Ballymore's reputation as one of the most difficult teams to beat in the intermediate championship wasn't evident last year when four straight defeats almost resulted in relegation. Team captain Barry McDermott acknowledges that the effort of the players simply wasn't good enough and that a big improvement will be required in the coming season. For a team that regularly features at the business end of the intermediate football championship and is renowned for being a tough nut to crack, Ballymore were a major letdown in 2008. After reaching the previous year's quarter-final without their inspirational midfielder Paddy Martin, who was serving a lengthy suspension, the green and golds were expected to have a major say in the destination of the Peter Geraghty Cup, but failed to live up to expectations as they crashed to four consecutive defeats. Indeed, they looked to be relegation contenders until they upset the odds by beating Kilbeggan Shamrocks in their final group match. That victory, combined with Caulry's defeat to Moate All-Whites, saw Ballymore avoid the relegation play-offs on scoring difference. "Our performances weren't good enough last year and I have no problem saying that," Ballymore captain Barry McDermott states. "At the start of the year, we had high hopes of reaching the knockout stages and building on the progress we made the previous year. But after a couple of bad results, the heads began to drop and the lads' confidence started to go. "There was a poor attitude shown at times, but in fairness to everyone, when our backs were to the wall and we needed a big performance, we produced it against Kilbeggan. We never expected to find ourselves in a situation where we were threatened by relegation, but that's exactly what happened." The full back, whose brother Bobby is also a mainstay of the defence, admits that Moate did Ballymore a big favour by beating Caulry on the same day as they bagged their only win of the campaign at Kilbeggan's expense. "Moate beat Caulry by a point and that was enough to keep us out of the relegation play-off on scoring difference. If Caulry had got anything out of that game, we would have been the ones facing Rosemount in the play-off. It was much too close for comfort," he explains. Under the management of former Rosemount and Westmeath full back Tom Darcy, Ballymore were facing an uphill battle from the time they lost their championship opener to Moate All-Whites at Pairc Chiarain. On one of the few sunny days of last summer, Ballymore looked to be in a strong position at half-time when they trailed by just three points, 1-3 to 1-6, having played against the wind. However, they could only manage one further point in the second half as Moate pulled away for a comfortable 1-10 to 1-4 win. Ballymore fell behind to two early Jimmy Gillivan points before Daley McCormack and Derek Molloy brought them back onto level terms. Michael Broder then punched a goal for Moate, only for Dermot Farrell to reply almost immediately with a similar score for the green and golds. Moate responded with three unanswered points, however, and it took Ballymore 14 minutes to register their next score from a McCormack free. Gillivan rounded off the first half scoring with a point, and was also unlucky not to find the net when another effort came back off the upright. Ballymore were well in contention at half-time, but were restricted to a solitary point after the restart - that coming from a Derek Molloy free in the 40th minute. By contrast, Moate raised four white flags with substitutes Anthony Malone and Mark Ennis both finding the target. Maryland consigned Ballymore to their second defeat when they had six points to spare at Cusack Park. The champions-elect and Celebrity Bainisteoir winners recovered from a sluggish start to run out 1-11 to 0-8 winners. The Suedysiders got off to a great start when Ronan Farrell fisted over inside the first minute and further scores from Frank Eivers and Paddy Martin helped them to a 0-4 to 0-1 lead. But Maryland restored parity in the 20th minute when David Martin's centre was finished to the net by Tom Browne. Boosted by this goal, the Drumraney men reeled off three unanswered points in four minutes to take a 1-4 to 0-5 lead into the break. Maryland picked up from where they left off by scoring four more points without reply within 11 minutes of the restart. Despite making a number of changes, Ballymore found it difficult to make any headway and they had to reply on converted frees from John Gilligan and Derek Molloy to stay in touch. By the 57th minute, Maryland had opened up a seven-point advantage and all that their neighbours could muster in reply was a late Paddy Martin effort, which just cleared John Murray's crossbar. With both sides having lost their first two games, Ballymore and Caulry were desperate for a win when they met at Cusack Park in late July. Once again, Tom Darcy's charges were