It certainly was a successful 2002 for Castlerahan GFC. They took part in the senior football championship for the first time ever and held their own in the Breffni County's premier competition. With that under their belt, they'll be even better positioned to make an impression in the coming season. After the highs of the 2001 season - with winning the Division Three league title and the intermediate championship - Castlerahan's prime aim was to establish itself at the top level in 2002. Following a brief winter break, the senior team was back in action in the Ulster intermediate club competition organised by Clontibret in Monaghan. The Cavan champions took on the Donegal champions but on the day the Donegal outfit were too strong. And so it was down to more serious business. In the opening round of the revamped ACFL Division Two, Castlerahan took on local rivals Denn and came out on top in an entertaining game. The league ran off at a hectic pace from mid-March to the beginning of July with the club playing 13 games, winning nine, with notable victories over Lacken, Killinkere and Ballinagh, and losing only four matches. In the quarter-final, Castlerahan defeated Drumlane, but they fell to Ballyhaise in the semi-final. After the celebrations from the previous year had died down, all club members, supporters and especially players were looking forward to the long hot days of summer . . . and participating in the senior championship for the first time. When the draw for the round-robin stage of the championship was made, the club faced a baptism of fire with an opening game against then county champions Cavan Gaels. The other group members were Knockbride and Kingscourt. Not unlike the summer weather, things didn't go quite according to plan on the first outing in Kingspan Breffni Park, with the competition debutants going down to their vastly more experienced opponents. Next up were Knockbride at the same venue but the greater acumen of the Knockbride county players saw them through. The team - sensing the knock-out stages of the championship slipping from their grasp - put in a credible performance against Kingscourt but lost narrowly. Thus ended their chances of winning the county SFC at the very first attempt! Attention then turned to the relegation play-off section where another round-robin series was soon underway to see which team faced the drop back to intermediate grade for next year. Castlerahan acquitted themselves quite well, defeating Lacken, Killinkere and Ballymachugh and going down to neighbours Crosserlough and Ramor United. By virtue of scoring average, the team qualified for the Plate final and were defeated by Lacken by a single point after extra time. The prime goal for the season has been achieved through consolidation in the senior championship and - after a lightning climb through the tables - the players are looking forward to playing Division One football next year. After losing a number of key players at the end of last season, their success has been thoroughly commendable. Through the year, some new faces have emerged to claim their places and these clearly grew in confidence as the year progressed. It is hoped that this progress will continue next year. Meanwhile, the reserve team operated out of the reserve league Division Three East and remained undefeated up as far as the final, wherein they lost to Butlersbridge by 3-6 to 2-3 in mid-December. In the championship, they won through to the semi-final but were defeated by a much stronger Arva team on the evening. At underage level, the highlight of the year was the U15 squad winning the Feile Na nÓg county competition and then going on to represent Cavan in Ulster only to lose narrowly in the provincial final. The U10 and U11 squads continue to develop and were successful in a number of local tournaments. The U12s made progress by reaching the semi-final of the Roinn A league and were beaten by a one-point margin. At U16 grade the team progressed through to the championship semi-final. In total, the club had six representatives in various Ulster finals throughout the year. In the Ulster junior intercounty ladies competition, Ciara O'Reilly and Onida McBride represented Cavan , who were narrowly beaten by Donegal in the final. At U21 level, Sean Brady and Alan Mulvey played with Cavan through the campaign to reach an Ulster final, in which they ran Tyrone close. In hurling, locals Niall Daly and Michael Higgins represented Cavan at U16 to win a special Ulster competition for developing counties. Another notable achievement for Castlerahan was Sean Brady captaining the county minor team for 2002. The club also moved into the technology age with the setting up of its own website aimed at keeping all members near and far up to date on club activities. A weekly club news email is also circulated online. More details are available at www.castlerahangfc.com The club held its inaugural Golf Classic at Crover House in May. Although the weather on the weekend didn't turn out as expected, the event was a great success and Castlerahan are looking forward to building on this for next year. Other highlights include the successful running of the Fay tournament sponsored by Reasons, with Ballymachugh winning outright The new electronic scoreboard, sponsored by local butcher Jimmy Smith, was also erected and unveiled. The new drainage program is well underway, which will help improve the playing facilities for next year. The club's 2002 AGM took place in St Josephs Hall in Ballyjamesduff on Saturday December 