After a near disastrous 2006, Carnaross showed a welcome return to form this year by reaching the knock-out stages of the intermediate football championship. Club secretary Brendan O'Reilly was pleased with the team's much-improved displays and is hopeful that they can mount a serious title challenge in 2008. Having only avoided relegation to the junior ranks last year by virtue of a play-off win over Na Fianna, Carnaross were determined to regain winning ways in 2007 and, after reaching the quarter-finals of the intermediate championship, it seems fair to say that they achieved just that. In 2006, the North Meath side was severely weakened by injuries to key players Gavin Murphy and John L McGee, who were forced to sit out the entire championship campaign after suffering broken legs in a league tie against Ballivor. And while 2007 was another difficult year for Carnaross on the injury front, they refused to let this hold them back and put a number of impressive performances together to qualify for the last eight of the championship where their involvement was eventually ended by neighbours Gaeil Colmcille. "We're happy enough with how the year went for us," explains Brendan O'Reilly, who has just completed his first year as club secretary. "When you consider where we started out from, you'd have to be pleased with how it went. In the space of 12 months, we've gone from relegation candidates to quarter-finalists. That's a big improvement and great credit is due to the management and players for turning things around. "We also retained our Division 2 league status which was very important from the point of view that we are getting good games at that level. Carnaross can only benefit from playing against strong senior teams on a regular basis." O'Reilly was delighted with the players response to new manager and Moynalty man David Farrelly who, he believes, used last year's relegation scare to motivate them. "The players felt that they had let themselves down last year, so I don't think David had much problem getting them up for this years challenge. They felt they had a point to prove and David, along with his selectors Gavin Murphy and Anthony Brady, got a great response. No-one in Carnaross wanted another year like last year and that definitely spurred everyone on," he says. The Cavan-border outfit drew their Group C championship opener at Rathkenny on April 15 with local rivals St. Michael's. Carnaross looked set for victory when they led by two points with time almost up, but the Carlanstown men battled back and a last-gasp point from Daithi Regan earned them a 1-10 each draw. Early points from John L McGee, Ollie Murphy (two) and Brian Comaskey had propelled Carnaross into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead before St. Michael's replied with the opening goal. This was immediately cancelled out by a similar score from Murphy and further points from McGee, Murphy and Killian Porter had the maroon and golds ahead by 1-7 to 1-3 at the interval. Carnaross made a sluggish start to the second half and within 10 minutes of the restart, St. Michael's had regained parity. In a tense final quarter, Carnaross looked to have done enough when McGee and Porter put them two points clear, but St. Michael's fought back to claim a share of the spoils. David Farrelly's charges secured their first win of the campaign at Pairc Tailteann a fortnight later when they overcame Donaghmore/Ashbourne by 1-11 to 0-10. The East Meath side made the brighter start but Carnaross recovered with points from Ollie Murphy (two), Brian Comaskey and the two McGees, John L and Dermot, to lead by 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time. Within a minute of the restart, Murphy set up John L for the only goal and Carnaross victory was never in any doubt thereafter. Further points from Murphy and Declan Reilly had stretched their advantage to 1-9 to 0-5 before Donaghmore/Ashbourne rallied to close the gap to three points. But their comeback hopes were ended by late points from Murphy and Reilly. Carnaross moved onto five points in Group C following an impressive 2-7 to 0-5 victory over Cortown at a very hot Kells venue on June 10. There was nothing to separate the sides in the opening quarter, but then John L McGee took centre stage with a two-goal salvo to put Carnaross in the driving seat. The Comaskeys, Eamonn and Brian, along with Declan Reilly, added points to send the maroon and golds into the break with a 2-3 to 0-2 lead. Carnaross consolidated their advantage in the second half, and points from Murphy, Peter Mullan and Reilly ensured a comfortable win. Carnaross unbeaten run came to an end when they lost their final group match to St. Ultan's by 2-8 to 3-12 at Kilmainhamwood. Despite the loss, they still qualified for the knock-out stages as runners-up to Donaghmore/Ashbourne. Playing their first championship match in over two months, Carnaross got off to a great start and an early goal from McGee, combined with points from Murphy and Porter, had them 1-5 to 0-3 in front at the end of the first quarter. But St. Ultan's refused to lie down and battled back to trail by the minimum, 0-8 to 1-6, at half-time. St. Ultan's resumed in impressive fashion and an unanswered 2-3 in a devastating 10-minute spell had them eight points to the good. Carnaross were thrown a lifeline when John L McGee fisted home his second goal, but St. Ultan's hit back with a third goal to kill off their opponents. To add to Carnaross misery, they had a penalty saved in the closing moments. Carlanstown was the venue for Carnaross quarter-final showdown with Gaeil Colmcille on September 23. McGee and Murphy posted early points for Carnaross before their lead was wiped out by a Kells goal. Carnaross were dealt a further blow when Murphy - who brought the curtain down on a glittering inter-county career this year - was forced off with a knee injury. Moments later, player/selector Gavin Murphy was unlucky to see his fisted effort come back off the crossbar, but it was still all to play for at half-time with Gaeil Colmcille holding a slender 1-4 to 0-5 lead. Carnaross made a strong start to the second half and they were quickly back on level terms thanks to points from McGee and Paddy Nugent. However, Kells steadied themselves and they reeled off the last five points of the game to emerge as 1-9 to 0-7 winners. Brendan, who was one of three brothers to play for Carnaross in the 1980s and 1990s (John captained the 1991 junior championship winning side, while Eugene was another stalwart of that team), is looking forward to 2008 and the prospect of the Pairc Naomh Ciaran outfit building on this year's progress. "If we can stay injury-free and keep everyone on board, we'll be there or thereabouts for the intermediate championship next year," he predicts. "We've had no luck whatsoever with injuries over the past few years and there was no real improvement on that front this year. Peter Mullen, John L McGee, Patrick Smith, Peter Nugent and Ollie Murphy all had their fair share of injuries this year. Ollie was a huge loss to us when he went off against Kells, but he underwent a cartilage operation in October and hopefully he'll be back right for next year. "You couldn't question the players commitment this year. They gave it everything but an even bigger effort will be required if we're to go all the way in 2008." O'Reilly is greatly encouraged by the huge strides Carnaross have made at underage level in recent times. Along with PJ Gillic and Malachy McDonnell, he coached this year's under 17 team and is expecting a number of the side to graduate to the intermediate team in the near future. "PJ, Malachy and myself have been with this team since they were under 12s and there are five or six of them ready to take the next step. But they'll need a year or two to find their feet at intermediate level and that's why it's so important that the lads who might be thinking about retiring play on for another year at least. "We're very lucky in Carnaross to have such a good underage structure and to have such committed people working with the various teams. From the under 10s, who are coached by PJ Gillic and Sean Lynch, up to the minors, great work is being done. "The under 12s went to a county final this year, while the under 14s went to a semi-final. We recently purchased a second piece of land beside our existing pitch which we intend to develop into a second pitch for the juveniles," he concludes. The Carnaross team which faced Gaeil Colmcille in the IFC quarter-final was: Eamonn Comaskey; Patrick Smith, Thomas Nugent, Peter Nugent; Alan Smyth, Patrick Nugent (0-1), Dermot McGee; Brian Comaskey, Conor Woods; John L. McGee (0-5), Killian Porter, Gavin Murphy; Ollie Murphy (0-1), Stephen Yore, Daniel Reilly. Sub used: Declan Reilly for Ollie Murphy. Tweet

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