Tubberclair surpassed all expectations by reaching the senior football championship quarter-final on their return to the top flight last year. Team captain and county panellist Bernard 'Beano' Cassells is hoping they can build on that progress in the season ahead. While The Downs' capture of the Flanagan Cup last year was unexpected, what was even more surprising was Tubberclair's march to the senior football championship quarter-final in their first season back in the top flight. Given the recent trend of intermediate champions failing to survive more than one year at senior level, Tubberclair have reason to be highly satisfied with their progress in 2003. Team captain Bernard 'Beano' Cassells admits that expectations were exceeded. "We were very happy with the way things panned out last year," he says. "Having just come up from intermediate, our aim was to consolidate our position and anything after that would have been a bonus. But to reach the quarter-final was not something we had expected. We adapted to life as a senior club much quicker than expected, so you would have to be happy." Despite losing to The Downs and Mullingar Shamrocks in the group stages, the Glasson men still qualified for the knock-out stages by virtue of wins over Castledaly and St. Mary's and a draw with St. Malachy's. They justified their appearance in the quarter-final by drawing with Coralstown/Kinnegad before losing the replay by four points. Tubberclair didn't finish the season empty-handed, though. Their impressive form in the All-County League culminated in them capturing the Division 2 title. The club was also desperately unlucky to lose the under 21 and under 14 'premier' championship finals to St. Loman's and Kilbeggan/St. Joseph's/Rosemount respectively. "Overall, it was a fairly successful year," enthuses 'Beano', who is currently a county senior panellist. "We had a great run in Division 2 with the only blip being a draw with Athlone. It was vitally important that we got promotion because if we're to challenge for a senior championship in the next few years, we'll need to be playing the top sides on a more regular basis. "The year's biggest disappointment was losing the under 21 final to St. Loman's, but it was still a great achievement for us to make it that far. Most of the lads that were on the under 21 team are also on the senior team, so it bodes well for the future." Under the management of Danny Sammon and his co-selectors TJ Reid and Alan Keegan, Tubberclair opened their senior championship campaign with a 0-11 to 0-14 defeat to The Downs. Favoured by the breeze in the first half, the south county outfit opened brightly with two points from county star Fergal Wilson and another from Michael 'Junior' Hopkins giving them an early 0-3 to 0-0 lead. The Downs came more into the game as the half unfolded, but further scores from Wilson, Jamie Farrell and Francis Spollen had the 2002 intermediate winners perched on a 0-8 to 0-4 lead at the break. The Downs closed the gap on the restart, but Tubberclair still led going into the final quarter. However, it was then that the black and ambers found an extra gear to run out 0-14 to 0-11 winners. Tubberclair put that disappointment behind them on June 22 when they defeated St. Mary's by 1-14 to 1-7. With 'Junior' Hopkins in fine scoring form, the green and golds had built up a 0-7 to 0-4 lead by half-time. But St. Mary's came storming back in the second half to level with 12 minutes remaining. Moments later, the Rochfortbridge men were awarded a penalty, but Gary Connaughton made a great save to thwart Austin Bradley and from there Tubberclair went on to secure victory with Fergal Wilson's late goal putting the result beyond doubt. Tubberclair were denied their second win a week later when a late Joe Clarke point earned St. Malachy's a 2-7 to 0-13 draw in a tense encounter at Moate. Danny Sammon's charges trailed by 0-5 to 1-5 at the interval, but they showed a big improvement following the change of ends to lead by 0-13 to 1-6 with four minutes remaining. But after Clarke scored Malachy's second goal, the same player fired over the equalizing point in injury-time. A sparking performance by Francis 'Brolly' Spollen inspired Tubberclair to a 2-11 to 1-12 victory over sounty county rivals Castledaly in their fourth outing on July 6. Despite being minus the services of Fergal Wilson, Tubberclair showed true grit in the second half to record a surprise win against the 2002 senior finalists. Castledaly held a 1-7 to 0-7 advantage at the break, but Tubberclair dominated after the restart with goals from Spollen, who finished as top scorer with 1-6, and 'Junior' Hopkins propelling them to victory. Despite losing heavily to Mullingar Shamrocks (0-13 to 4-12) in their final group game, Tubberclair went through to the quarter-final as the third placed team. On a wet, windy evening in Rochfortbridge, a last-gasp point from a Fergal Wilson free saw the green and golds snatch a 0-8 to 0-8 draw with favourites Coralstown/Kinnegad. Tubberclair appeared to have a mountain to climb when they trailed by 0-3 to 0-8 at the interval. But with the strong wind to their backs in the second half, they outscored their opponents 0-5 to 0-0 with Wilson's equalizer from a 60 metre free earning them a second bite at the cherry. Conditions were much better for the replay, but from an early stage, it became apparent that Coralstown/Kinnegad had the upperhand. They led by 1-8 to 0-6 at half-time and despite a determined second half fightback by Tubberclair, held on for a 1-13 to 0-12 win. "Our lack of experience probably cost us victory against 'Kinnegad," Cassells recalls. "We had enough possession to beat them the first day, but in the end we were happy to settle for a draw. They were the better team in the replay, but at least we didn't go down without a fight," the wing back adds. Late in the year, Tubberclair caused another surprise by reaching the under 21 'premier' final where they squared up to St. Loman's. The south county side played superbly in the first half, scoring points of the highest quality to establish what looked like an unassailable 0-11 to 0-1 interval lead. Not for the first time in 2003, Francis Spollen gave an exhibition in score-taking, while James Martin, Paul O'Brien, David Gantley and Jeffrey Farrell also got in on the scoring act. But the second half bore witness to a remarkable St. Loman's recovery which saw them overturn Tubberclair's huge advantage to win by 2-11 to 0-13. Not surprisingly, Cassells is at a loss to explain Tubberclair's second half collapse. "We're still haunted by that defeat. I really don't know what happened to us in the second half. The lads probably thought they were home and dry at half-time, but Loman's had other ideas and they came roaring back in the second half. They got the run on us and we just weren't able to cope," he says. To compound matters, Tubberclair also lost the under 14 'premier' final to a Kilbeggan/St. Joseph's/Rosemount combination on the same weekend. The green and golds held a seven-point lead at one stage in the first half, but the combination side came good in the second half to win by 4-3 to 2-8. In spite of those setbacks for the club, Cassells - who hands over the captaincy to Gary Connaughton - is eagerly looking forward to this year's senior championship and the prospect of Tubberclair building on last year's progress. "Our aim is to at least equal last year's achievement. We have set our sights higher than last year, although it's going to be more difficult now that we've lost the element of surprise. But we're a young team and when you have that, there's always room for improvement," he concludes. The Tubberclair team which contested the under 21 'premier' final was: Eoin Conlon; Peter Evans, Michael Healion, Niall Walker; Liam Doogan, Enda Dooley, Stephen Keegan; Thomas Doogan, James Martin; Danny Keegan, Jeffrey Farrell, David Gantley; Paul O'Brien, Francis Spollen, Sean Kenny. Sub used: Mark Kenny. The under 14 side that also contested the county final was: Aonghus Hanna; Jack Byrne, Mark Fitzgibbon, Kieran Allen; Declan Donoghue, Michael Fitzpatrick, Conor Delaney; Stephen Lawless, Simon Lawless; Ian Coffey, Keith McMenamin, Robert Buckley; Anthony Allen, Colin Ryan, Daniel Sammon. Subs used: Alan Fitzpatrick and Owen Harney. Tweet

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