The emphasis on building a good underage structure has never been so important in GAA clubs and Delvin are no exception as the influx of new residents in the area has seen the number of youngsters playing hurling and football swell considerably. Hurling club vice-chairman Martin Forde, who was also a selector with the footballers last year, revealed that the need to promote their underage structure in the last few years has been addressed and the club were now beginning to get their reward. Like all rural clubs, Delvin rely on a small pool of players to field teams and down through the years, they struggled to field at all grades at underage level. However, the 2007 campaign saw the Valleymen participate from under-8's to minor with all sides performing admirably in their respective championships. "For the first time last year, we had a team competing at under-8 level and that is a sign of the hard work that is being placed on the underage set-up," said Martin. "All the teams faired very well and the under-16's were unlucky to lose out in the league final. Down through the years, it was very easy to forget about the underage, but now clubs are realising how important it is for the future development of clubs and that includes ourselves. "There are a lot of people who deserve great credit for the work that they have done with the underage teams' right up from John Coll and John McCormack who look after the younger sides through to Seamus Ennis and the Williams brothers who looked after some of the other teams." Delvin failed to field in the under-21 grade, but the reason for this being the timing of the championship and not a shortage of players as many would think. "We would have had a fairly strong under-21 team last year, but the fixtures committee scheduled us to play the day after a junior match, which meant we were unable to field a team. There is talk that this year's championship will be played earlier in the year and that would certainly suit us. There are a lot of talented players coming through the ranks and I'm confident we would do very well in it. "It would be great for the club to win something at underage, which would give everyone a huge boost. There a great numbers at each grade with about 25 to 30 in all the panels and that's some turnaround from a few years back when we were struggling to field teams." At adult level, the club has also being making strides, particularly in football where Delvin reached the junior football championship quarterfinals for the first time in many years. "Nick Weir trained both the hurling and football teams last year and that certainly benefited the footballers. There was a bigger effort put in than in previous years. "We trained three or four nights a week and right from the first match in the championship you could see the improvement and determination among the players." Delvin kicked off their campaign with a well merited win over Ballycomoyle and recorded a win against St Fintan's/Multy in their second outing. Despite losing to Mullingar Shamrocks and champions elect Rosemount, they finished third in the group and thus earned a place in the last eight. St Loman's provided the opposition in the quarterfinals and it looked as if the town team would run out easy winners, but a late rally by the Delvin men saw them reduce the deficit to a solitary point, but unfortunately for them, time was against them and Loman's held on to go through to the semi finals. "It was great to reach the quarterfinal, the closest we had come to that in recent years was a play-off for a place in the last eight, but we were beaten. Maybe, it's just as well that we didn't go any further as Rosemount proved to be a lot stronger than us and another hammering from them would have done little for the lads' confidence. Now though, they can take great heart from last year's campaign and hopefully we can build from that." The hurling campaign saw Delvin face a tough test against a Castlepollard side that many feel should not have been in the intermediate ranks in the first place. Delvin battled gamely throughout the campaign and were the only side to trouble Pollard in the group stages. Indeed Weir's charges will be disappointed not have claimed something form the match, given the fact that they lead by six-points at half time. "The lads played some great hurling in the first half against Pollard and thoroughly deserved to be leading by so much at half time. But, we just didn't turn up in the second half and I think a lot of the lads thought they had it won, which is something you can never afford to do, let alone against a side of Pollard's calibre." Despite the defeat, Delvin still progressed to the final following a hard fought win over Southern Gaels in the semi final where they would as expected meet Castlepollard. "We were confident enough going into the final as it was a one-off match and anything could happen. It's really all on the day and any team can falter in that situation. "It wasn't the best of games, but the lads fought to the end and Pollard's experience came through at the end to help them back up to senior." So what does 2008 hold for the Valleymen and how does Martin see this year's campaign end? "We definitely have a great chance of winning the intermediate championship this year, although we will be missing a few from last year as Niall Kearney, Padraig O'Shaughnessy and Gareth Halpin are all going to Australia for a year and they will be a huge loss. "However, there is a few minors coming through the ranks and the likes of John and Stephen Reilly and