While most of his Westmeath team-mates were glad to see the back of 2005, Michael Ennis' year ended on a high note when he won a Leinster junior club championship medal with Ballinagore and played a starring role in Leinster's Inter-provincial final victory over Ulster. What for a long time looked like being a disappointing year for Michael Ennis ended on a real high when the Westmeath star helped his club and province to noteworthy successes. The first half of 2005 proved hugely frustrating for Ennis as Westmeath lost their Division 1 status and surrendered their hard-won Leinster title. But as soon as Westmeath's interests in the All-Ireland qualifier series ended, things suddenly picked up for Ennis who finished the year as a winner with Ballinagore and Leinster. "It turned out to be a good year for me personally," he says. "The year was a bit of a disaster for Westmeath and I was obviously disappointed about that. But the success I had with Ballinagore and Leinster helped me to get over it. Winning the Leinster junior club championship with Ballinagore and the Inter-provincial final with Leinster were two of my biggest achievements in football." Michael recalls how morale was at an all-time low in Ballinagore after they were relegated to the junior ranks at the end of 2004. But he says their fortunes changed dramatically following the appointment of Sean Robinson as manager. "We were down in the dumps this time last year, things never seemed as low after we were relegated. But we haven't look back since Sean took over as manager. He picked us up and brought us to the county final where we beat St. Paul's. "We had a good bit of momentum behind us after winning in Westmeath, and that carried us all the way to a Leinster title. We were the first ever Westmeath club to win a provincial football championship and that is great thing for a small club like Ballinagore to be able to say. "We seemed to grow stronger as the campaign went on and the younger members of the team really came of age. The likes of James Durkan and two Deegans, David and Ciaran, were great finds, and they played a big part in our success." The Brosnasiders accounted for Carrickshock (Kilkenny) and Wanderers (Dublin) before recording a dramatic 0-9 to 0-7 victory after extra-time over Grangenolvan of Kildare to become Leinster champions on November 19 last. Trailing by 0-2 to 0-5 at the interval, Ballinagore looked to be in serious trouble, but with their county star leading by example, they battled back to draw level on 0-7 each and force extra-time. Scoring chances were at a premium in the additional 20 minutes, but Ballinagore showed the greater resolve and secured a historic victory courtesy of points from teenage sensation James Durkan and the excellent Ennis, who finished as top scorer with 0-6 to his credit. At the time of writing, Sean Robinson's charges were preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final against Galway champions Loughrea on January 29. The other highpoint of Michael's year was Leinster's Inter-provincial success. He lined out at corner back in both the semi-final against Connacht and in the final against Ulster, and was joined on the team by Westmeath team-mates Damien Healy, Alan Mangan and Dessie Dolan, who scored 11 points in Leinster's 0-20 to 0-18 extra-time victory in the floodlit decider at Parnell Park. It is a tribute to Michael's commitment, high level of fitness and versatility that he was able to line out in the final, and do a fine marking job on Armagh dangerman Steven McDonnell, only hours after scoring 1-6 for Ballinagore in their Leinster semi-final win over Wanderers. "I desperately wanted to play in the two games and I'll always be grateful to Val Andrews (the Leinster manager) for giving me that chance. I coped alright, although having to play extra-time was a big test of my fitness. I was honoured to play for Leinster and it was a big boost for the competition to have 6,000 people at the final." It's hardly surprising that Ennis has few fond memories from Westmeath's year. After the unprecedented high of a first provincial championship success in 2004, the Lake County came crashing down to earth with a bang last year, with the championship defeat to Clare signalling the end of the Paidi O Se era. Michael attributes Westmeath's fall from grace in 2005 to a lack of hunger and a crippling list of injuries. "We went from one extreme to another in the space of a few months," the 26-year-old ruefully reflects. "We seemed to have awful problems with injury and it had reached crisis point by the time we played Clare. Losing Dessie (Dolan) and Spanner (Paul Conway) in the game against Tipperary were the final nails in the coffin. On top of that, some lads found it hard to motivate themselves after winning Leinster the previous year. They didn't have the same appetite and the whole thing became a bit stale. "I think the wheels came off the wagon completely when lost to Dublin in the league. We got ourselves in front with only a few minutes to go, but they came back to beat us. It was always going to be a tall order to stay up after that with tough games to come against Kerry, Tyrone and Mayo, and so it proved. "We got off to a great start against Kildare in the championship, but seemed to lose our way after that. We had a few setbacks in that game and missing the penalty just before half-time was a real killer blow." Ennis, who made his senior debut against Antrim six months before starring in Westmeath's 1999 All-Ireland under 21 triumph and who fought back from a career-threatening cruciate ligament injury in 2000, is eager to put last year's disappointment behind him and is encouraged by how preparations for the new season have gone under new manager Tomas O Flatharta. "It's important that we bounce back this year and I think we are going about it the right way. Tomas is now the main man and he's got a new backroom team working alongside him. It's still early days, but the signs are encouraging nonetheless. Our new physical trainer Jason Cowman has brought more variety to the training and I think we've taken a leaf out of Tyrone's book in that regard. Because of the variety, the training seems to be more enjoyable than it was last year." Michael feels that the 10 or so new faces in the panel have helped to freshen things up, and reckons the newcomers gave a good account of themselves in the O'Byrne Cup. "The new lads have definitely given the thing a boost. The panel has had its biggest shake-up in years and the newcomers are putting pressure on the rest of us to keep our places. A lot can happen between now and the championship, but I'd be very surprised if a few of the new lads aren't in the reckoning for the Offaly game. "We played good football against Carlow in the O'Byrne Cup and I felt the movement of the forwards was exceptional during the first half. We paid the price for a poor start against Meath, but I thought we showed great character after Joe Fallon was sent off to come back at them. We showed a bit of steel, something which was sadly lacking last year." The Ballinagore farmer, who is equally at home in defence or attack, says Westmeath's objectives for 2006 are to gain promotion from Division 2 of the National League, and to mount a strong challenge for Leinster championship honours. "Our first aim is to get out of Division 2 and maybe get a run-out in Croke Park before we play Offaly there on May 14. We'll be playing in Division 2B against teams we haven't played in the last few years. "Our main objective is to do well in the championship. Even though we are rebuilding at the moment, I think we have a decent chance of winning out Leinster again. Leinster is wide open and any one of six or seven teams could win it. We made a big breakthrough two years ago and certainly haven't become a bad team overnight," he concludes. Tweet

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