After slipping down from the Intermediate ranks two years ago, Drumree have found it hard to make an impact in the JFC and 2007 proved to be another frustrating year for the club as they failed to progress beyond the group stages of the third tier competition. While Drumree may not have topped the list of potential candidates for JFC honours at the beginning of the campaign, they were slightly unfortunate not to have made the knockout stages with narrow defeats in three of their games ultimately proving their undoing. It was never going to be easy to progress from a group that contained Clann na nGael, Longwood, St Mary's, Boardsmill and Curraha but Drumree made a decent fist of it and gave their loyal supporters some cause for optimism along the way. John Cullinane has been Drumree's talisman for a number of years now and the former county player reflected on the campaign with a little disappointment, believing that it could have produced much more had things went their way. "We put ourselves in a good position to qualify for the quarter-final after beating Boardsmill and St Mary's but we lost out narrowly to Curraha in our second last game which was a real blow," Cullinane said. "I suppose it was a disappointing year as a whole because we didn't really make an impact in the league or the championship and with the calibre of players that we have we should be capable of challenging the top teams." "We picked up a lot of injuries along the way which made it hard but the lads that came in did well and with that little bit of luck we might have sneaked into the knockout stages." Being a dual club, Drumree had to try and accommodate both hurling and football and Cullinane admitted that it was quite an arduous task in keeping both codes going at the same time. "The football and hurling did clash a bit during the year and as we are a senior hurling side we had to put quite a bit of effort into that and I suppose that affected the football team at certain times." "A lot of the same lads play both hurling and football and they could end up training every night of the week which has a knock-on effect. It is very hard to stay motivated when you are constantly training and it is something that we just have to deal with." Cullinane has been around the block long enough to know that the tight games are the hardest to come out the right side of and the imposing attacker felt that his troops were forced to taste defeat in some games that we were well within their grasp. "At the start of the campaign we knew that we wouldn't be that far off the best sides in the championship and I suppose we proved that by running Moylagh and Longwood close in our games with them." "Both those would be regarding as two of the stronger outfits in the grade and we were well able to compete with them." "We actually could have beat those two teams if things had have went our way but that's the way it goes and you have to take your chances when they come your way", Cullinane added. Drumree opened their Group A campaign against a youthful Longwood outfit that were tipped for outright honours prior to the commencement of the championship. But the Dunshaughlin parish side almost caused a major shock courtesy of some fine scoring from Cullinane and in the end just came up short losing out by narrowly 0-8 to 0-9. It was an indication of what was to come in the remainder of the group as Drumree's failure to take their chances cost them dearly. A cosy 0-14 to 1-6 victory over Boardsmill offered hope that maybe a place in the knockout stages may be in the offing. But such thoughts soon went west with defeats to Moylagh, Curraha and Clann na nGael ensuring that a hugely impressive victory over St Mary's (1-11 to 0-3) was of little worth. With a couple of talented youngsters from St Martin's ready to make the step up to senior level in the forthcoming season, Drumree should be capable of challenging for JFC honours in the coming years. Hurlers hold onto senior status Survival was always going to be priority for Drumree in the SHC and it was mission accomplished with a three-point defeat of Blackhall Gaels in the group stages of the competition enough to keep their heads above water. With both sides two of the likelier candidates for a relegation battle, there was plenty to play for when they met. Drumree were always in the driving seat and although they did concede a second half goal, they had done enough to coast to a comfortable victory, 0-12 to 1-6. Drumree almost caused a major shock when they locked horns with Boardsmill but the concession of two goals ultimately proved their downfall as they lost out by two points, with the board reading 1-11 to 2-10 after the hour's action. That loss was one of four defeats in Group B for Drumree with Kilmessan, Kildalkey and Killyon predictably getting the better of them. The performances of David Crimmins were central to Drumree's survival and the former county football enjoyed an excellent season in the green and gold jersey of the Meath hurlers as well. Crimmins played in all of Meath Christy Ring Cup outings and was arguably their most consistent player all year and he brought that form into his club matches with Drumree, catching the eye of many astute judges in various encounters. Tweet

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