quickly into their stride with early points from Mick Dineen, John Gilligan and Anthony Kearney. After Anthony Malone had opened Caulry's account, Derek Molloy restored Ballymore's one goal advantage. Molloy had them four points clear before Robert Kenny's 19th minute goal for Caulry changed the course of the game. Kenny then brought the red and whites level with a fisted point before Alan Carroll gave them the lead. Dineen levelled for Ballymore before Carroll found the target again from a free to give the Mount Temple side a 1-5 to 0-7 lead at half-time. Caulry went two points clear following the resumption, but scores from John Gilligan and Paddy Martin tied up the scoring, 1-7 to 0-10, heading into the final quarter. However, Caulry then enjoyed a period of dominance which yielded four points to lead 1-11 to 0-10 with just one minute remaining. After a delay in play, Ballymore reduced the deficit to the minimum when Frank Hughes, Andrew Slevin and Derek Molloy combined to set up Paddy Martin for a goal. Ballymore applied further pressure thereafter, but Francis Eivers' late effort from a free failed to go over, enabling Caulry to hold out for a 1-11 to 1-10 victory. The prospect of relegation was looming large on the horizon for Ballymore after they suffered yet another defeat to Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall at Lakepoint Park. Ballymore were slow to get motoring on this occasion and trailed by 0-1 to 0-4 at the interval. Indeed, they would have found themselves further in arrears but for two great saves from experienced goalkeeper Ciaran McCormack. Within 40 seconds of the restart, the green and golds were level when Derek Molloy fed Dermot Farrell for the only goal of the game. Finea then opened up a two-point lead before young Brian Finerty, making his intermediate debut, converted a '45 and John Gilligan converted a free to tie up the scoring once again. But despite having a player red-carded late on, Finea scored the last two points to seal a 0-9 to 1-4 victory and a place in the semi-finals. Going into their final game against Kilbeggan at Kilpatrick, Ballymore knew that a win might not be good enough to stave off the threat of relegation. But with Moate doing them a big favour elsewhere, their first victory of the campaign saw them finish above Caulry on scoring difference, and thus they avoided a relegation play-off against Rosemount. In what was easily their best performance of the year, Ballymore secured a crucial 0-9 to 0-7 victory. There was very little between the teams, who were level on no fewer than six occasions. A draw looked to be on the cards when the sides were locked on 0-7 each with eight minutes remaining, but Ballymore then dug deep and were rewarded with the winning scores from John Gilligan and Mick Dineen. Kilbeggan led by 0-6 to 0-5 at half-time, but in a low-scoring and tension-filled second half, Ballymore got back on level terms through Louis Meares and Dineen before their late surge gave them the spoils. McDermott, who had a great tussle with Kilbeggan's big target man Emmett Dalton, admits that Ballymore had a lucky escape in 2008 and is hoping their fortunes will improve under new manager and ex-county hurling star Brian McCabe in the coming year. "We're aiming for a big improvement this year. We got a big shock last year, and perhaps it was the wake-up call we needed. Brian McCabe has taken over from Tom Darcy as manager, and is determined to do well. He played hurling and football with both Westmeath and New York, so clearly has a wealth of experience in the game. "The intermediate championship is very competitive with all the teams capable of beating one another on any given day. After last year's performances, no one will be expecting much from us, but that's usually when we are at our most dangerous. The last two times we won the championship (1998 and 2003), we had been written off," he points out. The decision to join forces with Milltown and form the Millmore Gaels club at underage level a few years ago has produced a number of noteworthy successes, including the under 16 league last year. Barry takes particular encouragement from the fact that Ballymore were able to field an under 21 team for the first time in a number of years in 2008. "If we hadn't amalgamated with Milltown at underage level, that would never have happened," he argues. "The fact that we were able to field an under 21 team by ourselves shows that we have plenty of talent coming." The Ballymore team which defeated Kilbeggan Shamrocks to retain their intermediate status was: Ciaran McCormack; Declan Rooney, Barry McDermott, Padraig Harrington; Andrew Slevin, Denis Eivers, Shane Rooney; Paddy Martin, Derek Molloy; Louis Meares, Mick Dineen, Alan Slevin; John Gilligan, Paul O'Halloran, Dermot Farrell. Subs used: Daley McCormack, Francis Eivers and Bobby McDermott. Tweet

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