Killygarry, who have a proud tradition as a championship side, will look back on the 2010 season with a sigh of relief. As a club they have been at the cutting end of Cavan senior championship football for the past four seasons. However, they found themselves in the 2010 campaign fighting for their very existence in senior championship football. By Tony Dunne. 

Players at Killygarry have over the years always held great pride in performing wearing the red and black so Breffni Blue took time out to talk to a player who epitomizes all that is good about the club.
Damien Keaney, whose family has very strong commitments to club, seemed like the ideal choice as a sounding board as to how the club had progressed through the 2010 season. Damien, a senior player at the club with an impeccable pedigree (2 Sigerson Cup medals with Tralee IT, and a former county U16, minor and U21 before heading off to London to complete his third level studies), spoke passionately about his club and was forthright in his assessment as to how the club performed in 2010.

The Keaney's contribution to Killygarry has seen both Damien and brother Cathal play all the grades while their father, Brendan, not only wore the club colours but also was a very influential chairman for Killygarry GFC.
Damien proved passionate about the club and felt that while they may not have won anything at senior level this year there was however a great deal of progress.

"You must look at the overall football picture. We had a pretty decent league campaign ending up in joint fourth position," said Damien. "You have to take into account that we had a number of injuries to senior players throughout the season. This provided an opportunity to some players and afforded more game time to the younger players, like Fergal Clarke, Ciaran Crowe, Brendan Murray and Ross Sheridan. For players gaining their first full competitive season they were not found wanting.
"We had some inspirational leaders with goalkeeper, Paddy Galligan proving to be a truly committed clubman. Paddy has matured into one of the finest keepers in the county and is a strong influence at the club. Other senior players who showed their leadership qualities were the McGovern brothers Andy and Michael, Martin Reilly, Daryl McKenna and Padraig Cahill.

"While we were winning games in the league the championship was always going to be a test for us with players returning from injury and the younger players facing the 'white heat' of championship football. We were in a group where we at the club believed we could progress into the knockout stages. We had Lacken, Castlerahan and Crosserlough."

Killygarry overcame a spirited Crosserlough side 1-7 to 0-9 and it looked like there was improvement in the side at that point. However, they failed to perform in the second group game against Castlerahan. This meant that the final outing against Lacken was now a pressure game.

The exchanges were played with championship fever but two late long distance frees superbly struck by Lacken's Raymond Galligan ended Killygarry's hopes of a quarter-final berth as they were edged out of this game by a single point, 1-12 to 1-13. It was a cruel blow as they performed up to par and looked the more likely winner for long spells. The defeat set up a relegation play-off against Redhills. A poor performance saw Killygarry lose out to the border club forcing a 'do-or-die' tie against Crosserlough. In a very tense affair they survived and came out as winners on a 1-5 to 0-2 scoreline.
There were a number of star performances throughout the side on the day. Padraig Cahill proved to be a powerhouse at midfield while Martin Reilly displayed the ability that has made him a Cavan senior player.

"I believe this win was vital to us as we have an emerging young team so it was important that we held our status at senior level," said Damien, who paid tribute to the work put in by the new management team of manager, Damien Moen, Colm Donnelly and Raymond Galligan.

"I felt that the new team management at the club brought a refreshing simplicity to our play. It was a great combination with the experience of Clontibret man, Damien Moen, Blayney's Colm Donnelly and the experience of former Killygarry senior stalwart, Raymond Galligan. It was a perfect blend of experience and one I feel should get the backing for next season. The return to full fitness of players like Donal Thomas, Eoin Smith, Tommy Leonard and the availability of Enda Gallen will put us in a stronger position next season. While the relegation battle was tough it will help our younger players to develop the edge needed to win tight championship games."

The club fielded two other teams with mixed results. However, it is a perfect vehicle for bringing on the younger players from minor ranks to senior level. The third team playing in the Division 6 allows the younger age group players to experience the competitiveness of more senior games and helps blood them for the step up to the second team in Division 2.
The club is extremely well run as they have an excellent executive committee in Chairman, Kevin Reilly, Secretary, Noel McHugh and Treasurer, Conor Lynch. The club is currently undertaking major development at Killygarry and hope to commence this development in the near future. Work on new facilities will be carried out on a phased basis. There is also a great deal of work carried out in the background by a vast amount of people on a voluntary basis which has helped the club to grow through the years.

"I suppose all the great work carried out at the club over the years can be seen through the magnificent strides taken at underage level. This is an aspect of the club that has always been a priority.
"This year was no different and the results were there for all to see. Our U13s lost out to Lacken in Roinn B league while the U14s emerged winners in Division 2. The U16s made it to the semi-finals of Division 2 while the club's minor side emerged champions in the Division 4 championship.

"This was an impressive end of season result sheet and is just reward for all those involved with juvenile football at the club," said Damien. 
 
