Sometimes we need to look beyond the stark facts to see the real picture. Reality can lie hidden behind cold statistics, so best to look a little closer before making any harsh judgements. After the heroics of 2006, Drumhowan experienced something of a reality check in '07. A poor start to the intermediate league ultimately meant the previous year's junior champions were relegated back to the bottom grade but, unlike many clubs, Drumhowan can draw a lot of positives from the year. There's no reason in the world why this team can't bounce straight back up. On the face of it, a quick glance at the end-of-year table would suggest that '07 was a bad year for Drumhowan. However, the true picture isn't quite as bleak as that painted by the final standings. Okay, relegation is far from ideal and certainly represents a backward step after the stunning junior double of 2006, but it's not the end of the world by any means and a study of the club's form over the course of the entire season offers much cause for optimism. For various reasons, Drumhowan made a disastrous start to the league. This is where the damage was done. But their form in the back straight was hugely encouraging. Here, they were as impressive as anybody. If this was 'the real Drumhowan', then '07 was a mere blip and they'll be straight back up. Donal McAdam is hoping this'll be the case: "Obviously, after winning the junior double the previous year, it worked out badly for us, but the form we showed in the second half of the year was a better reflection of our ability and it gives up plenty of reason to be confident going into the new year." Drumhowan suffered an injury crisis in the first part of the season. Seven of the starting team from the JFC final didn't play the first round and they never got their best team out thereafter either. Former Monaghan player James McElroy - junior Footballer of the Year in 2006 - was out for virtually the entire year with complications stemming from a broken bone in his foot, fielding only once, while a raft of other injuries and unavailabilities left the team seriously hamstrung early on. Gradually, though, things fell into place a little better and the players more than redeemed themselves on the 'back nine', even if they narrowly failed to secure survival in a very tight and luckless finish. Donal, who managed the team alongside Hughie Markey, takes the story up: "In the first half, we only got three points from nine games, which left us playing catch-up. In the second half, we welcomed Stephen McGinnity and a couple of others back into the fold and it started to go well. "We ended up on 14 points and the cut-off was 15. It was frustrating to lose our so narrowly but we can take heart from some of the performances. We won our last two games but unfortunately every other result that could go against us did in the last two or three weeks. We left ourselves in that position with the bad start but the lads will learn from the year. "In the second half of the season, it was all positive. The boys stayed at it right to the end and the attitude in the camp was great. We had good turn-outs at training all year and we were happy with the commitment of all the players. It's onwards and upwards - and we will come back." For the second successive year, Drumhowan captured the county U21 Division Three title. That side was managed by Gerry Quinn and Gavin Sheridan and the Flanagan Cup was retained with a superb victory over Tyholland in the final. Drumhowan started tentatively and were adrift at the short whistle, but they were a transformed team after the interval and captain Mark O'Neill had the honour of collecting the silverware on behalf of his colleagues. In light of that mid-summer success, Donal is adamant that relegation is only an inconvenience for Drumhowan and that the future is bright. "The U21s did well again and the first team showed tremendous character in the run-in. They only lost three times in the second half of the league and one of those defeats was by one point and another by two points. We were very competitive in that phase of the competition - as good an anybody - but we had too much to do "Next year, the target will be to win the junior championship again and to go back intermediate. We are still a very young team and with two U21 wins in a row as well as the junior double in 2006, we know we have the nucleus of a good side here. Most of them also played in the minor final three years ago, joined with Ballybay [St Patrick's], so we have plenty of good footballers." Drumhowan beat Aghabog in the first round of the 2007 Monaghan IFC but lost to Cremartin by three points in the second round after gallantly closing a nine-point deficit but running out of time. In the back door, a contentious refereeing decision effectively cost them against Monaghan Harps. That was the end of that but the Geraldines had at least proven that middle-tier championship football is not beyond them. Generally, they had competed exceptionally well. A vast amount of work is being invested on the juvenile front within the club, under the watchful eyes of Mark Hughes, Francis McGinnity and Anthony Brennan to name a few. A winter coaching programme has been implemented for 8-15-year-olds and the club hopes to have a few more new faces coming through the pipelines from this. Facilities-wise, Drumhowan has made remarkable progress in recent years. McKeown Park has always boasted one of the finest natural surfaces in the county anyway but great work has been carried out to upgrade the pitch and associated facilities. Improvement work on the main pitch commenced in 2003, incorporating the installation of a new drainage system. A training pitch was purchased in 2004, developed in '05 and officially opened in '06, with the excellent development committee under the chairmanship of Mickey McElroy supervising proceedings. Hughie Duffy, Frank Connolly, Peter Duffy and Patsy Duffy have also been to the forefront of these improvements. Club members carried out a lot of the work themselves. The spirit and goodwill of the local community was in evidence as a large number of volunteers got their hands dirty to make sure the various projects were finished on time. Drumhowan's top-class training pitch comes complete with floodlights and the next plan is to install a floodlighting system on the main pitch. Clubmen have no intention of slowing down. In the club's community centre, things had gone a bit quiet but that has changed for the better now as the local community group under Tommy McArdle has moved in and completely refurbished the facility, which is a perfect arrangement for both parties. Using lotto funding, the club is currently halfway through building a new extension with dressing-rooms and public toilet facilities, which they plan to open in 2008. "There is still a great community spirit here and a lot of people are putting in a lot of effort," Donal concludes. "We're putting a proper infrastructure in place, including the best facilities and juvenile structures, to produce young players and look after them as best we can." Tweet

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