Drumreilly were crowned Leitrim intermediate football champions for only the second time in their history following their recent victory over local rivals Aughavas. Thrilled to see them back in the senior ranks for 2008 is Tony Gannon of team sponsors Gannon's City Recovery and Recycling Services. Leitrim club Drumreilly will have senior championship football to look forward to next year after they swept to their second county intermediate championship title win on September 9 last. County star Declan Maxwell scored 0-4 and had a major influence on the game as Drumreilly atoned for the disappointment of last year's final loss to Carrigallen with a convincing 0-13 to 0-6 victory over Aughavas at the revamped Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada in Carrick-on-Shannon. Despite conceding the opening score to Fintan McBrien, Drumreilly soon took control and went on to lead by 0-7 to 0-2 at half-time. Aughavas were more competitive after the restart, but there was never any doubt where the Frank Reynolds Cup would be spending the next 12 months. "I was delighted for them," says Tony Gannon of Gannon's City Recovery and Recycling Services Ltd, who have been main sponsors of Drumreilly for the past three years. "The team was extremely hungry after last year's defeat to neighbouring Carrigallen and they weren't going to be stopped, especially not by another one of their local rivals. I'm expecting them to give a good account of themselves in the senior championship next year. They have three or four very strong players, including Declan Maxwell and John McKeon, who are cornerstones of the Leitrim senior side," he adds. Despite living in Dublin for the past 30 years, Tony has always retained a great interest in the footballing fortunes of his native Drumreilly and Leitrim, and this is reflected in the fact that he has sponsored both teams. He operates two successful companies - Gannon's City Recovery and Recycling Services Ltd, and Unicorn Homes Ltd. Tony, along with his brother Sean, set up Gannon's City Recovery and Recycling Services in 1982, and from very modest beginnings the business has grown into one of the foremost vehicle towing, recovery and recycling companies in Dublin and the surrounding counties. The company headquarters in Swords is a 45,000 sq ft custom-designed facility incorporating examination, storage, salvage processing and de-pollution areas. Being close to M1 Motorway and within easy access to the M50 enables the company's response time to be excellent to all parts of the city. Unicorn Homes is a leading construction company which is currently carrying out prestigious developments in Dublin and Tullamore. For Drumreilly, 2007 was all about redeeming themselves after their heartbreaking loss to Carrigallen in last year's intermediate final replay. Club chairman Tommy Connolly admits that that defeat made the players all the more determined to be successful this year. "There was no problem getting the lads motivated after what happened last year. They felt they didn't do themselves justice and there was a fierce hunger among them to make up for that this year. They were under a lot of pressure to win, but I don't think that held them back in any way," he explains. Like Tony, Tommy believes Drumreilly can make an impact on next year's senior championship. "I think we're well equipped for senior football. We were a senior club up until 2005 and most of the lads have experience of playing at that level. It also helps that we're a Division 1 team. If the lads have the same will-to-win next year, I can't see any reason why they can't do well. Hopefully we'll get a good run in the Connacht club championship between now and Christmas, and that would set us up nicely for next year's senior championship." Under the guidance of Cavan man Joe Brady, who won no less than seven senior championship medals as a player with Gowna, and his co-selectors Tomas Fee and Brian Smith, Drumreilly enjoyed an unbeaten run to this year's intermediate crown. They defeated both Aughnasheelin and Dromalaire in the group stages before accounting for Cloone and St. Mary's in the quarter and semi-final respectively. Aughavas' defeat to St. Mary's in the group stage underlined the belief that Drumreilly would prove too strong for them in the final and so it proved. Aughavas opened the scoring after just 45 seconds, but it didn't take long for the favourites to stamp their authority on proceedings. Five unanswered points from Declan Maxwell, Nigel Maguire and Ollie Maguire had them firmly in the driving seat after 17 minutes. David Charles closed the gap to three points with a 22nd minute score, only for team captain James Holohan and Ollie Maguire to reply with Drumreilly points before half-time. Padraig McLoughlin raised hopes of an Aughavas revival when he shot over immediately after the restart. But Drumreilly reasserted their dominance when Nigel Maguire raced through and finished with a point five minutes later. Fintan McBrien kept Aughavas in the game with a point before Maxwell and Holohan extended the Drumreilly lead. In the 48th minute, Drumreilly full back Chris Mimna prevented a certain goal when he executed a brilliant block on Padraig McLoughlin. Had a goal come at that stage, it would have brought Aughavas back into contention but it wasn't to be and Drumrelly sealed victory with late points from Maxwell, Ollie Maguire and Holohan. This year's intermediate win will go down as one of the club's finest achievements. The GAA has had a presence in the parish since 1889 when Charles Kickhams was formed. With the abandonment of the Leitrim championship between 1891 to 1903, this club went out of existence, to be replaced by a new club called Drumreilly Upper in 1906. Drumreilly's first big breakthrough came in 1931 when they captured the senior championship title at the expense of Fenagh. Sadly for Drumreilly, it proved to be their one and only senior success and they faded from the scene until 1946 when they defeated Annaduff to claim their first junior championship. The following three decades were relatively barren, however, and Drumreilly had to wait until 1977 to regain the junior championship following their victory over Bornacoola. After several years of underage success, Drumreilly were crowned intermediate champions for the first time in 1998 after their 1-10 to 0-6 defeat of Kiltubrid in the final. A notable feature of the final was the scoring performance of Ollie Maguire who accounted for all but one point of Drumreilly's tally. Following their elevation to the senior ranks, Drumreilly won the senior 'B' championship in 2002 and the Division 1 league title the following year. They reached the senior championship semi-final in 2001, only to lose to Allen Gaels after a replay, and subsequently lost quarter-finals to St. Mary's and Gortletteragh. Earlier this year, Drumreilly became the first Leitrim club to win an All-Ireland Feile title when their under 14 team narrowly defeated Roscommon side Eire Og on a never-to-be-forgotten day at Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada. Ladies football is well catered for in the club, while Drumreilly also boasts a strong Scor section which has won numerous county titles down the years. The IFC-winning Drumreilly team was: Damon Maguire; Ciaran Holohan, Chris Mimna, Damien Holohan; Damien Mitchell, Francis Holohan, Warren Maguire; John Fee, Ollie Maguire; Michael Holohan, James Holohan, Nigel Maguire; Raymond Fee, Declan Maxwell, John McKeon. Subs used: Kevin Holohan and Killian Maguire. Tweet

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