Sometimes in football you have to take a step back before you can move forward again. That's what the Sean McDermotts will be hoping for after losing their intermediate championship status this year. By James Rogers. Junior Championship football now awaits the Mountrush outfit next year with veteran forward Brendan McGahon hoping his side have more luck in 2009 than they had in the season just gone. "We just didn't perform at all in the championship," he admitted. The results didn't lie either. Having lost out by 2-6 to 0-8 to the Oliver Plunketts in their opening game, the McDermotts then went down by 3-14 to 2-7 to Na Piarsaigh leaving them immediately battling for their survival by mid-May. Then on June 19th they came up against a Geraldines side who were also without a win to date in what turned out to be a bad-tempered affair in Tallanstown. In the end the Haggardstown men ran out 1-11 to 2-6 winners but it was a match in which McGahon feels summed his side's season. Despite two early Kevin Carroll goals which fired them into a six point lead, the McDermotts allowed the Gers back into the game. They then had what many felt was a perfectly good James Woods point waved wide by an umpire in the second half and after repeated protests over that decision, the game slowly slipped away from them. "We just had no luck whatsoever," said McGahon. "There was only a point or two in a lot of our games and it didn't help when you had referees disallowing good points like that night in Tallanstown. "That happens in football I guess but if we had got the rub of the green against the Geraldines and then beaten Hunterstown like we should have then we would have been sitting pretty on four points and nearly challenging for a place in the quarter-finals." After that defeat to the Geraldines, the McDermotts were well beaten by the O Raghallaigh's on a 5-15 to 1-11 scoreline leaving them in major relegation trouble going into their final match with Hunterstown Rovers. It was another game which the Mountrush men arguably should have won but in the end all they could manage was a draw on a scoreline of 1-10 apiece. Kevin Carroll found the net for them inside the opening minute to give them a dream start but after they were denied further goals by two superb Alan Fedigan saves, it meant that they trailed at the break by 1-6 to 1-5. However, with Colin Curran, Sean McMahon and Tony Kelly all in fine scoring form, the McDermotts were soon back in the ascendancy and led by three points with five minutes remaining. At that point they had a fantastic chance to wrap the game up only to be denied by another stunning save from Fedigan. Buoyed by that save, Hunterstown went on to fire themselves level before the finish thanks to points from Alan Landy, Paul Carrie and Richie Taaffe to condemn the McDermotts to the relegation play-off. The result actually mattered very little in the end but once again summed up how little went right for the McDermotts throughout the year, according to McGahon. "Hunterstown have been a bit of a bogey side for us over the past few years and no matter what we do we just don't seem to be able to beat them. That game pretty much summed that up. "I suppose it didn't really matter in the end though because they had a better score difference than us but between that game and the Geraldines game we definitely should have taken more than just a point," he said. That result meant that the McDermotts were left facing into a relegation play-off match with Dundalk Young Irelands on Sunday September 28 - the morning of the county final. However, if the Mountrush men thought throwing away a three point lead against Hunterstown was bad then they hadn't seen anything yet as they squandered an eight point second half advantage in Louth Village to allow the Irelanders to rescue a replay for themselves on a 2-9 to 1-12 scoreline. An early James Woods goal got the Mid-Louth men off to a flying start and with Tony Kelly and Colin Curran in fine scoring form it was little surprise that they led by 1-6 to 0-3 at the break. Further points from Kelly and Curran on the restart had the McDermotts eight points in the lead and at that stage they looked certain to be still playing intermediate championship football in 2009. The Young Irelands had other ideas, however, and dramatically turned things around by scoring the next 2-4 unanswered. After points from Gerard Nixon, Derek Maguire and Michael Shields, Mark Savage punched to the net on 43 minutes to give his side hope. Andrew Nixon then landed a long range point before Ciaran Conlon found the net to give the Dundalk men an unlikely two point lead with 13 minutes remaining. McDermotts got back on level terms once more with five minutes remaining thanks to points from Kelly and David Matthews but they soon found themselves