Garrycastle's appearance in the SFC final wasn't enough to satisfy the needs of a team that has become accustomed to championship success, according to club vice-chairman John Henson. Before and after last year's All-Ireland football final between Tyrone and Kerry, the debate raged over who was the 'Team of the Decade'. Whatever about at inter-county level, Garrycastle have been the 'Team of the Decade' in Westmeath so far with three senior championships and four league titles to their name. Both Tyrellspass and The Downs have also fared well this decade, but they will need to lift the Flanagan Cup in 2009 if they are to equal Garrycastle's championship haul since the turn of the millennium. "I don't think there can be any doubt that we have been the 'Team of the Decade' so far," Garrycastle's new vice-chairman John Henson proudly states. "Since 2001, we have contested five county finals, winning three of them. We've fallen a little bit short over the last couple of years, and were bitterly disappointed to lose last year's final to Castledaly. But it's still a relatively young team and we'll be aiming to finish the decade on a high by winning a fourth senior championship this year." The county final loss to southern rivals Castledaly - who they had easily defeated in the 2002 and 2004 deciders - hurt deeply, while Garrycastle were also disappointed to lose their grip on the Feis Cup after their successes in 2006 and '07. They were also frustrated to be denied the All-County League Division 1 title following an appeal lby The Downs to Leinster Council. Despite initially being declared winners because of their superior scoring difference with the teams finished level at the top of Division 1, The Downs' successful appeal on the basis that this was never specified in last year's Planning Report means a play-off will nowbe required to determine the winner. "We were of the understanding that we won the league, but The Downs' appeal changed all that," Henson says. "I thought it was a great achievement to finish top of the league given that we were without our county players for most of the campaign. We were also without David O'Shaughnessy, who had an Achilles problem, for the entire year and had he been available, we might have won the championship as well. "Our consistency was underlined by the fact that we also reached the Feis Cup semi-final, only for Tyrrellspass to end our two-year reign," the former Garrycastle secretary adds. Reclaiming the Flanagan Cup after a five-year lapse was Garrycastle's main objective for 2008, and they got off to the perfect start by overcoming Bunbrosna on a 3-10 to 2-9 scoreline at St. Loman's. After an evenly contested first half, Martin McCabe's charges re-emerged for the second half in determined mood and the introduction of rising star Aidan Browne at midfield had a major impact. Within five minutes, Dessie Dolan had converted two frees, Paul Dillon had also pointed and Alan Daly had pounced for a goal. Bunbrosna responded with a goal from Kieran Brennan to close the gap to two points, but after Dolan had converted two further frees, Justin McAteer put the game beyond the underdogs' reach with his second goal of the game. Garrycastle made it two wins from two when they staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Mullingar Shamrocks 3-10 to 3-8. At half-time, Shamrocks held a commanding 3-8 to 2-3 lead and looked to be coasting to victory. However, inspired by Dessie Dolan, the green and reds scored an unanswered 1-7 in the second half with Alan Daly grabbing the winning goal in injury-time. Garrycastle slipped to their first defeat of the campaign against reigning champions Tyrrellspass at Cusack Park. Robbie Shine's goal gave 'Castle a dream start, but Tyrrellspass fought back to level at half-time and they went on to win by 1-9 to 1-8, with Doran Harte's late effort - which struck the post - denying Martin McCabe's side a share of the spoils. Garrycastle survived a second half onslaught from Castledaly in their next outing to draw 2-5 to 1-8. The Athlone outfit led 2-3 to 0-3 after 20 minutes thanks to two fortuitous goals from Dessie Dolan and Paul Dillon, but could only add two further points as Castledaly dominated the remainder of the game. Garrycastle secured their passage from the so-called 'Group of Death' following a 1-12 to 0-8 win over town rivals Athlone in Moate. The victory earned them a quarter-final date with their 2005 county final