Only six years after all the drama, excitement and jubilation of beating Navan O'Mahonys in the Intermediate Championship final, Ballivor diced with death in the middle grade of Meath football again in 2008. That was an amazing day at Pairc Tailteann back in the autumn of 2002 when goalkeeper Ray McKeown attained hero status as he pointed the '45' which gave Ballivor the title and denied one of the true giants of Meath football an instant return to the senior ranks following their shock demotion a year earlier. After losing previous finals to St Patrick's and Blackhall Gaels, this was a richly deserved success for the men in maroon and white who were coached by former Seneschalstown player Pat Carey. However, before they had a chance to draw breath and settle to the demands of Senior Championship football, Ballivor were heading back to the intermediate ranks after losing the 2003 relegation final to Kilmainhamwood at Kells. They reached the quarter-finals of the intermediate race in 2004, but lost to Duleek, and exited the competition at the same stage a year later against Syddan. But since then it has been a real struggle. They failed to reach the knockout stages in 2006 and only survived in the middle grade last year by virtue of a one point victory over Ratoath in the relegation play-off. However, it was hardly surprising that they endured such a difficult campaign in 2007 after losing a large amount of players to the reformed Kildalkey football set-up, including Mairtin Doran and Tony Fox. Add in retirements and players travelling abroad and it was never going to be anything other than a big struggle to hold onto their status. Of course, the hurling factor is also hugely significant when it comes to football in Ballivor, with several players lining out with Killyon in the small ball code and Sean Corrigan playing with Kildalkey. Successfully playing both games is not an easy thing to manage. Heading into the 2008 championship there appeared every likelihood that Ballivor would struggle again and that's how it turned out. They were drawn in group C of the IFC and the section included three other clubs which have experienced the disappointment of losing their top flight status over more recent years - Gaeil Colmcille, Dunderry and Carnaross - as well as last year's junior champions Clann na nGael. They were managed by former player Paddy Doyle, who was a member of the Ballivor team that won the Intermediate Championship in 1981, and the selectors were Jimmy Kelly, Martin Doyle and Johnny Corrigan. Ballivor opened the championship against Gaeil Colmcille at Athboy and the Kells men won comfortably by 1-8 to 0-2 to signal the start of a trouble group campaign for the losers. It didn't get any better in the second round at Kildalkey when a Clann na nGael side which included Graham Geraghty won by 0-17 to 1-4 on a day when Ballivor suffered a double injury blow to Joe McLoughlin and Sean Corrigan. However, they made a very encouraging start to that game when goalkeeper McKeown made the long journey from between the posts to blast a 13 metre free to the net. The junior kingpins, who had made a great start to the championship with a win over Carnaross, gradually settled and scored points with regularity to open up a double scores (0-10 to 1-2) lead at the interval. There was no way back for Ballivor after that and they added only two points to their tally in the second period. Their scoring rate improved in the third round against Carnaross at Athboy, but they still suffered another championship defeat when going under by 1-7 to 1-11 after they had trailed by 0-2 to 0-6 at the change of ends. Athboy certainly wasn't a happy hunting ground for Ballivor in 2008 and a third championship defeat at the venue followed in the fourth round when Dunderry condemned them to another relegation dogfight when winning very comprehensively on a 2-13 to 0-8 score line. After losing all their group matches the only good news - if there was any - for Ballivor was that they would have two chances to secure their survival in intermediate football. Drumconrath, who had been beaten IFC finalists only two years earlier, also endured a terribly disappointing campaign and, like Ballivor, they lost all of their group matches. The prize for the winners of their relegation play-off at Pairc Tailteann was a guarantee of action in the intermediate grade in 2009, while the losers would get a second chance against Oldcastle who had finished at the foot of their section. It was Drumconrath who secured their middle grade status when a goal in each half enable them to win by 2-8 to 0-9. Ballivor started quite well and moved into a 0-3 to 0-1 advantage by the end of the opening quarter, but Drumconrath's first goal helped them to lead by 1-2 to 0-4 at the change of ends. With Meath senior panelist Terry Skelly becoming a greater influence Drumconrath upped the tempo and his goal helped them stretch six points clear. Ballivor reduced the deficit to four, but they were always chasing the game in the second period and left the Navan venue knowing they had one last chance to survive. When the relegation playoff eventually took place, Ballivor slipped to a 0-8 to 0-2 defeat against Oldcastle and will contest the Meath junior football championship in 2009 as a result. As manager Paddy Doyle recalled, Ballivor didn't exactly have the best of fortune on the injury front during this year's IFC. "Joe McLoughlin broke his ankle in our second championship match against Clann na nGael at Kildalkey," he said. "Sean Corrigan injured his shoulder and elbow in that game as well. Some players also walked away at that time. "I remember we went to play Meath Hill in a league game and we were without 13 lads due to a combination of injuries, players away on holiday and lads who didn't want to play. That's a lot of players to be without." But Doyle was more than happy with the way things were developing at training in the early part of the year. "When we started training back in January this year we had 25 or 26 lads out," he added. "They were brilliant. They just couldn't do enough for you. Training was going really well. "We went to Mayo for a weekend away in February. It was a brilliant success. I remember telling them on the way home that we would be training the next night, which was a Monday. I wondered how many of them would turn up. There were 19 lads at training that night. The commitment was really great. "But then the hurling clicked in which is a problem for us. We had momentum built up at that stage and it was broken. Hurling is a huge factor for us. Nine or 10 of our lads play with Killyon and we have Sean Corrigan who plays with Kildalkey. "Naturally, they wanted their night for training too. We are waiting for our relegation final against Oldcastle and Killyon have already had theirs." More recent years have proven to be a struggle for Ballivor and now they are faced with a battle for survival in the intermediate ranks for the second successive year, but Doyle remains optimistic and is encouraged greatly by the amount of dedicated work which is going into promoting football in the club's under-age ranks. "I have to say that I am very happy with the under-age structures in the club," he said with his thoughts on the future. "We got to the Under-12 Shield final this year and are in the Under-13 Shield final. Our under-15s and under-17s are going well too. "From under-10 right up to under-17 we are competing. Gerry Dempsey is chairman of our under-age section and does great work. Donald MacLeod is also involved in a big way and is a great worker. There is tremendous work being done there which is vital for the future. "I believe that if we work at the under-age end of things and bring on the young lads we will do well in the future. That's very important. I also believe that we have to get a coach into the school. "We hope to move into a new school next March. Getting a coach into the school is vitally important. We are working on that. It would work wonders for us." Ballivor may be enduring difficult times at adult level due to that struggle to hold onto their intermediate status over the past couple of years, but the vital work that will secure a bright future is ongoing and that's clearly a very positive sign. Tweet

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