While high-profile managers don't necessarily guarantee success, centre forward Mark Gorman believes the appointment of former Meath boss Colm Coyle can inspire Coralstown/Kinnegad to a long overdue senior championship success in 2009. According to Mark Gorman, the appointment of Colm Coyle as Coralstown/Kinnegad manager shows just how serious the Meath-border club are about ending their senior football championship famine this year. Thirteen years have passed since Coralstown/Kinnegad last raised the Flanagan Cup, and that is far too long a wait for a club that has consistently featured at the business end of the championship and produced quality players. Last year, they were narrowly beaten by eventual champions Castledaly at the quarter-final stage, while the previous year they reached the semi-final, only to implode against Mullingar Shamrocks. "We're looking forward to life under Colm Coyle," says Gorman, who was part of the Westmeath senior set-up in 2008. "We've been there or thereabouts for the last few years, only to slip-up in the knockout stages. And while Joe Giles and Fergal Kelly did great work with us, I think Colm is the sort of figure we need to give us that something extra and push us over the finishing line. Some of the lads have been around for 10 years or more, and this might be their last chance to win silverware. "Securing Colm's services, particularly so soon after he left the Meath job, was a major coup for the club and shows just how ambitious we are. He has high hopes for us and hopefully we can deliver for him." Gorman, whose father Christy served as a county selector under Mattie Kerrigan in the mid-1990s, feels Coralstown/Kinnegad can take a lot of encouragement from what Castledaly achieved last year. "For a few years there, the championship was dominated by Tyrrellspass, Garrycastle and The Downs, but what Castledaly achieved last year has given the other clubs huge hope. They only beat us by two points in the quarter-final, so we know we're not that far off the mark," he adds. Drawn in the weaker of the two championship groups, Coralstown/Kinnegad were widely fancied to progress to the knockout stages and they got off to the perfect start when defeating St. Loman's by 3-7 to 1-8. Alan Giles' pace caused all sorts of problems for the Mullingar defence early on as they raced into a 2-1 to 0-3 lead thanks to goals from goals from Giles and David Flynn. But a Conradh Reilly goal on the stroke of half-time left Loman's just two points, 1-4 to 2-3, adrift at the short whistle. Having got back on level terms, the St. Loman's rearguard was ripped apart again eight minutes into the second half when substitute Enda Leonard added Kinnegad's third goal. Loman's had the chance to close the gap to just two points 10 minutes from the end, but goalkeeper Evan Curran came to the red and whites' rescue when he saved a Niall McGurren penalty and they maintained their five-point advantage to the finish. Joe Giles' men almost came a cropper in their second round clash with Ballinagore when they needed a late Enda Leonard point to rescue a share of the spoils. Kinnegad played second fiddle to their unheralded opponents for long periods, having trailed by 0-5 to 1-5 at half-time and by 0-5 to 1-8 10 minutes into the second half. But the introduction of young Wayne Fox was a major factor in bringing them back into contention. After Enda Leonard punched home a goal, Alan Giles, Eamon Fleming and Mark Gorman added points to leave the minimum between the sides with time almost up. But there was still enough time for Leonard to tie up the scoring at 1-10 apiece. Coralstown/Kinnegad slipped to their only defeat of the group stage when succumbing to arch-rivals The Downs by 0-9 to 2-10 at Cusack Park. The concession of two goals in the opening nine minutes left the Meath-border outfit with a mountain to climb, but they did remarkably well to get back into the match by half-time, at which stage they trailed by just three points, 0-6 to 2-3. However, facing into the wind in the second half, Coralstown/Kinnegad lost their way and were resigned to their fate when they trailed by eight points at the three-quarter stage. After two disappointing performances, Coralstown/Kinnegad badly needed a pick-me-up, and they got it when overcoming St. Malachy's by 1-13 to 1-6 at Lakepoint Park. A dominant first half display, which ended with Alan Giles converting a penalty, saw them take a 1-6 to 0-2 lead into the break, and they extended their advantage on the restart thanks to points from Jamie Wilson and Giles. Veteran Paddy Corcoran threw St. Malachy's a lifeline when he netted in the 42nd minute, but they never got any closer than five points as Kinnegad finished strongly to claim the spoils. The red and whites confirmed their place in the quarter-finals with a fortuitous 1-8 to 1-7 victory over neighbours Killucan, who kicked seven wides in the second half. The winners got off to a flying start when Gordon McDonnell goaled inside 40 seconds, but a Conor Jordan penalty left Killucan just a point adrift at half-time, 1-4 to 1-5. A Padraig Leavy free tied up matters on the resumption, but for all their possession, Killucan were unable to get their noses in front as a more economical Coralstown/Kinnegad prevailed. Castledaly ended Coralstown/Kinnegad's championship interests with a 0-11 to 0-9 victory in dreadful conditions at Cusack Park. With Alan Giles and Jamie Wilson in fine scoring form, the losers led on a couple of occasions in the first half before Castledaly fought back to lead 0-5 to 0-4 at the break. The southerners seized the initiative in the third quarter to open up a 0-11 to 0-6 lead. But to their credit, Coralstown/Kinnegad refused to wilt and scored the last three points, which included a David Kilmartin effort in the 51st minute that could just as easily have been a goal. "Castledaly got a run on us at the start of the second half, and that's what cost us in the end. We left ourselves with too much to do in the last 10 minutes," Gorman ruefully reflects. "Having reached the semi-final the previous year, we expected to go further but it wasn't to be. We didn't get as much credit as we would have liked for reaching the quarter-finals because everyone was saying we were in the weaker group, but believe me, local derby games against the likes of The Downs and Killucan are anything but easy." The highlight of the club's year at underage level was the under 14 team's victory over St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge in the Feile Shield final at Cusack Park on April 19. The Kinnegad boys made up for the disappointment of not reaching the Feile na nGael final with an impressive 5-8 to 3-3 win. With midfielder Ger Leech in top form, they led by 2-6 to 1-0 at half-time and further goals from Christopher Doyle and Philip Giles in the second half sealed a comfortable win. Looking to the new campaign, the Wright Window Systems employee is confident that Coralstown/Kinnegad can overcome the loss of full back David Cole - who has left for Australia - to make a major impact on the senior championship. "With Colm Coyle in charge and the championship more open than it has been in a long time, I think we have a great chance of going all the way. Davy Cole is a big loss, but we have exciting prospects like Wayne Fox and Clive Kiernan coming through. It's now or never for a lot of the lads, and hopefully things will work out," he concludes. The Coralstown/Kinnegad team which faced Castledaly in the SFC quarter-final was: Damien Molloy; Jason Lynch, David Cole, Ronan Doyle; Stephen Bracken, David Kilmartin, Derek Griffin; Ronan Foley, Niall Kilmartin; Eamon Fleming, Mark Gorman, David Flynn; Jamie Wilson, Fergal Dardis, Alan Giles. Subs used: Gordon McDonnell, Enda Leonard, Emmet McDonnell and Wayne Fox. Coralstown/Kinnegad's Feile Shield winning side was: Evan Dowling; Jamie Flood, Luke Corless (captain), Dylan Cooney; Eoin Maxwell, Ryan Caffrey, Brian Cole; Ger Leech, Shane Murtagh; Darren Giles, Aaron Glynn, Chris Doyle; Fergus Murtagh, Shane Fitzsimons, Philip Giles. Subs: N Vas, D Leech, C Tallon, E Kenny, R Doherty, N Byrne, J McAteer, P Haughton and J Berry. Tweet

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