behind once more after Maguire pointed again. Colin Curran then swung things back in the McDermotts' favour with two points in quick succession but a late free from Maguire ensured that the game went to a replay with the sides meeting again a week later in Knockbridge. On this occasion, the Mountrush men were made regret not holding out on day one as they lost out in the end on a 4-4 to 3-4 scoreline. A first half hat-trick from Mark Savage had the Dundalk side 3-3 to 2-1 ahead at the break as goals from Colin Curran and James Woods kept the Seans just about in the hunt. Another goal from Curran on the restart had the deficit back down to two but a fourth Irelands goal from John Boland pretty much killed the Mid-Louth men off. The sending-off of Irelands' Peter Nixon and the McDermotts' David Matthews on 41 minutes helped the Mountrush men mount a late challenge to get back in the game but a combination of wayward shooting and some fine saves from goalkeeper Craig McKenna meant that it was the Irelands who triumphed in the end as the Seans faced up to life in the junior grade. They were two matches which McGahon and co could only look back on with regret. "We were eight points up against the Young Irelands in the play-off and let them back into it and that is just unforgiveable. "We should've had them well killed off but near the end they were actually beating us by a point before we went a point ahead again. "Then in the replay our defending was just atrocious. You can't afford to let four goals in in any game and expect to win, even if you score three yourself. "It was definitely disappointing to go down in the manner that we did because there were so many what ifs and what could have beens. "There has been a few major changes in the starting 15 over the past couple of years but these lads aren't kids anymore. In fact, they should be at their peak. "You need a bit of luck though and we just didn't get any of it. Declan Carroll, Peter Osbourne and Tommy Durnin were three big losses for us this year through injury while Ronan Valentine going to Scotland was another huge blow. I'm sure any club in intermediate would struggle to cope without four big players like them. "Our league form wasn't actually that bad. We beat teams like St Mochta's, Clan na Gael and the O Raghallaigh's who all done well throughout the year but we were never able to get a bit of consistency going. "Thomas McNamee came in and gave us a hand with the coaching and it was very welcome but because of work and other commitments he couldn't commit as a manager. "He was a great help to us but we needed someone to come in alongside him. It's a lesson to us for the future I suppose." McGahon is very much looking to the future and despite the setback of relegation this year, he is hopeful his side can bounce back by winning the Junior Championship in 2009. "I'd like to think we can win the Christy Bellew next year and get a foundation built to go on then for the following year. "Junior football is the hardest grade to get out of though so we can take nothing for granted. You're allowed to play football in senior and intermediate but in junior there's a lot of pulling and dragging and even a very poor team can pull you down to their level very quickly. "Playing in the Division Two league next year will help us I'm sure but it's just a pity we weren't still up to give the Intermediate Championship a crack as well. "We had become familiar with a lot of the teams in the intermediate grade and no we're going to be unfamiliar with a lot of the teams we're coming up against so it's going to be tough. "It's fair to say we're a bit disappointed to have gone down this year but we didn't disgrace ourselves in doing so and that was the important thing. "We went down with a fight and now we have to fight our way back up again," he said. Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward and if the McDermotts can land a Junior Championship title next year then the blow of relegation will certainly be softened. On the subject of going forward, the club are very much doing so off the pitch with the proceeds from the Ferdia Car Draw helping them to draw up plans for their grounds at Pairc MacDiarmada. "We made over 30,000 euro profit from the car draw which was a very big but very welcome surprise. The plan is to develop the facilities from the proceeds," said McGahon. "We plan to install new lights at the ground, put a wall around the pitch and put a walk in as well. We got a few pound from the lotto as well and that will help us too," he said. The McDermotts can rightly be disappointed with being relegated this year but you get the feeling that when they do bounce back, it'll be as a stronger force both on and off the field. Tweet

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