One game above all others probably summed up Oldcastle's struggle in the 2007 Intermediate Football Championship. In 2006 they defeated Gaeil Colmcille by eight points in a quarter-final at Ballinlough and played well enough to suggest that they might just be ready to go all the way in the very near future. The Kells combination easily reversed that result in this year's championship. Their 2006 dream was shattered next time out when Drumconrath's Wayne Reilly caught them with a stunning Maurice Fitzgerald-like late point from a line ball in the semi-final at Pairc Tailteann. It was a sickening way to lose so close to the final, but there was enough throughout the campaign to suggest that Oldcastle would be strong contenders for the Mattie McDonnell Cup this year. How wrong we all were. Instead, the championship campaign gone by turned out to be more of a struggle for survival in the intermediate grade for a club that had contested the SFC final nine years earlier and was relegated back to the intermediate grade in 2002 when they lost the relegation play-off to Summerhill on an atrociously wet day in Kells. And that one game that stands out from their results in '07 was against Gaeil Colmcille, the team they had beaten with such ease approximately 11 months earlier. This time, back in Ballinlough, the Kells side reversed that result in no uncertain terms when winning by five points. That represented an extraordinary 13-point turnaround and demonstrated just how much Oldcastle's fortunes had changed for the worst in a relatively short space of time. The campaign was a real struggle overall, with injuries not helping the cause, and in the end they went into their final group assignment against pointless Ballivor with just two points to their name, but luckily they had a vastly superior points difference. To go with their struggle in the championship, they also found the going very tough in the A League Div. 2 and were relegated. What a contrast from the previous year when they lost only one game in league and championship. Oldcastle's opposition in group A of the championship looked tough when the draws were made earlier in the year, especially with the smaller divisions leaving significantly less room for slip-ups. Apart from Gaeil Colmcille and Ballivor, the section also included Nobber, who carried the considerable attacking threat of county player Brian Farrell, Castletown and Na Fianna, so it was clear that it would take a big effort to secure a place in the knockout stages. Their manager for 2007 was Gerry Hanley from Munterconnaught, the former Corofin player who won Galway championship medals with that club, while the selectors handed the responsibility of helping to guide Oldcastle to hoped-for success were John Rahill, Mickey Kavanagh and Eamonn Moore. Nobber provided the first round opposition at Carlanstown and Oldcastle opened with a less than inspiring performance as they went under to a 1-9 to 1-13 defeat. Nobber started well and raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead, but Oldcastle found their feet and a goal from Eoin Gilsenan helped them to trail by only 1-3 to 0-8 at the interval. There was little between the teams for much of the second half, but Nobber pulled away in the last 10 minutes to record a deserved victory. It meant the pressure was already on Oldcastle and their second round outing against Castletown at Kells took on considerable importance. Unfortunately, this match ended on a sour note. Oldcastle had Robert Pakenham sent off on receipt of a second yellow card with five minutes remaining, but it was after the final whistle that things got ugly. However, despite the wet conditions this was an otherwise entertaining encounter which Oldcastle led by 0-4 to 0-2 at the interval, before Castletown got back to level terms within eight minutes of the restart. Boosted by a Niall Mangan goal Oldcastle pushed four points clear and they were still that margin in front at the end of normal time. No less than seven minutes of injury time were played and this was a tense period for Oldcastle as Castletown reeled off three unanswered points to reduce the deficit to the minimum. The final whistle eventually sounded and Oldcastle were still ahead by the minimum as they won by 1-7 to 0-9 to re-ignite their qualification bid. Na Fianna had just managed to escape the drop to the junior ranks in 2006 when they beat Slane in the relegation play-off, but they possess a fair few