it was generally felt that even though we had come out on the wrong side of that result we had shown enough encouraging signs of possibly making it through. The final score of 1-7 to 0-9 tells its own story," stated Sean. Maturity With many of the Leaguers still elegible to play in underage competions, minor and U-21 this phase of the championship was going to be a real test of character. For such a young team, the display against Templeport in the next game of the championship seemed to assert a maturity well beyond the years of these young fledgling championship aspirants. "In a local west Cavan derby we bounced back from the Sherock defeat to record a victory that was to give us the confidence and heart to really have a go at this championship. We won that game by three points 2-10 to 2-7 and this I feel showed that the Leaguers were now gaining in confidence. We beat Munterconnaught in the quarter-finals to set us up against old revivals and neighbours, Cornafean. The previous season we had a see-saw battle against the Reds so this game was one that brought a history all of its own to the occasion. It was generally felt in the club that this was going to be a real test of character and no doubt, the young hopefuls of the side cast aside the shadow of the Cornafean bogey and emerged with a creditable five point victory 0-7 to 0-12. This was the real turning point, beating Cornafean now set us up for a final clash against a formidable opposition in fellow west Cavan side, Shannon Gaels, The Gaels had been in the final just two year's previously and could have counted themselves unlucky to have lost out Redhills on that occasion. Well as they say the rest is history, 'cometh the hour, cometh the team' would seem an appropriate phrase as the Leaguers showed great maturity winning by three points 0-11 to 0-8. It was all of twenty four years since the club last won the junior championship back in 1983," stated a proud club PRO. When asked what he thought was the difference between this side and other teams over the years Sean was fortright in his answer. "The main difference between this side and sides of the recent past is that we now have a strong panel of quality players. In the past when we had injury problems we just did not have enough players to fill the void created by those setbacks. In the present side it is probably not right to mention players as all of the squad put in a tremendous effort throughout both league and championship and also our sojourn in Ulster. However, the youthful Daragh Tighe, Cillian O'Reilly and Daniel Luby had been outstanding all year and are presently members of the minor side. The introduction of Colm Duffy at fullback proved inspirational while the acquisition of Cyril O'Reilly from the forwards to act as goalkeeper proved to be a master stroke. Declan McKiernan was outstanding all year as was Thomas Reilly. Both Austin Fitzpatrick and Adie Burns showed great leadership qualities. The entire squad deserve credit for this wonderful club achievement as do the team management. Also the work put in by Justin Hayes, who plays at wing-forward on the team was incalcuable. Justin travelled from Dublin for all the training sessions and did much of the physical coaching. We have two teams at the club and with many of the panel for both teams still playing either minor or U-21 the enthusiasm is infectious and now that winning environment has been created by this group of young men, the future does indeed look hopeful. Our win in the Division 3 final replay against Cavan Gaels which we won comprehensively 2-9 to 0-6 now sets us up for Division 2 football next year," stated Sean. Ulster sojourn By winning the Cavan junior football championship, Killeshandra Leaguers were now set for a tilt at the Ulster Junior club championship. "This was going to be a totally new experience for the club as this was an arena where we were going to test our skills against the champions of the Ulster counties. In the quarter-final we faced Antrim champions, Ahoghill and we ran out comfortable winners. This set us up for an Ulster semi-final clash against The Rock from Tyrone. They had a big win over the Derry champions and we were expecting to endure a tough encounter. Nerves seem to get the better of us early on as The Rock raced into a 1-1 lead just after three minutes. We showed great character and had the lead down to just two points at half-time. In a battling second half display, we had the lead down to one point with ten minutes to go but the Tyrone champions rocked us with a goal against the run of play to put them in a winning position. Credit to the Leaguers, they did not give in and could count themselves unlucky when they rattled the bottom of the post in the final minutes. All in all it was a great experience that should help bring on this side," stated Sean. Division 3 Just a week after losing out in the Ulster club Junior Football championship, Killeshandra took on the might of Cavan Gaels in a replay of the final of Division 3. With both teams having already been promoted the destination of silverware was what was on offer on this occasion. Many