Three decades have passed since Castletown last won the Intermediate Football Championship title and the search goes on after a 2006 campaign that promised much but failed to deliver as Sean Barry's team exited the race for the Mattie McDonnell Cup at the semi-final stage against neighbours Rathkenny. Every club operating in the intermediate ranks possesses a tremendous desire to move up a grade and play their football with the big guns at senior level. Castletown are no different and when they topped Group A after winning six of their seven matches they must have entertained serious hopes that this might just be their year and that next year's championship action would be in the battle for the Keegan Cup. While Castletown struggled to make an impact in the league, they took the group stages of the Intermediate Championship by storm in a section that also included Ballivor, Carnaross, Donaghmore/Ashbourne, Drumconrath, Na Fianna, the previous year's SFC relegated team Dunderry and Gaeil Colmcille. And Castletown, managed by former player Barry, with Tom McKeown and Paul Kelly acting as selectors, couldn't have asked for a more comfortable opening to their bid for a place in the knockout stages than a runaway 0-17 to 0-4 victory over Ballivor at Bohermeen. Chances were missed in the first half, but they still managed to lead by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval. They tagged on three points at the start of the second period and those scores provided the momentum to push clear and be 13 ahead at the final whistle. There were a lot of encouraging signs in that performance, most notably the showing of highly talented youngster Shane Farrelly who was making his first Intermediate Championship start and kicked five points from frees. Gerry Farrelly, Michael Hickey, Liam Clarke and Aidan Young were others to show up to good effect. However, Castletown's only defeat of the group stages was just around the corner as they travelled to Carlanstown to meet Gaeil Colmcille in the second round. The loss of captain Noel Farrelly proved a huge blow to their hopes of making it back to back wins and, despite a contribution of six points from Shane Farrelly, they were narrowly beaten by 0-9 to 0-10 in a very tight contest. It was vitally important to get back on the rails after that setback and a second victory of the group campaign followed at Moynalty when Castletown won by 0-13 to 1-7 against an injury-hit Carnaross side that was to endure a tough campaign and end up battling for survival in the middle grade. Drumconrath, who were to surprise so many people with their tremendous showing in the 2006 championship, provided the fourth round opposition at Nobber and Castletown came out on top by 0-11 to 0-7 to make it three wins from four and leave themselves in a very healthy position in the group on six points. And it got even more healthy when Tommy Dowd's Dunderry, who lost the SFC relegation play-off to Kilmainhamwood at the same venue the previous autumn, were beaten by 2-7 to 1-4 at Kells. Castletown held a slender 1-3 to 1-2 advantage at the change of ends after playing with the advantage of the wind and were two points ahead at the three-quarter stage, before they pushed clear to win by six. The first mission on the path to the ultimate ambition of winning the championship was to make it through to the knockout stages and Castletown booked their place when they defeated Na Fianna by 1-12 to 0-11 at Bohermeen in a match that they controlled most of the way. A Michael Hickey goal helped them to lead by the minimum (1-6 to 0-8) at the break and with Aidan Young, Noel Farrelly and Barry Smith particularly impressive they edged clear in the second half to make it quite comfortable at the end. A fifth successive victory in the group stages followed in the seventh and last round against Donaghmore/Ashbourne at Seneschalstown when Castletown won by 2-10 to 1-11. Both sides were already through to the last eight going into that match, but the win meant that Castletown finished on top of the group thanks to six victories and just that one loss against Gaeil Colmcille. Alan Smyth pounced with two goals in a very productive 10-minute spell in the first half and those scores helped Castletown to lead by all of eight points (2-5 to 0-3) at the interval. That deficit left Donaghmore/Ashbourne with something of a mountain to climb, but they battled back well in the second period as Castletown eased up. However, they had left themselves with far too much to do and were two points adrift at the end. Castletown's reward for such a progressive group campaign was a quarter-final meeting with neighbours Nobber that attracted a big attendance to Syddan. County forward Brian Farrell was in very impressive form for Colm Coyle's team in the opening period and that's never a good sign for the opposition. Nobber were looking very good with a 0-9 to 0-5 advantage at the break and only one outcome appeared likely at that stage as Castletown had under-performed in the opening half as they struggled to find their feet. But they were a transformed team in the second half when they played with renewed flair and confidence and, significantly, they limited the supply of ball going into the very dangerous Farrell. The result was that Nobber managed to add only a solitary point to their tally in the second period, which represented a highly impressive defensive display, and with Castletown notching eight they were three ahead at the final whistle, winning by 0-13 to 0-10. Rathkenny, managed by former Walterstown and Meath player Eamonn O'Brien, provided the opposition in what had the makings of a mouth-watering semi-final between the neighbouring clubs. Rathkenny had improved dramatically after a less than encouraging start to the group campaign to make it to the penultimate hurdle and they were clearly determined to continue their progress and make it to a first Intermediate Championship final since way back in 1934. It was a disappointing day at Pairc Tailteann in late September for Castletown who never managed to lead and scored a paltry two points in the first half, at the end of which they trailed by 0-2 to 0-4. That showing certainly didn't augur well for their prospects of making it to the decider and a Thomas Rowan goal after 43 minutes proved invaluable to Rathkenny and with a 1-6 to 0-3 lead at that stage they were very much in the driving seat. Castletown did manage to summon up a mini-revival and cut the deficit in half, but it fell well short and Rathkenny had four points to spare at the finish, winning by 1-9 to 0-8 to set up a final date against Drumconrath who got the better of Oldcastle at the same venue the following afternoon. Perhaps Castletown's below par showing was summed up by the fact that they didn't register their first score from play until 13 minutes into the second half. That's not the sort of form that earns you a place in a championship final and was disappointing from a team that is capable of so much better. Club secretary Darren Clarke was, quite understandably, very disappointed with the defeat just one step away from the final, but struggled to put his finger on what went wrong as Castletown under-performed to such an extent against Rathkenny. "We were very consistent in the group stages of the championship and won six of our seven games," he said as he reflected on the campaign. "But it went wrong in the semi-final against Rathkenny. "We tend to have awful trouble winning knockout games in the Intermediate Championship and have lost a lot of quarter-finals. That was our first semi-final appearance in five years. It's hard to know what went wrong, but maybe it was over-confidence. It was a big disappointment." But judging by the amount of young talent coming through the future certainly looks very promising for Castletown as they continue to pursue that overdue intermediate title and a return to senior football. "We are hopeful every year going into the championship," Clarke added. "We have a fair bit of young talent coming through and had two players - Jonathan Ginnity and Gerry Farrelly - on the Meath minor team this year. Shane Farrelly was a member of the county under-17 team, so the talent is coming through." MORE SEMI-FINAL WOES Castletown's second string operated in the Junior C Championship and they progressed from a group that also included Dunderry, Simonstown Gaels, Wolfe Tones, St. Ultan's and Ballivor to earn a quarter-final ticket against Moynalvey at Simonstown. They won that game very comfortably by 1-12 to 0-6 but, as was the case with the intermediate team, their campaign came to an end at the semi-final stage when Duleek had eight points (1-13 to 1-5) to spare at Seneschalstown. Tweet

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