Killian Murphy should make the grade this year. We're also hopeful that Luke Kelly, Francis McGrath and James Smith will be back on the panel this year having missed the majority of last year. I've also heard that Tomas McInerney is coming home from Australia and he will also be a big boost to the club" Delvin have a very experienced panel at their disposal and they know what it takes to win an intermediate championship. With the right effort and determination there is no doubt that they will be back in their third consecutive final and who knows maybe it will be a case of third time lucky for the Valleymen. Footballers make strides Delvin football club has undergone a major transformation in the last few years as a greater emphasis on their underage structure has begun to pay dividends and Secretary Sean O'Brien applauded the people involved for their hard work. For many years Delvin had been struggling to field teams at underage level and their junior team was secondary to the hurling on an annual basis. However, that has all changed since a minor board was set up within the club. "I decided a couple of years back that we needed an underage committee to look after the young players coming through as there was not enough people involved in the club to help run all the teams. I called door to door and met with John Gaffney who said he would get involved and I have to say he has done tremendous work since coming on board," said Sean. The likes of Kevin Murphy, Damien Poynton, Packie Clinton, Seamus Gaffney and Shane Farrelly they have been a great asset to the club. I know I'm forgetting a few names there, but I just can't think of them at the moment, although they know who they are." This year sees Delvin compete at all levels from under-8 right up to under-16 and although there will be no minor team; it is a testament to the hard work of the club members that all other grades will be facilitated. "There is a super underage committee in place there now and to be honest it has saved the future of the club as if you don't bring the kids through to adult level then you will have no junior team in a few years to come. "It's very satisfying to see this happen in such a small club as people are pulling together and ensuring that all the kids get games, which is great. Another thing I admire about the underage committee is that they are self reliant in that they raise their own funds, which is time consuming enough. I cannot speak highly enough about these people involved." Despite the junior team winning two consecutive championship games for the first time since 1989, Sean's competitive streak shines through as he stresses that the side should have done better. "We should have beaten St Loman's in the quarterfinal; it was as simple as that. All year we were too slow to get started and that proved very costly against Loman's. We were nine points down at half time and came back in the second to get within one point of them, but it was a case of too little too late at that stage. "Last year we trained with the hurlers as Nick Weir was over both teams and the extra training stood to us in matches as you could see that we always finished strongly. Numbers were good and we had a great panel to choose from." Placed in a group that comprised of championship favourites Rosemount, Ballycomoyle, Mullingar Shamrocks and St Fintan's/Multyfarnham meant Delvin had a tough job in reaching the knockout stages, but the Valleymen produced some of their best displays in many years to cause a major surprise in the junior championship last year and make many people sit up and take notice of how well they had done. Wins over Ballycomoyle and St Fintan's/Multyfarnham ensured that Delvin made the last eight, one of the best campaign's in a long time, but Sean admitted that their league form wasn't up to scratch. "We only played four league games last year and lost them all. In fairness, we lost all four by narrow margins and could have won them all, but as soon as we were out of the championship, the interest was gone. "I'm disappointed with the league format this year, I felt that seeing as the clubs were happy with last year's system, then it should have been left alone, but the planning committee decided to change it and we are now in Division Three, which comprises of all the junior clubs and five intermediate teams. "This will leave it very tough for us as we are a small club and not even one of the strongest at junior level. I fear that if we were to suffer some significant defeats to some of the stronger teams, it would have a negative effect on how we do in the championship as lads might feel what's the point?" This year is a big one for the club as they must build on last year's exploits and Sean revealed that some silverware at underage level would be a massive boost to all involved. "Judging by the performances of the underage teams last year, there is no reason why we can't win something this year. That would be such a delight to see for everyone involved, the kids and the people looking after them. "I hope the junior team can push on from last year. We have certainly the players to do so and if they put in the right effort, I can see no reason we won't reach the knockout stages again." Delvin are certainly a club making strides and if ever a club deserved to win something for effort alone, it is the Valleymen. Two thousand and eight is a huge year, but no matter what happens, the work will continued to be done, once men like Sean O'Brien are around. Tweet

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