talented players and had a shock in store for Oldcastle when the sides met in the third round at Athboy as they recorded a narrow 1-9 to 1-7 victory. A good finish to the first half enabled Oldcastle to lead by 0-6 to 0-4 at the change of ends and they looked to be heading for victory when a brilliant goal from Niall Mangan helped them to push clear. However, the Enfield/Baconstown combination were in no mood to lie down and die and pulled the deficit back to three points. JP Farrelly slotted over a free to settle Oldcastle again, but they failed to push on from there, didn't register a score subsequently and were eventually punished when Sean Griffin goaled from a long range free to earn Na Fianna a dramatic victory. It was a shattering defeat for Oldcastle and a massive setback to their championship ambitions. Indeed, it probably just about summed up a difficult year. Things got a great deal worse next time out when Gaeil Colmcille got revenge for the previous year's quarter-final defeat with a 1-10 to 0-8 victory at Ballinlough. It was a case of sweet revenge for the Kells men, but another big blow to Oldcastle. Now, instead of thinking about the knockout stages, Oldcastle were scanning the group A table to see just how serious the threat to their intermediate status was a short few years after they had played in the Senior Championship. The positive news was that Ballivor had a far less favourable points difference to Oldcastle and looked doomed to a relegation battle. UNDERAGE SUCCESS Oldcastle enjoyed an under-age success in July when they won the Under-16 FL Div. 3B title, beating Wolfe Tones by 3-10 to 2-7 in a well contested final at Moynalty. They were aided by the wind in the first half and took their chances impressively to open up a healthy seven-point (2-7 to 1-3) lead at the interval. That advantage stretched to 10 points (3-9 to 1-5) in the early stages of the second period and things were looking very promising. However, Wolfe Tones, to their credit, never gave up but Oldcastle were six points clear at the end and were champions. Diarmuid Coakley put his name to two of the Oldcastle goals and Colm Melia got the other, with Coakley finishing as their top scorer on 2-2. Melia also rowed in with a couple of points, as did Nicky Galligan. The Oldcastle team in the final was - R. Lynch; E. McPartland, A. McCabe; P. Lynch, C. McHugh, E. Feeney; M. Foley (0-1), T. Rahill (0-1); N. Galligan (0-2), R. Farrelly (0-1), Q. Halpin (0-1); C. Melia (1-2), D. Coakley (2-2). Subs - S. Tierney, K. Williams, S. Quinn-Quigley. Oldcastle also contested the Under-14 FC Div. 2 final, but met with disappointment on the big day when Dunderry beat them by 3-13 to 3-8 at Pairc Tailteann in early June. They looked to be heading in the direction of the title as Bridgetta Lynch and Sinead Coyle played superbly in the first-half and with Lynch scoring their first goal after 14 minutes following good approach play by Josh Dysney and Polish native Arnos Kasules things were going favourably. The goal left them ahead by 1-3 to 0-2 and their prospects were enhanced even further when Robert Farrelly and Kasules pointed to stretch the lead to 1-5 to 0-3. However, the danger signs were there because Dunderry were creating plenty of chances and missing most of them, as evidenced by their tally of 10 wides in the first half. They soon started to find their range with consistency and a powerful six-minute spell before the break enabled them to catch Oldcastle, then pass them out and retire with a 2-7 to 1-5 advantage at the change of ends. Another goal from Lynch helped Oldcastle to reduce the deficit to two points in the early stages of the second half and when Robert Farrelly recorded their third goal they were level (3-6 to 2-9) and it was all to play for with 20 minutes remaining. However, Dunderry's third goal gave them a big boost in the closing stages and they were five points to the good at the end. Losing a final is always very disappointing, but it was a great campaign by the Oldcastle players and lining out at Pairc Tailteann must have represented a tremendous thrill for all concerned. The Oldcastle team in the final was - R. Cadden; J. McNamee, J. Weir, J. Smith; S. Maxwell, K. O'Reilly, K. Williams; R. Farrelly (1-3), S. Mangan (0-2); S. Coyle (0-1), E. Leavy, E. McNamee (0-1); J. Dysney, A. Kasules (0-1), B. Lynch (2-0). Sub - E. McEnroe for J. McNamee. Tweet

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