14th. A new chairman was elected in the person of Denis Lynch. The rest of the committee for the coming year will be: Pat Fitzpatrick (secretary), John Keegan and Michael Callaghan (treasurers), Breen McInerney (PRO), Seamus Greene (vice-chairman), Elizabeth Mackey (assistant secretary). All in all, considering that 2002 was Castlerahan's first ever year to play senior football (notwithstanding the fact that they were involved in the St Mary's amalgamation that won the county title in 1976), it was a very successful season. It's hardly surprising to hear club PRO Breen McInerney say he was "very happy" with how things worked out: "This time last year our main goal was to stay senior. We had a very tough opener against the Gaels and it was a big step up for us. But, looking back, we're still senior and that's all that counts. "We lost a few lads and a few new ones came in and did well, which was encouraging. We won three of our five relegation play-off games and could have beaten Crosserlough as well, so we were content with our year's efforts." Tony Brady (who steered Castlerahan to IFC glory in 2001) was again in charge for '02, ably assisted by selector Barney Mulvey and trainer PJ Lee. Ronan McCabe was over the reserve team which enjoyed such an impressive run in the league. "This is the first time we've been senior as Castlerahan and these are exciting times for the club. The seeds for this were sown at underage level for the past eight to ten years and it's now that we're reaping the rewards of all that hard work. We're hoping to build on that now and stay senior for quite a while." The PRO is also optimistic about the prospects of a decent U16 team that should come through next year and is keeping his fingers crossed that the seniors will show them the way: "I'd love to see the first team advance further in the championship and have a good run in the league. We'd like to put ourselves in a position where we're actually challenging in the championship and getting beyond the group stage. "Of course, we're also up to Division One now. It was twice as important to stay senior as next year the league is restructured and all the senior clubs will be in Division One. So we have effectively been promoted and will be in the top grade in both competitions next year." Castlerahan have certainly come a long way since winning the junior championship in 1991. They don't believe in slipping back. Instead, progression and advancement is quite clearly the name of the game. The club fields teams at all grades - U10, U12, U14, U16, minor, U21, reserve and senior - and boasts an exceptionally strong underage committee and team of volunteers. There's even a ladies team, amalgamated with Denn. The future indeed looks bright. Now, where'd I leave those shades? Castlerahan would sincerely like to thank all those who supported them in fundraising efforts throughout the year via the Blotto, Bingo, 50/50 draw, Race Night, sign sponsorships, jersey sponsorships and any contributions in general. Without this continued support the club could not be able continue growing and developing as impressively as it has over these past number of years. Future is bright for maroon and white(s) Castlerahan have one of the most talented and exciting young football squads in the county. Fiachra Sweeney is glad to be part of the picture down around Ballyjamesduff. Castlerahan appear marooned, destined to be adrift from the glittering prizes 'till 2011. Or so we might unwisely conclude if we were to employ the lessons of history to extrapolate what is to be befall the club over the next number of years. Rewinding the tape which tells all, and hides nothing, about Cavan football over the last ten years or thereabouts informs us that the Ballyjamesduff-based club scooped the Junior Football Championship title in 1991. Exactly ten years later they won the Intermediate Football Championship. Will the local faithful have to wait for another eight years before the blue riband senior championship title is annexed? Not likely, according to Castlerahan young gun Fiachra Sweeney. "It'll take a while for the team at the minute to mature and reach its peak but I don't think it'll take us ten years," he says. And considering the sort of cutting edge, workrate and raw enthusiasm the club showed in winning the 2001 IFC, one suspects Fiachra is even bordering on the cautious side in refusing to be totally adamant about what the future holds for the maroon and whites. After all, which club in Cavan boasts a more pacy, exuberant and, dare we say, talented squad of young players currently operating at the highest echelons? Safe to say, Castlerahan are a good outside bet for senior championship honours within the next five years. It will be a surprise to many if the go-ahead club has to wait for the aforementioned ten year cycle to run its course before the jackpot is cracked open again. But approaching two years on, the never-to-be forgotten intermediate championship title triumph of 2001 is beginning to be forgotten by some of the more ambitious, less patient gaels among the Castlerahan faithful. In an era of fast food, quick-drying stain remover and ready-to-go phones, Castlerahan supporters, like their counterparts in all other 39 Cavan clubs, want success on tap almost - and they want that success yesterday! "We've started off the year well anyway. There's a good spirit in the camp and although the away-based players haven't always been able to make the training sessions, the numbers (at training) are still very good," Fiachra