U14s ignore 'underdog' tag to take league title
Killygarry's U14 side paid scant attention to the predictions that marked them down as underdogs in this Division 2 league final against Cuchullains. Killygarry proved to be the better balanced side on the day and when Matthew McKenna opened the scoring for Killygarry in the sixth minute it signalled this young side's intent.

A goal by Conor Smith in the tenth minute settled the side and with Gannon, Timofejevs and Smith causing problems for Cuchullains it was only a matter of time before Killygarry grabbed their second goal from a superbly struck shot from Matthew McKenna. Cuchullains did make a battle of it and had the deficit down to three points but excellent defending by Luke O'Dea, Ryan Brady and Shane Smith kept Cuchullains at bay. Killygarry did showed great spirit as Cuchullains edged in front with just ten minutes remaining, 1-07 to 2-03.

The excellent Luke O'Dea then made sure of the destination of the silverware with a superbly struck goal. Follow-up points from McKenna and substitute Kennedy proved vital. Despite two late Cuchullains points the heroic defending from the Killygarry lads was enough to give them a deserved one point victory Killygarry 3-05 Cuchullains 1-10.
Killygarry  - Philip Monaghan, Ryan Brady, Luke O'Dea (Capt.), Breifne O'Brien, Jack Cosgrove, Shane Smith, David Sorahan, Kieran Burns, Emmet Blaney, Daragh Gannon, Matthew McKenna, Conor Mulvany, Brian Sheanon, Artur Timofejevs, Conor Smith Subs: Sean Keady, Caolan Kelly, Darren Walls, Conor O'Shea, Oisin Ennis, Daniel Brady, Darragh Kennedy.

The victory was just reward for the efforts of team management of Simon Fay and Declan Gilsenan. This league victory placed the team into the Roinn A championship where they stepped up into the top division. They could count themselves unlucky to loose out in the semi-final to Lacken who scored in injury time to emerge winners by the narrowest of margins 3-10 to 1-15.  
 
Minors are worthy champions
Killygarry minors put all the hard luck stories to bed when they overcame the challenge of Ballyconnell First Ulsters by 4-10 to 1-11 in this Division 4 championship final. Killygarry were slow to settle and allowed the First Ulsters to score at will. The losers had registered five points before Killygarry registered their opening score. The winners did manage to curtail Ballyconnell's threat and ended the half just two points adrift 0-6 to 0-4.

The west Cavan side opened the second half in determined fashion and notched up three unanswered points in the first five minutes. This setback only seemed to ignite the Killygarry challenge as they fought tenaciously winning breaking ball around the midfield area. With more possession they began to bombard their opponents defence and registered 3-2 in a five-minute spell. This scoring burst gave them a six point lead 3-6 to 0-9. While Ballyconnell tried valiantly to get back on terms it was Killygarry who took the game to its conclusion with a dominant final ten minutes

Killygarry: Tomas Kelly; Daniel Morgan, Andrew King; Cathal Dunne, Conor Connolly, Daryl Dunne; Andrew O'Brien, Conor McInerney (Capt); Daniel Talbot, Shane Kelly, Cian Duffy; Colm Smyth, Breen Reilly. Subs: Pat Carroll, Cian O'Reilly, Daragh Hancox, Craig O'Callaghan, Christopher Lovett, Paul Smith, Craig Murphy, Peadar Soden, Eamonn Galligan.
Coaches, Kevin Smith, Andy McGovern and Conor Lynch deserve great credit for their efforts. 
 
Ladies football
While the senior men did not have the season that they themselves expected it was not the case for the ladies club. Ladies football in Killygarry has always been a bastion of success and again this season proved no different. The club's talented U14 side produced a dramatic display in ousting a fancied Lurgan side in the final of the Division 1 league final. The final scoreline, Killygarry 5-4 Lurgan 2-11 gave the Cavan town based club a two point victory. This game as a spectacle had the large crowd and mentors chewing their nails as the tense encounter looked set to end in a draw. However, a dramatic late point in the fifth minute of injury by Killygarry's Rachel Talbot ensured victory for the 'Red and Black'.

As a contest the game was evenly matched as neither side managed to dominate exchanges for no more than a few minutes at a time. This led to an exciting flow of scores as both sides tried valiantly to gain the upper-hand.
The first half played at a frenetic pace saw the losers hold a slender one-point lead at the interval, 2-4 to 3-1. The second half produced a no less absorbing contest as the sides tried to edge each other out but it took a late injury time point to give Killygarry the silverware.

Killygarry - Annie Brady, Jenna McConnell, Paige Conroy, Aoife Finan (0-1), Eimear Gallen (0-1), Eimear Kelly, Niamh O'Shea, Eimear Connolly, Shanua Murphy, Rachel Talbot (3-1), Courtney R. McDowell (2-0), Megan Walls (0-1), Geraldine Smith. Subs used: Laura Tierney, Niamh Geoghegan, Leanne Sheridan.  
 
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