Building on their historic Intermediate Cup success in 2007, Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall reached the championship semi-final for the first time last year. But their hopes of reaching the final were dashed by a goal-hungry Ballynacargy team. Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall continued to make steady progress in 2008 by going through the intermediate football championship unbeaten until they came unstuck against an in-form Ballynacargy at the penultimate stage. While the county's most northerly club were bitterly disappointed to miss out on a place in the final, they could take a great deal of encouragement from their form in the group stage when they won five games from five, playing some great football in the process. "We got on a good run, but unfortunately we weren't able to keep it going and losing the semi-final, after winning all of our matches before that, was a huge disappointment," says defender William Coyne. "We improved with each game, and I was convinced we would reach the final at least. But there was a four or five-week gap between our last group match against Maryland and the semi-final, and that didn't do us any favours. Ballynacargy had played a couple of games in that time, including a quarter-final against Kilbeggan, and they had a fair bit of momentum behind them." In the build-up to the semi-final, much had been made of Ballynacargy's goal-scoring capabilities. But despite scoring five against Milltownpass and six against Kilbeggan, Coyne claims Finea weren't unduly worried. "They came into the game against us in a rich vein of form, but we were still confident that we could stop them from scoring goals. So to concede three against them was obviously a shock to the system. We didn't score any and that was the difference between going through to the final and not going through." Since winning the junior championship in 1998, Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall have improved steadily and achieved a major breakthrough in 2007 when they captured the Intermediate Cup for the first time following an emphatic victory over Ballinagore. Coyne, who is studying PE teaching in DCU, acknowledges that they took much encouragement from the historic success and this was reflected in their championship performances last year. "We got a big lift from winning the Intermediate Cup, which was our first success at intermediate level. It gave us the belief that we could win the championship and that certainly looked possible until we lost to Ballynacargy. We're gaining in experience all of the time and hopefully 2009 will be our year," he adds. Under new manager Tom Keigue and his co-selectors Ray Dobson and Declan Cahill, the green and golds opened their championship campaign with a 2-11 to 1-9 victory over Kilbeggan Shamrocks at St. Loman's Lakepoint Park. The scoreline flattered the winners, who were fortunate not to concede more than one goal - scored by Emmett Dalton - before half-time. Trailing 0-6 to 1-5 at the interval and 0-9 to 1-7 after 41 minutes, Finea then got another lucky break when man of the match Daniel McDermott's attempt for a point dipped into the roof of the Kilbeggan net. They never looked back after that, with Eric Sullivan's punched goal in injury-time sealing the win. Finea chalked up their second win when accounting for Caulry by 0-9 to 1-4 at Shandonagh. After Ryan Plunkett and county panellist Niall Kilcoyne had shot early points, the winners were rocked by the concession of an unanswered 1-2, with the goal coming from a penalty. Tommy McGlynn pulled back a point to leave them trailing 0-3 to 1-2 at the interval. The second half performance was much better with Finea gaining control all over the pitch. Plunkett, Dermot Cafferty, county hurler Darren McCormack, Ronan Doolin and Micheal Reynolds all found the target as Tom Keigue's charges ran out 0-9 to 1-4 winners. The North Westmeath outfit continued their winning ways against Moate All-Whites at Rochfortbridge. A goal from Niall Kilcoyne after only 20 seconds gave them the perfect start, but Moate battled back to take a 0-7 to 1-1 lead into the break. The second half, however, belonged to Finea who were ahead by the 39th minute thanks to points from Kevin Brazil, Colin Farrell and Ryan Plunkett (two). Moate regained a two-point lead when corner back Eamonn McDermott scored a fortuitous goal in the 43rd minute, but Finea levelled through points from Kilcoyne and Plunkett before substitute Kevin Brazil swooped for their second goal eight minutes from the end to help propel them to a 2-9 to 1-7 victory. Finea made it four wins from four when they overcame Ballymore 0-9 to 1-4 at Lakepoint Park. Three points from Kevin Brazil and another from Niall Kilcoyne gave the winners a 0-4 to 0-1 half-time cushion, but the concession of a goal immediately after the restart saw their lead wiped out. The sides remained deadlocked until the closing stages when Niall Kilcoyne scored a brace of points to give the Cavan-border club the win. Finea produced arguably their finest display of the season to inflict a 0-10 to 0-7 defeat on champions-elect Maryland and qualify for the semi-final as group winners. Both teams came into the game unbeaten, but significantly Maryland had also been boosted by their victory in the Celebrity Bainisteoir series. But they had no answer to a determined Finea side whose winning margin should have been far greater. Deploying Daniel McDermott as an extra defender, Finea were well on top in the first half but went into the break only leading by a point, 0-4 to 0-3. Following the change of ends, the green and golds surged into a four-point lead thanks to two points from Darren McCormack and another from Ronan Doolin. Rising star Callum McCormack brought Maryland to within two points, but that was as close as they got as Finea closed out the game with two late Kilcoyne points. Castletown-Finea's 100 per cent record in the group stage left nobody in any doubt that they were serious contenders for the Peter Geraghty Cup. But in Ballynacargy, they met a team hitting top form at the right time, and were undone by the concession of three goals, two of which came in the final 10 minutes. Ballynacargy raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead before three Finea points in a six-minute spell from Niall Kilcoyne and Ryan Plunkett (two) left the minimum between the sides. But a Willie Murtagh goal in the 27th minute gave Bal' a 1-5 to 0-4 interval lead. As the rain continued to pour down in the second half, Tom Keigue's men closed the gap with scores from Colin Farrell, Daniel McDermott and Kilcoyne. With just a point separating the teams, substitute Michael Loran gave Bal' some breathing space once again when he netted in the 50th minute. Kevin Brazil replied with a pointed free, but Bal' had the final say when Liam Reilly fired home their third major to put the seal on a 3-6 to 0-9 victory. Further disappointment followed for Castletown-Finea when they were pipped for promotion from Division 3 of the All-County League by Caulry, who gained some consolation for the relegation from the intermediate ranks. Coyne recalls: "We were unbeaten in Division 3 until we went out of the championship. The interest waned after that and it cost us promotion in the league." Finea will face into the 2009 campaign without two of their leading performers in former county player Daniel McDermott and defender Ray Sheridan, who have both emigrated to Australia. While admitting that they will be major losses, Coyne is nevertheless optimistic about his side's chances. "They are two massive losses, and it's going to make our task all the more difficult. But I think the most important thing now is that we don't lose anyone else," he says. "We still have a lot of good players, including Eanna Doolin, Shane Egan and Niall Kilcoyne who are three of the best young players in the county. Our aim is to take each game as it comes and hopefully we won't be too far off the mark. We don't fear anyone at this stage." The Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall team that faced Ballynacargy in the IFC semi-final was: Gary Sullivan; Ray Sheridan, Eanna Doolin, William Coyne; Dermot Cafferty, Colin Farrell, Shane Egan; Darren McCormack, Ronan Doolin; Daniel McDermott, Niall Kilcoyne, Michael Moran; Ryan Plunkett, Barry Kennedy, Kevin Brazil. Subs used: Darren Kilcoyne, Eric Sullivan and Glen Plunkett. Tweet

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