Farrelly keen to bounce back
April 30, 2010This was certainly the highlight of the year for the men from the Valley and gives the club something to build on in the coming year. Unfortunately, their intermediate side failed to live up to expectations and midfielder JP Farrelly is keen for that situation to be rectified in 2010.
The fact that Delvin failed to reach the knockout stages in the intermediate championship was one of the biggest surprises in Westmeath hurling last year.
Annually regarded as favourites for the second tier hurling title, (a championship which they know how to win), Delvin's failure to reach the semi finals shocked everyone including themselves.
Following a positive start to the campaign when they defeated both Southern Gaels and Fr Dalton's, results took a turn for the worst as their fortunes suffered a massive nose dive.
"We started off fairly well in the championship and at the start numbers were fairly good, but lads seemed to lose interest during the course of the year, which ultimately cost us. It's no excuse, but the weather didn't help and we went through a period where we couldn't train and after that it was very hard to get the motivation going again," said JP.
A defeat to St Oliver Plunkett's hurt Delvin's chances of reaching the knockout stages even though it was early in the campaign, but the fact that this was the town teams only win of the year said it all.
"We actually could have got the game called off as we were missing a few players that night, but we decided to play it and in hindsight that was a mistake, but these things happen."
Draws with St Brigid's and Crookedwood proved that on their day that Delvin were a match for any team in the grade, but a defeat to Turin ultimately cost them dearly as their neighbours pipped them for the last semi final spot, courtesy of their head-to-head meeting.
"It was desperately disappointing not to do a lot better and we will definitely be hoping for a major improvement this year. We have a good squad of players now and I'd be confident we have a great chance of winning the championship.
"However, it's not much good having a big squad if some lads won't train and that will have to be looked at this year. We need everyone on board. This year, we have Anthony Clune back from Australia and he will be a big asset to have."
Last year's manager Michael Lynch, who is a former Castlepollard hurler and ex-Westmeath selector is staying on with the side and will be joined on the sideline by his selectors Paddy Farrington, Martin Newman and Kevin Williams.
"Mick is a good hurling man and he deserves another year in charge. The lads that are with him have a good knowledge of the players and I think they will work well together."
The format of this year's intermediate championship sees only six teams compete in the competition as no team was relegated from the senior ranks last year. JP admits this gives them an added incentive to go out and win.
"It is a massive year for us and basically we have to win it this year. We know that the likes of Crookedwood, Fr Dalton's and Turin will be hard beat, but on our day, we are as good as any of them. As there are so few teams in the championship this year, we can't afford to drop any points along the way, so we will have to hit the ground running."
JP, who along with Barry Williams was manager of the victorious minor side, admitted that an underage success was a huge encouragement for the club as they build for the future.
"It was great to win the minor this year. They're a great bunch of lads who trained hard all year and they deserved to win. This is a big boost for the club as a whole. A number of these lads are coming through to the intermediate squad and that can only be a good thing.
"Our under-21 side was unfortunate to meet a strong Raharney side in the championship. Raharney went on to win the championship, but we were very unlucky on the day. Our under-16s are improving to and they had a decent year also, so the future does look bright."
Delvin now possess a huge squad and the main aim is to cater for the players' needs and ensure that they get enough games throughout the year.
"This year ten players had to be named that cannot play junior, unlike the seven it used to be and I think this will suit us as all lads will be playing games. This has been a problem where a lad who is not getting games will just lose interest and stop playing, you can't blame them really, but now there is no excuse and everyone should be happy."
As there are only six teams in the intermediate championship this year, JP feels that the campaign will be ran off pretty quickly without many interruptions.
"I think that it will be played off fairly quick. Killian Murphy is really the only player at intermediate that's on the county team, so I see no reason what there should be any hold-ups. That adds more to the fact that we have to be in the right frame of mind from the outset, otherwise we could find ourselves in trouble."
The 2010 campaign is potentially one of the biggest for the club in many years. Success would mean a return to the senior ranks and see Delvin dine at the top table once again, while failure would see them remain intermediate for another year and with two teams dropping down from the top flight at the end of the current campaign, there task of promotion will be made all the more difficult.
Keeping the faith
2009 was another difficult year for football in Delvin with their junior team failing to register a win in the championship. However, there have been encouraging signs at underage level with the under 14s reaching a league semi-final.
Last year marked the 20th anniversary of Delvin's only junior football championship success, but sadly there was never much chance of the club replicating that achievement.
The Valleymen have been the whipping boys of the junior championship in recent times and last year was no exception. The tone for another disappointing championship campaign was set when Delvin lost their opening game to St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham by 1-2 to 6-9. And further heavy defeats to the second strings of Castledaly, Bunbrosna and Coralstown/Kinnegad left them down and out.
"We struggled badly in the junior, but the performances of our underage teams offers hope for the future," club stalwart Sean O'Brien says.
"The problem with football in Delvin is that it has always played second fiddle to hurling. We were well beaten in all of our games last year, but you have to give the players credit for turning up week in, week out and keeping the faith. They could easily throw in the towel, but they refuse to do so."
O'Brien, who has stepped down as football secretary after a long stint to take over as treasurer of both clubs, is encouraged by the progress of Delvin's underage teams, in particular the under 14s who reached the league semi-final last year.
"They had the beating of Maryland/Tang in the semi-final until they had a player sent off at a critical stage. Maryland/Tang took advantage of that and went on to win by a few points," he remembers.
"Norman Dolan and Mel Newman were over the under 14s and they deserve great credit for the work they put in. We also competed well at under 12 and under 16 level and fielded a minor team for the first time in many years. That team was backboned by players from the 2008 under 16 side that lost the Division 3 (13-a-side) final to Killucan."
Welcoming the decision to put the sole junior clubs and the second teams of senior clubs in separate championship groups this year, Sean says Delvin should be targeting a mid-table finish.
"I know our results were poor last year, but there are at least three other junior clubs we should be capable of beating. It's probably asking too much to reach the knockout stages, but we should be competing better."
He continues: "One thing I'm disappointed about is the fact that there won't be a Junior Cup or a Junior Shield for us to contest this year. We are barred from entering those competitions because we are in Division 7 of the league.
"Under the new arrangement, the Feis Cup will be contested by the top four teams in Division 1, the Intermediate Cup by the top four teams in Division 2, the Junior Cup by the top four teams in Division 3 and the Junior Shield by the top four teams in Division 4. The thinking behind this is to cut down on games, but the county board obviously didn't factor us in when they made their decision."
O'Brien also welcomes the formation of an under 12 ladies football team, but admits that this will place even greater demands on the club's pitch on the Mullingar Road.
"The pitch is in constant use by the various hurling, football and camogie teams in Delvin and we had to close it for drainage work over the Christmas. But I'm delighted to see a ladies football team in the parish. It can only increase football's profile in this part of the county," he concludes. Tweet