conquerors The Downs, but they would have gone straight through to the semi-final had Martin Flanagan not scored a late goal for Tyrrellspass in their dramatic victory over Mullingar Shamrocks. A Paul Dillon goal midway through the second half proved the decisive score in Garrycastle's quarter-final win over The Downs at a damp and miserable Cusack Park. The sides went into the break level on 0-5 each, but Dillon's 44th minute goal gave Garrycastle the breathing space they needed to go on to register a 1-10 to 0-10 victory. Garrycastle have proven to be a thorn in the side of St. Loman's down the years, and that was once again the case in their latest semi-final clash which yielded a 1-15 to 2-7 success for the Athlone side. After a brief scare in the first half when a brace of Ciaran Kilmurray goals helped Loman's to a 2-2 to 0-3 lead after 17 minutes, Garrycastle recovered to regain parity by the 29th minute before top scorer Paddy Mulvihill swooped for an opportunist goal in first half injury-time, placing them 1-8 to 2-2 ahead at the break. By the 10th minute of the second half, Garrycastle had opened up a five-point lead and maintained this advantage for the remainder of the game to qualify for another county final. Garrycastle carried the favourites' mantle into the decider against Castledaly, who had ended Tyrrellspass' three-in-a-row bid after a replay in the semi-final. The underdogs settled quickly and Derek Heavin's point had them 0-3 to 0-1 ahead after 13 minutes. But within five minutes, Garrycastle had drawn level for a second time through Aidan Browne and Paul Dillon. But with Dessie Dolan being well marshalled by Heavin and his brother Gary struggling to get into the game, Castledaly pressed again and two points from Brendan Kelly and another from Paul Kelly opened the first three-point gap. Garrycastle recovered again, however, and points from Aidan Browne, Rory McGowan and Dessie Dolan tied it up at 0-6 apiece at half-time. The odds were now in the three-times champions' favour, but Castledaly showed their resolve by retaking the lead through Enda Kelly on the resumption. At the other end, goalkeeper James Kinihan's heroics kept the goal-hungry Garrycastle attack at bay and when MJ McLoughlin pointed in the 46th minute, Castledaly led 0-9 to 0-6 and stood on the threshold of history. But points from Paddy Mulvihill and Dolan made for a nervous finish before a late MJ McLoughlin free ensured that the Flanagan Cup was bound for the Offaly border club for the first time in their 69-year history. "There wasn't an ounce of begrudgery in Garrycastle to Castledaly's victory. They were the better team on the day and deserved to win," Henson explains. "But despite all the success our lads have achieved, they were bitterly disappointed to lose. I think that is a great sign and that's why I'm confident they will bounce back this year." Cavan man Martin McCabe, who returned as manager last year after masterminding Garrycastle's three county title wins, stepped down after the defeat due to family reasons, but according to the Henson, has remained a club member. "Martin has a young family so has decided to take a break, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him returning as manager some time in the future." While admitting that Garrycastle's underage structure isn't as strong as it once was due to "fierce competition from other sports in the Athlone area", Henson is nevertheless optimistic about the future. "We'll be placing as much emphasis on getting our underage structure back to what it was 10 years ago as winning the senior championship in the coming year," he promises. "Most of the present senior team have been together since they were under 10s, and while the likes of Aidan Browne, James Dolan, Rory McGowan, Mark McCallan and Neil Rattigan have come through in the past year or so, we need to get our underage structures in order again. "Our chairman Bernard Brannigan has big ambitions for the club and intends looking at every structure of the club from top to bottom." The Garrycastle team which contested the SFC final was: Cathal Mullin; Karl Henson, Seanie O'Donoghue (captain), Padraig Rattigan; Doran Harte, John Gaffey, James Dolan; Aidan Browne, Stephen O'Reilly; Rory McGowan, James Duignan, Dessie Dolan; Paul Dillon, Gary Dolan, Paddy Mulvihill. Subs used: Justin McAteer, Conor Cosgrove, Enda Mulvihill and Alan Daly. Tweet

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