Intermediate Cup returns to Shandonagh
April 30, 2011It's remarkable to think that since winning the junior championship in 1987, Shandonagh have been ever-present in the intermediate championship.
While many clubs have experienced the highs and lows of promotion and relegation in that time, it has been the same old story for Shandonagh. They almost made the breakthrough in 2007 when they reached the intermediate decider, only for a wasteful performance cost them dearly against Ballinagore. In 2009, they were nearly relegated and while they steered clear of danger last year, they were still well off the pace as far as the knockout stages were concerned.
"We're 23 years in intermediate football - the longest of any club in the county," Shandonagh chairman Aidan O'Donoghue points out.
"It's a long time to be playing in a championship you don't really want to be in. We've always set our sights on trying to get up senior, but it hasn't happened for us and we haven't been relegated either.
"Next year we hope to organise a night to mark the 25th anniversary of our winning of the junior championship, and we'd love to have the intermediate championship cup there. It's an added incentive for the lads to try and win it this year."
O'Donoghue, who played midfield for Shandonagh for 15 years and was part of the '87 junior winning team, takes encouragement from the club's recent capture of the Intermediate Cup - their second in three years. Not surprisingly, he is hoping it will provide the springboard for a successful 2011.
"It was a great way to start the year," he enthuses.
"We needed a replay to beat Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall in the semi-final and those games were a big help to us against Ballynacargy in the final. We have a lot of good players who are at the right age and I'm hoping they'll be able to push on and make a big push for championship honours this year.
"We've put a lot of work into our underage and we're bringing through one or two new players every year. Our former underage chairman Eddie Moran did a huge amount of work with the youngsters and it would great to repay the likes of him with an intermediate championship."
Shandonagh's 2-7 to 0-12 victory over neighbours Ballynacargy in the Intermediate Cup decider, which was carried over into January 2011, was sweet revenge for their crushing championship defeat at the hands of the same opposition last August. Forced to field without their talisman David Duffy, who was injured on county duty, Shandonagh struggled to find their feet in the opening half and trailed by 0-3 to 0-7 at the break.
Points from Alan Hickey (two) and Danny Foster had the Kilpatrick men ahead after 13 minutes, but Bal' finished the first half strongly with unanswered points from Daniel Keena, Dwayne Maher (two), Willie Murtagh and Brian Slevin giving them a four-point lead at half-time.
Shandonagh got themselves back into contention early in the second half when Barry McWade scored the opening goal. However, Ballynacargy responded strongly and had restored their four-point advantage, 0-12 to 1-5, with 10 minutes remaining.
But the sky blues refused to throw in the towel and after Danny Foster struck for their second goal in the 53rd minute, Mickey Boyle equalised. Then, just when it seemed extra-time would be needed, Alan Hickey slotted over a '45 in injury-time to complete the comeback.
The Shandonagh celebrations afterwards were understandable after the disappointment they endured in last year's championship. Three defeats out of five meant their involvement didn't extend beyond the group stage.
Under the management of Niall O'Brien, they opened their campaign with a 0-9 to 0-7 victory over Kilbeggan Shamrocks in Moate. It was a satisfactory start for Shandonagh who raced into an early 0-3 to 0-0 lead thanks to scores from Andrew Fox, Alan Hickey and Danny Foster. A brace of Hickey points and another from David Duffy helped the winners to a 0-6 to 0-4 interval lead, and despite playing against the wind in the second half, they remained in front until the finish with Kevin Boyce's late point sealing the win.
Shandonagh suffered their first setback when losing to newly-promoted Caulry by 1-5 to 0-9 at Tang. Just as they had done against Kilbeggan, Niall O'Brien's charges played with the aid of a strong wind in the first half but only led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the break. It didn't take Caulry long to edge in front on the restart and they had opened up a four-point lead before Alan Hickey scored a late consolation goal for Shandonagh from a penalty at the second time of asking.
Shandonagh got back to winning ways with a 1-12 to 2-7 defeat of Moate All-Whites at Castletown-Geoghegan. With David Duffy and Alan Hickey lording the midfield exchanges, they dominated the opening quarter to lead by 0-5 to 0-1 after 14 minutes and had extended their advantage to 1-8 to 0-4 at half-time thanks to a goal from Kevin Boyle.
Further points from David Duffy and Barry McWade pushed out Shandonagh's lead to 1-10 to 0-4 after 40 minutes. However, they seemed to lose concentration in the final quarter as Moate swooped for goals from Garvan Murray and Niall Mackey to leave just two points in it at full-time.
With two victories from their first three games, Shandonagh were on course for a place in the knockout stages, but their championship challenge petered out after defeats to Ballynacargy and Bunbrosna. The low point of their season came when they were hammered by 14-man Ballynacargy at Cusack Park.
With Kevin Hickey, John Rushe and Danny Foster absent and David Duffy being forced off with an injury after just 11 minutes, Shandonagh were always chasing the game after Declan McGuinness netted for Ballynacargy in the 14th minute. Bal' were sitting pretty on a 1-8 to 0-3 lead at the break and ran riot in the second half, eventually winning by 1-20 to 0-6.
Despite getting off to a dream start against Bunbrosna in their final group game when Kevin Boyle goaled inside 11 seconds, Shandonagh succumbed to a 2-10 to 3-15 defeat to the champions-elect. Bun' hit back with goals from Barry O'Meara and Fintan Finnan to lead by 2-8 to 1-3 at half-time. Alan Hickey gave Shandonagh hope when he raised their second green flag to bring the margin down to five points, but Bunbrosna were not to be denied and made victory safe when Andrew Whitney grabbed their third goal.
Former Kildare and Westmeath footballer Cormac Davey, who is in charge of the St. Joseph's, Rochfortbridge school team, has returned as Shandonagh manager for the coming year with John Gordon, Ned Tynan and Frank Conway as his selectors.
"Cormac got us to a semi-final the last time he was over the team and he'll be aiming to better that this time," says Aidan, whose sons Aaron and Darragh play underage football for the club.
"It's good to see Ned Tynan and Frank Conway involved as selectors - they played in our 1987 junior success and are still as passionate about the club as they were back then. Gerry Hickey played in that final as well and he's still involved as our treasurer.
"We're looking forward to this year's championship and the chance to make amends for the past couple of seasons. We feel we are as good as any team in the intermediate championship and we're determined to prove that. The teams are so evenly matched that whoever wants it the most will win in," he concludes.
Shandonagh's Intermediate Cup winning team was: Damien Fox; Stephen Ronan, Darragh Murray, Eoin Conway; Paddy Duffy, Kevin Hickey, Andy Fox; Danny Foster, Alan Hickey; Philip Smith, Kevin Boyle, Richie Kavanagh; Barry McWade, Mickey Boyle, Damien Moran. Subs used: Kevin Duffy and Roy Smyth. Tweet