pundits felt that the Leaguers had missed their chance in the drawn game but many failed to realise it was the Gaels who eeked out a draw well into injury time on that occasion. In the replay the Leaguers were in no mood to allow the Gaels any opportunity of winning this trophy and in a power-packed performance ran out comfortable winners 2-9 to 0-6. "We are now set to play our football in a higher grade in the 2008 season and I have no doubt that while Division 2 is highly competitive we are capable of holding our own. The experience of winning games, some of them in tight circumstances, will only stand to the squad. We are also fortunate that we have a strong panel of players and if injury strikes we know that we have some very talented young players on the bench just itching to show their talents. The management team proved to be a major influence on the direction of the team's progress during 2007. Tom Downes, Stephen King and Junior McKiernan have a wealth of football knowledge individually and collectively," stated Sean. Development Sean is keen to point out that while great progress was made on the field of play, the club have already set in motion development plans for the future. "A major fund-raising project took place during 2007 which along with grant aid, lotto funding and other sponsorship funding will help offset the the cost of our plans for the future development of infrastructure at the club. It is envisaged that work on the pitch will commence sometime in 2008. The widening, lengthning and upgrading of the surface of the playing area along with the provision of floodlighting and the re-establishment of a running track are set out in phase one of this development project. Our phase two is the provision of an all weather training pitch, and provision for pitch enclosure while the phase three level will see the club house being refurbished providing four new dressing rooms. This is an area of importance for the club as with a very active ladies football club, which cater for all the age groups and a senior team, the provision of the extra space and rooms is vital. With work commencing on the pitch set to begin during 2008 it is hoped that we will be able to get at least the first three to four league games in before we will have to move to other facilities. We would hope that we can make an arrangement with some of the neighbouring clubs for this transitional period," stated Sean. The PRO also pointed out that while the accolades rightfully belonged to the players, a great deal of work not just during 2007 but over the over years has been carried out by many dedicated people at the Leaguers. It is to them that this victory should be dedicated. "Our present executive of Chairman, Pat McGearty, Vice Chairman, Junior McKiernan, Secretary, Donagh O'Reilly, Assistant Secretary, Patricia O'Reilly and treasurers, Tom McKiernan and Cathal O'Rourke deserve special mention for their great work. Also the work put in by all the coaches at all levels, especially to those working with the juveniles. Indeed it was just reward to see our U-13s capture our first juvenile title in nineteen years," stated a proud PRO, Sean Feeney. Ladies Football According to Sean , the work being done at the Ladies football club is truly commendable. "The Ladies cater for all the underage groups and also field a team in senior ranks. The side can boast the services of some very talented young players with Melissa King and county minor star, Emma Mulligan two to look out for. A youth policy was put in place at the club so in the coming seasons it is quite feasable to see the ladies repeat the exploits of their male counter-parts in 2007," said Sean. U-13s Win While you can hear the excitement in Sean Feeney's voice when he talks about the successes of the senior team, the joy he expresses when he talks about the Killeshandra Leaguers U-13 side is infectious. "This group of young players brought the first juvenile title to Killeshandra in nineteen years. Played in ideal conditions at Kingspan Breffni Park at the beginning of September, this side overcame the challenge of Butlersbridge to win Roinn C U-13 championship in convincing style on a scoreline of 5-13 to 1-08. From the beginning the youthful Leaguers showed that they were in no mood to allow the Bridge to get a grip on this game. A powerful team performance saw them race into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead just after fourteen minutes. Goals on the night by Aaron Brady, Conor McGearty, Conor Smith (one each) and two from Eddie Masterson put this game as contest well out of the reach of Butlersbridge. The euphoria of this win help set the trend and mood in the club as many of the senior team are actively involved in coaching at juvenile level," stated Sean. Killeshandra Leaguers: Ronan Sweeney, Mark Fullen, Thomas Sheridan, Adrian Maguire, Conor Smith (1-0), Conor McGearty (1-1), Aaron Brady (1-1), Conor Higgins (0-3), Eddie Masterson (2-0), Darren McGrath (0-3), John Gilsenan (0-2), Cian O'Hanlon (0-2), Niamh Feeney (0-1). Sub used: Dean Farrelly. Tweet

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