In recent years the fortunes of Kilmainhamwood in the SFC have had all the components of a gripping thriller and 2006 saw the latest sequel unfold as the 'wood once again performed a great escape to avoid sliding into the intermediate ranks. By David Jennings. Following another mediocre showing in the group stages of the SFC, survival was once again on the agenda for Kilmainhamwood and for the third time in four years, they held their nerve to prolong their stay in the top flight. After summonsing Ballivor to the drop in 2003, Dunderry fell victim to the battling qualities of the 'wood last year but this time it was a Cortown side, looking to extend their ten year tenure in the top grade, who stood in their way. Marginal favourites prior to the outing, Kilmainhamwood lived up to the tag of survival specialists by producing one of the gritty displays that we have become accustomed to seeing from them in relegation deciders, by exacting a 0-13 to 0-11 defeat on the Bohermeen parish side. One member of the Kilmainhamwood side who has continually fought to ensure his side's stay in the SFC is Colm Gilcreest and although he made be better known for his snooker exploits, the centre-half forward was a central figure in his sides disposal of Cortown, scoring three points. "We always seem to be able to produce our best displays in relegation matches and once again against Cortown we were able to up our performance when we needed to. It's just a pity we can seem to find that sort of form earlier in the championship," Gilcreest stated. "A lot of this team have played both senior and intermediate football and they really don't want to go back down to that grade again," he added. Evidently lacking in confidence entering the clash, Kilmainhamwood took time to find their feet and found themselves 0-1 to 0-5 in arrears after the opening quarter with Cortown adopting a do or die attitude from the outset. But this Kilmainhamwood side seems to perform best when faced with adversity and, aided by the switch of Ray Madden to midfield, they began to chip away at the deficit and points from Francie Owens, Ray Magee, Stephen Kiernan and the impressive Gilcreest ensured the' wood held a 0-8 to 0-6 interval advantage. Although playing into a stiff breeze in the second half, Kilmainhamwood managed to keep at arms length with Magee and Kiernan leading the charge with a brace of points each. Cortown, to their credit, made Kilmainhamwood pull out all the stops and managed to reduce the deficit back to the minimum, 0-11 to 0-12, entering injury time but Kiernan, a member of the Meath Minor panel who tasted success in the Leinster final, copperfastened the victory by curling over a late free. The campaign started on a positive note for Kilmainhamwood as they managed to earn a share of the spoils with Dunshaughlin, one of the early favourites to lift the Keegan Cup, at Simonstown. After taking over the reins midway through the previous campaign from Ray Cullivan, Raymond Cunningham would have been delighted with the way his side upset the odds to earn an unlikely draw, 2-7 to 1-10. Indeed, Cunningham may have felt slightly aggrieved that his side didn't collect the win as Dunshaughlin needed a late Conor Staunton goal accompanied by a converted Trevor Dowd free to haul back the' wood. Before that late surge from their opponents, Kilmainhamwood had looked a composed outfit with McGee and Kiernan leading the scoring charge with 1-3 and 1-1 respectively which looked to have set them up for a famous victory. Looking to build on that result, Kilmainhamwood next assignment was a Navan O'Mahonys side eager to avenge their cruel exit from the 2005 championship and after holding their own in the early exchanges, Cunningham's charges could not contain the Brews Hill outfit who eventually ran out comfortable 2-11 to 0-4 winners. "Against Navan O'Mahonys we started well enough and stayed with them early on but we gave away two sloppy goals and then Ray (Magee) missed a penalty so a few heads began to drop," Gilcreest commented. After that confidence sapping defeat, the 1996 Keegan Cup winners travelled to Kilberry to take on the previous years IFC champions Duleek. But on this occasion Kilmainhamwood relied too heavily on the services of Ray McGee who posted all but one of their scores and with Petsie Curran and Chris Carney in inspired form, Barney Rock's men coasted to a 1-12 to 0-7 success. Following a long break, which saw Eammon Barry and his troops take centre stage, Kilmainhamwood re-emerged a rejuvenated outfit and claimed the scalp of Summerhill at Sean Newman Park, Bohermeen. After shooting out of blocks, Kilmainhamwood gained an early stranglehold on proceedings and with McGee and Francis Owens in excellent points scoring form, the 'wood were full value for their 0-11 to 0-9 victory. But this was as good as it got for Kilmainhamwood and a 2-4 to 1-11 defeat to Blackhall Gaels in the fifth round left Cunningham's men hovering close to the foot of the group. While there were some positives to take from the loss to Blackhall, the same can not be said about the demolition job from St. Patrick's at Seneschalstown. Kilmainhamwood met a Stamullen side in a rich vein of form and from an early stage it became apparent that they were unable to contain the physicality of Cormac Sullivan at full-forward nor the scoring prowess of Barry Campbell. A 1-6 to 5-20 walloping, the widest margin defeat for any side throughout the course of the championship, left many pundits pencilling in Kilmainhamwood for the drop. The last round of group matches saw Cunningham's outfit take on a Simonstown side pining to claim their berth in the knock-out stages. If Kilmainhamwood could secure a victory or bank on Duleek getting the better of fellow relegation contenders Summerhill, then their SFC status would be preserved. But the 'wood were hit with a double blow as the news of Summerhill win over Duleek filtered through following a heavy, 0-5 to 1-15, loss to Colm O'Rourke's charges which meant for the second consecutive year, their survival attempt would go down to the wire. "You don't start any season thinking that you are going to be relegated but when one or two results just don't go your way it is very hard for lads to stay motivated," a frustrated Gilcreest remarked. While the two point defeat of Cortown enabled Kilmainhamwood to retain their pitch at the top level, they were unable to perform a similar act in AFL Division 1 as a sole victory over Summerhill wasn't enough to stop Cunningham's troops from stumbling down to Division 2. That impressive 3-6 to 0-12 win over the 'hill was overshadowed by a number of poor displays and Gilcreest believes that the reason for their poor league form was their lack of squad depth. "During our league campaign we were struggling to get players to turn up week in-week out for games and for some matches we just managed to scrape together the bare fifteen which left it very hard to get results," he added. It was not all doom and glum for Kilmainhamwood in the league and on a couple of occasions they were unlucky not to come away with points, most notably in narrow defeats to St. Patrick's, 1-10 to 0-14, and Skryne, 2-8 to 3-7. While Kilmainhamwood followers will be happy that their side will be playing senior football again next year, the season as a whole was slightly disappointing and Gilcreest is of the opinion that the quality of players which the club possess are too good to be constantly dicing with the drop. "As it turned out it was an achievement to stay up but the footballers which Kilmainhamwood have are far too good to be in relegation deciders every year," he said. While many of the Kilmainhamwood outfit have been around for the last decade such as Aidan Crosbie and McGee, Gilcreest is convinced that the talent which the club is producing will ensure that Kilmainhamwood continue to keep their rightful place at the top table. "There are nine or ten lads who have plenty of miles on the clock but we also have a good few promising youngsters like Paddy Carolan, Michael Shankey and Stephen Kiernan who look like they will turn out to be very good footballers," Gilcreest concluded. The Kilmainhamwood team that defeated Cortown in the SFC relegation decider in October: M. Clarke; S. Mulligan, S. Russell, D. Cunningham; A. Farrelly, R. Madden, M. Shankey; L. Shankey, A. Crosbie; R. Magee (0-4), C. Gilcreest (0-3), K. Russell; P. Carolan, F. Owens (0-2), S. Kiernan (0-4). Subs - D. McGrath for Mulligan. Tweet

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