assures us. Very much one of the faces which represent what many suspect to be a bright future for Castlerahan GAA, Fiachra is joined on the senior panel by his brother Ferdia who appears to have a promising future ahead of him as a netminder. Together they are a good example of the sort of camaraderie, enthusiasm and youthful vigour and talent which is racy of Castlerahan's premier panel right now. So what's it like to be accompanied by a brother on the club's senior panel? "It's a help having a brother to train along with. You can encourage one another and you know one another's play. "But there are other brothers on the team too which helps bond the team and creates a good spirit too," Fiachra points out. Indeed. With the likes of the Mulveys, Enda, Alan and Brian on board plus the Clarke duo, John and David, to name but a few close connections, it's not difficult to understand just where the telepathy displayed by the team over the last couple of years came from! Of course, brotherly love doesn't negate against the development of a sense of competition within the squad and a sense of pride and ambition among any of the individual players. In this respect, Fiachra is quick to remind us that he'll have to fight hard to command a place in Castlerahan's first fifteen this year. "There's a lot of competition for places on the team. I suppose that's a good thing for the manager and the selectors but sometimes it can be disappointing when you don't get on the team. It would be a lot worse though if you were guaranteed your place on a team that wasn't doing well. "I hope to get a regular game this year but that's up to the team-management to decide," the highly-rated full-back comments." Of course, if the worst comes to the worst for Fiachra personally and a regular place on the senior team eludes him, he has got his minor and under 21 duties to take care of. Last year the likes of himself, Paul Brady, Enda Mulvey and Kieran Lynch were on the Castlerahan minor team that lost out to Cavan Gaels and Drumalee "We'd hope to do pretty well at minor level this year but it depends on how whether we have a full-squad. "We need to have everyone free from injury because we have a very small panel." Nephew of former notable Castlerahan footballer Philip McGee, Fiachra feels that the club's Under 21 side may have a better chance of making waves in 2003 than their minor counterparts. "Only one of the lads will be missing this year from the Under 21 team that played last year so we should be fairly strong. "We were very disappointed to lose out to Cuchullains in the division two semi-final last year but we should go further this year because we'll be a lot stronger," adds Fiachra who enjoyed joining in with the county minor squad training at the start of the season. A pupil at St. Clare's secondary school in Bally'duff, Fiachra says the future is bright for Castlerahan even if the club's underage troupe doesn't manage to haul off any silverware in 2003. A lot of work, he says, is going on at developing and nurturing local talent and he believes that a good start by the senior team in the ACFL will be just the springboard the club needs to possibly make 2003 a year to remember. "We want to do well in the league. I know that its importance has been watered down a bit and some people say it's not as important a competition as it used to be but it helps the team's confidence and morale if you can get a few wins under your belt. "It's early days to be talking about who we're going to beat and how far we're going to progress this year. "I think that on our day we have the ability to beat any team in the senior championship. "Last year was our first crack at the senior championship and there were a couple of games where we got a bit of a hiding but we didn't expect to have things our own way after just coming up from intermediate level." So what are the hopes or expectations for the Tony Brady-managed squad this coming championship season? "I'd say we'll be hoping to at least make the quarter-finals. We didn't do too badly last year and the lads will have benefited from the experience. " We got to the Plate final last year but lost to Lacken but a year should make a big difference to us all." In looking forward to the coming months of action, Fiachra says he hopes the club can learn from both its successes and failures in recent years. He has very fond memories of his bird's-eye view of the 2001 IFC decider against Drung. "There was a brilliant buzz around the town and the whole area in general but we were a bit lucky to draw with them (Drung) the first day. "Most teams who win championships ride their luck at some point and we did that the first time around. "I thought we were by far the better team in the replay though. Alan Mulvey was the star of the show in the replay but I think the whole Castlerahan team wanted to win more. "There was less of a hunger about Drung even though they had enough chances to win the match. "Our fitness and stamina held up really well and we never really looked like throwing it away in the replay." More of the same then this year? "Hopefully. We'll do our best to get just as fit again because, as a team, we need to be fit to play the type of football we like. "We're a footballing team and we don't tend to do well when it's a really physical match. "Our fitness is really a key part of our game and the league will give us the chance to build up that fitness ready in time for the championship," Fiachra concludes. Tweet

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